Twin Oaks Community, Virginia facts for kids

Twin Oaks Community is a special place in Louisa County, Virginia, where about 100 adults and 17 children live together. It's an ecovillage, which means it's a community designed to be very friendly to the environment. It's also an intentional community, meaning people choose to live there because they share common goals and values.

Twin Oaks is one of the oldest and largest communities of its kind in North America that isn't based on a specific religion. It was started in 1967. The people living there believe in cooperation, egalitarianism (everyone is equal), nonviolence, and sustainability (living in a way that protects the environment for the future). They also share all their income.

How Twin Oaks Started

Twin Oaks began in 1967 on a 123-acre tobacco farm. Eight people started it, even though they didn't know much about farming! One of the founders was Kat Kinkade, who later wrote books about the community.

The idea for Twin Oaks came from a book called Walden Two by B. F. Skinner. This book described a made-up perfect society. However, the community quickly changed its focus from the book's ideas to its own values of equality.

In its early years, Twin Oaks faced many challenges. People often joined and then left quickly, and the community didn't earn much money. But they found a way to make it work by creating a clear, but flexible, system for how people did their jobs. This helped them avoid common problems like people not doing their share of work.

How Work is Organized

Today, Twin Oaks still uses a special system for work. In the beginning, some jobs were worth more "credit hours" than others to make sure all jobs were done. But as the community grew, they realized that all jobs were important.

Now, every job in the community is valued the same. This means whether you're cooking, gardening, or working in one of their businesses, your time is equally important. Members work about 42 hours a week.

Life at Twin Oaks

Twin Oaks has around 100 members. If you want to join, you usually visit for three weeks. During this time, you learn about how the community works.

It doesn't cost anything to join Twin Oaks. You also don't pay rent or ongoing fees. Instead, the community provides everything you need: housing, clothes, food, and health care. In return, members work 42 hours a week.

Since 2011, many people have wanted to join Twin Oaks. There's often a waiting list, so new members might wait several months before they can move in. When there are too many people wanting to join, the community sometimes builds new homes to make space.

Daily Life and Activities

Members at Twin Oaks spend their 42 work hours on different tasks. Some work helps the community earn money. Other work is for daily life, like growing food, cooking, fixing bikes, cleaning, and taking care of children. Most members do a mix of different jobs each week.

Members can also work outside Twin Oaks. If they do, some of that money goes to the community. They can also earn "vacation time" by working extra hours.

While live TV isn't allowed, members can use the internet and public computers. They also enjoy watching movies. People often get together for fun activities like dancing, meditating, reading, putting on plays, and playing board games.

Beliefs and Celebrations

People at Twin Oaks have many different beliefs. There are Christians, atheists, pagans, Buddhists, and others. The community celebrates different events like pagan festivals, special parties, and Thanksgiving dinners. They also celebrate June 16th, which is the day the community was founded.

Homes and Community

Members live in shared buildings, similar to dorms. Each person has their own private bedroom, but they share common areas like kitchens and living rooms.

Many people who used to live at Twin Oaks now live nearby in Charlottesville, Virginia or Louisa, Virginia. They often stay connected to the community.

Twin Oaks knows it's not a perfect place. They even have a guide for visitors called "Not Utopia Yet." Some members, including the founder Kat Kinkade, have found it challenging to leave because they don't build up personal savings while living there. This means it can be hard to start a new life outside the community.

Community Businesses

The 42-hour work week at Twin Oaks includes both daily chores and work that earns money. Twin Oaks runs several businesses that help support the community. These include:

• Twin Oaks Tofu
• Twin Oaks Hammocks
• Twin Oaks Book Indexing

Members also grow seeds for a company called Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. These businesses bring in about $600,000 each year. This money pays for everything the community needs and for things they can't make themselves. Each member also gets a small monthly allowance for personal spending. Many people believe that these businesses are a big reason why Twin Oaks has lasted so long.

Helping Other Communities

Twin Oaks has helped start three other similar communities:

• Acorn Community, which is about 7 miles away
• Living Energy Farm, also in Louisa County, Virginia
• East Wind Community in Missouri

Twin Oaks also hosts two yearly events for intentional communities: The Communities Conference and the Women's Gathering. Both happen every August.

Twin Oaks in the Media

The story of Twin Oaks Community is told in detail in two books by Kat Kinkade, one of the founders. The first book, A Walden Two Experiment, covers the first five years. The second, Is it Utopia Yet?, covers the next 20 years. Another book from the 1980s, Living the Dream, also talks about Twin Oaks' history.

Many studies and research papers have been written about the community. In 1998, the Washington Post Magazine featured Twin Oaks on its cover. In 2017, a TV show called Utopia: In Search of the Dream from BBC Four also featured Twin Oaks.

Twin Oaks and the Environment

Twin Oaks tries to be a great example of sustainability. This means they try to use as few resources as possible. The average person at Twin Oaks uses much less than the average American. This is because they share many things and try to be self-sufficient.

For example, members share housing, a fleet of 17 vehicles, and even a large "clothing library." Because of these practices, Twin Oaks members use 70% less gasoline, 80% less electricity, and 76% less natural gas per person compared to their neighbors.

Images for kids

• 

  An aerial view of Twin Oaks Community.