Shared Space

Given high housing prices and the search for that elusive sense of place and community, more and more families are exploring ways so that they might join together and buy a house or an apartment complex and share it. And there is always the dream of a plot of land where they might build a warm, welcoming enclave.

These hopes are embodied in the co-housing movement, which stresses cooperation in designing, financing, building and operating a community of residences.

They have also stirred interest in the book “Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves” by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett (Habitat Press, Berkeley, Calif. 94704; $19.95), and the local Cooperative Resources and Service Project, a co-housing information center at 3551 White House Place, Los Angeles, Calif. 90004. (213) 738-1254.