Charles Durrett is an American architect and author based in Nevada City, California.

Work

With partner,

Kathryn McCamant Kathryn "Katie" McCamant is an American architect and author based in Nevada City, California. She is known for her work developing the concept of cohousing in the United States, including authoring two books on the topic. She and her partner Char ...

, Durrett is credited with coining the English term " cohousing" and introducing the cohousing model to North America. Cohousing is a type of

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

composed of small private

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

s with full kitchens, supplemented by extensive common facilities. A cohousing community is planned, owned and managed by the residents, groups of people who want more interaction with their neighbours. In recent years he has focused on cohousing for older persons. Durrett and McCamant designed Muir Commons, the first cohousing community in North America, and has designed or consulted on the design of over 50 cohousing communities in North America. He has also consulted on many other cohousing projects around the world. He is a major proponent of ''senior cohousing'', also known as ''elder cohousing'', which are residential communities specifically designed for seniors. There are at least three senior cohousing communities in the U.S., one each in California, Colorado, and Virginia. More are in planning, according to Durrett. According to an American Association of Retired Persons representative, senior cohousing is "very interesting niche housing" that is needed as an option. Durrett is author of ''The Senior Cohousing Handbook: A Community Approach to Independent Living'' (2009, 2nd edition), and with Kathryn McCamant, is co-author of ''Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves'' (1988) and ''Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities'' (2011). He is recipient or co-recipient of numerous awards from the American Institute of Architects and others for various completed projects. This includes a United Nation's

World Habitat Award The World Habitat Awards were established in 1985 by the Building and Social Housing Foundation as part of its contribution to the United Nations' International Year of Shelter for the Homeless in 1987. Two awards are given annually to projects fr ...

in 2001 for the

East Lake Commons Conservation Community The East Lake Commons Conservation Community in Atlanta, Georgia is a residential project which is award-winning for its sustainable design. It was awarded the World Habitat Award by the United Nations in 2001. Designers of the project include arc ...

project in Atlanta, Georgia. A more recent award was the Vision 2020 Award of the Sierra Business Council. Durrett has an architecture degree in 1982 from the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Since 2009, he has been advocating for senior cohousing, beginning in August of that year, with a book signing tour in ten western U.S. cities.Senior Cohousing book signing tour information

References

External links

CohousingCo.ComCharles Durrett's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durrett, Charles Living people 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects People from Nevada City, California Architects from California 1955 births