It’s 6:30 p.m. on a balmy evening in Boulder, and Jacqui Faust has her hands full. Two giant pots of polenta bubble on the stove as she shapes a plateful of black bean burgers by hand.

Dinner party? Not quite. Just another Thursday night at Masala Co-op, a labyrinthine house near the University Hill neighborhood, where Faust lives with her boyfriend and 10 others. Masala and its sister co-op, Chrysalis, are a take on the “intentional community” movement, or the concept of “joint effort” when it comes to lifestyle choices. Both partially solar-powered homes are owned by the nonprofit Boulder Housing Coalition (BHC). Masala residents eat five vegetarian dinners a week together, share home and garden chores, and gather weekly to share what’s on their minds—no judgments allowed. “When I say I live in a co-op, my friends imagine this crazy house with hippies,” says Stephen Mannhard, 26, of Masala. “But when they come for dinner, they see how vibrant and warm the community is.”

5280 August 2011
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A handful of similar but informal “conscious communities” operate in local homes, notes BHC executive director Lincoln Miller, but Masala and Chrysalis make up the first officially zoned co-op system in Boulder County. Members estimate they field up to 20 inquiries for every room opening. “The co-op here gives you a sense of home,” says Masala resident Daniel Daenen, 22, “which a lot of people my age can’t find anywhere else in the city.”

More info: www.boulderhousingcoalition.org