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Co-Housing Idea Comes To Fair Oaks In New Project

FAIR OAKS (CBS13) — A new type of neighborhood is coming to Fair Oaks. It's called Co-Housing.

It's a collaborative neighborhood which brings several common facilities to private homes.

The 30-unit condo-style community will be built off of Fair Oaks Boulevard and New York Avenue.

Homes range from $300,000 to almost $700,000.

The idea was spearheaded by a local woman who accidentally discovered the concept while visiting her friend in Downtown Sacramento.

"How hard could it be to start a Co-Housing community? So I said ok, let's start one out here," said Marty Maskall.

Maskall is the brains behind the Fair Oaks Co-Housing project. She's lived in the Sacramento suburbs for over 30 years, and now, she says she's ready for a new lifestyle.

"You share a clubhouse, which typically has two guest rooms, and there are lots of parties," Maskall said.

The living arrangement also includes a shared spa, garden and saltwater pool.

The condo-style units are smaller than the average home.

"It's like the best of privacy and community, cause in your home you have plenty of privacy, but if you go out your front door it's community at your doorstep," Maskall added.

Perhaps the most exciting facility in the project? A mega-sized communal kitchen.

"Our commitment is having three common meals per week, people will sign up for a cook team," Maskall said.

Maskall says this living style is most appealing to retired families who want to put a spark in their social life.

"They're just people who want to live more connected, they're tired of the isolation, of whizzing by their neighbors and not knowing their neighbors," said Maskall.

"We felt wow, what a great opportunity to have to immediately plug into," said Jan Szostek, a future resident.

Szostek and her husband are future Co-Housing residents who retired from the Midwest in search of a more active lifestyle.

"Being isolated in our older years especially, deprives us of health and we can live longer if we are still in relationships with people," Szostek said.

An Italian-American who's used to living in a large household, Szostek says she's lucky to have a second chance to call her future neighbors her new family.

"I feel like in a way I'm rebuilding that in the community," Szostek said.

Construction is set to begin on Monday, with a completion date of 2019.

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