Temescal Commons is a small Christian community in Oakland, California. We seek to create more simplified, integrated lifestyles, to care for our neighborhood and our neighbors, and to appreciate and steward God’s creation by using well the resources we have. To further these goals, we designed our physical site with community and sustainability in mind, using environmentally-friendly building materials and conservation technology and creating shared yards, gardens, cooking, dining, and laundry areas.

Our project originated in 1996, when a group of Rockridge United Methodist Church (RUMC) members began talking about living together in north Oakland. In the fall of 1997, we bought the 11,300 square foot lot, and soon thereafter, completed the project’s design in collaboration with architects from The CoHousing Company. The site consists of a small cluster of nine housing units that includes an 1880s two-story house, which has been rehabilitated into two flats, as well as new construction consisting of a single-family unit, a duplex, a common house with an upstairs flat, and an existing triplex on adjacent property.

The detail design and construction process took approximately two years from the point of approval by our local Planning Commission to move-in. Throughout the planning, design, and construction process, the group came together for periodic workdays to demolish old structures, clear the lot, and renovate the old house. Each home is now owned as a condominium and a Homeowners Association assesses monthly dues to cover common area maintenance, utilities, and long-term replacement reserves. 

The community includes singles and families, owners and renters. Our common life is anchored by two shared meals each week, monthly workdays, and bi-monthly all-community meetings. Owners also meet every other month and serve as the Association Board. We’ve found that our proximity to each other creates opportunities to gather for prayer or conversation and help each other in daily life. In these ways, we find God to be at work among us, nurturing and deepening our faith.

 If you are interested in more information about us, or learning if any units are available, contact Tom Gärlick at tomgarlick@earthling.net or 510-655-2682.