My husband and I own and operate a communal living home. There is major pluses and also negatives. Feel free to PM me and can share all that info.

Do have a room to rent so you may want to try living it before embarking on your own. Our house is Arts and Crafts and 105 yrs old. Cable, internet, washer/dryer kitchen priveleges, storage available. Near downtown, WSU and med center. Quiet neighborhood, sweet neighbors. Huge yard and we do a major party once a month. I love to cook and current residents love to eat. Mostly I am happy with our life style. Three dogs one cat and plan to add one more cat. Friends came over yesterday with BBQ chicken, we ordered pizza and appetizers. This morning I see all was eaten which makes me happy. Did all the dishes with no complaints. People here know I hate doing dishes and frequently clean them for me.

You will need to be flexible, tolerant and dare I say it, ecletic. Also a little tough. Sometimes people don't fit in. They do get voted out. Current ages here range from 30's to Fifties.

Actually my biggest bitch is when people do not return silverware to the kitchen. I keep complete silverware for twenty in kitchen and the other day I had just one regular fork and one salad fork. Pitched a hissy and miraculously all were returned.

Good luck with your concept. Be picky about who lives with you. It can be great fun or an occaisional nightmare!

Sumas