Living in the Village
Living at Bowden Pillars will be about more than housing.
It is about creating a place where neighbours know each other, children can roam safely, food grows nearby, and daily life feels connected to the land and community.
The village is being designed to balance private homes with shared spaces, independence with cooperation, and good lives with a lighter ecological footprint.
We are following the principle of “private sufficiency and public luxury” where homes provide everything needed for personal life, while beautiful shared spaces enrich everyday living.
Homes • Shared Spaces • Daily Life • Who might live here? • Living Lightly • Relationship with Totnes • Joining the Village • Village Journal
Homes
The village will include around fifty homes, designed to support a diverse and multigenerational community.
The aim is to create a mix of homes that can suit different needs and stages of life: from compact living units and smaller homes to larger homes suitable for families.
Homes are being designed to be comfortable, efficient and connected to the outdoors. Gardens, paths, shared green spaces and the surrounding land will be an important part of daily life.
The housing mix will include different tenures and affordability options, helping make the village accessible to people with a range of financial circumstances. A significant proportion of homes are intended to be affordable, supporting the wider goal of creating a mixed and inclusive community.
Accessibility is also an important consideration. Some homes will be designed to be adaptable for different life stages and mobility needs, helping people remain part of the community as their circumstances change.
Overall, the intention is to create homes that are thoughtfully designed, both for people and the planet, making good use of space while benefiting from the wider shared environment of the village.
Image: Community Led Housing (Bristol) by Transition by Design
Private Homes, Shared Life
Living in the village means balancing two important things: private space and shared lives. “Private sufficiency, public luxury.” " is a phrase coined by journalist and local resident George Monbiot to describe a reorientation from individual accumulation and towards communally shared spaces and services. This is one of our north stars.
Every household will have its own self-contained home: a place for privacy, rest and private life.
At the same time, the village is designed to encourage everyday encounters and shared activities. Paths, gardens and common areas bring people together naturally, whether for a shared meal, a conversation with neighbours, children playing outside, or gathering food.
Some facilities that are often duplicated in individual homes can instead be shared. This allows homes to be more compact while providing access to welcoming communal spaces such as meeting rooms, workshops, gardens and guest accommodation.
The village will support shared transport. Electric vehicles of various types and e-bikes will be available for residents to use, meaning many households will not need to own a private car.
Living in the village also means being part of a community. Contributing to necessary tasks, caring for common spaces and supporting the life of the village will be part of the shared experience of living there.
Image: Community Led Housing (Bristol) by Transition by Design
Private Sufficiency
Public Luxury
Homes provide everything needed for private life, while beautiful shared spaces enrich everyday living.
Shared Spaces
At the heart of the village will be a range of shared spaces designed to support everyday life, connection and creativity.
The Common House is the heart, a place for the community to gather. It will include spaces for shared meals, celebrations, meetings and being together. Alongside this, there will be facilities such as a shared kitchen, guest rooms for visitors, and flexible spaces that can host activities, workshops or community events.
We’re also dreaming of things like workshops or studios, co-working areas, gardens, play areas for children, outdoor gathering spaces, community sauna, sanctuary space and perhaps a natural swimming pond!
On a practical level, shared facilities will also support everyday life in the village. These will include shared laundry and drying facilities, workshops with tools, and a fleet of shared electric vehicles and bikes. By sharing of these resources, the village can reduce consumption and waste, make better use of space and equipment, and support a way of living that is both enjoyable and resource-efficient.
These shared spaces are not only practical; they are also the social heart of the village, where relationships form and community life unfolds naturally.
Imagine…
Morning light reaches the gardens and growing areas. Someone walks out to check the vegetable beds while another neighbour heads toward Totnes to begin the working day. Some people work from home or shared workspaces nearby.
Children move safely and easily between homes and play spaces, free of cars, while neighbours stop for conversations along paths.
Growing food is part of everyday life. Gardens and nearby land gift vegetables, fruit, herbs and other crops, while the surrounding landscape invites people to walk, be with nature and be part of the changing seasons.
People gather often for shared meals, meetings, learning events, seasonal celebrations. Some evenings might bring a workshop or sharing, while at other times neighbours might for a catch up, some exercise session or a community gathering.
Over time these simple rhythms create something deeper: a place where people know one another, where support is close by when needed, and where everyday life is connected not only to community but also to the wider living landscape.
Children roaming
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Garden harvests
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Shared meals
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Coffee on the path
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Children roaming ✦ Garden harvests ✦ Shared meals ✦ Coffee on the path ✦
Barefoot summers
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Bikes by the fence
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Evening fires
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Stars above the fields
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Barefoot summers ✦ Bikes by the fence ✦ Evening fires ✦ Stars above the fields ✦
Stars above the fields
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Someone always has garlic
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Stars above the fields ✦ Someone always has garlic ✦
Who Might Live Here?
Bowden Pillars is intended to be a mixed and diverse community, bringing together people of different ages, backgrounds and life stages.
The village is not designed for one particular group, but for all people who are interested in living in a place where neighbours know each other, where land is cared for, and where community life plays a meaningful role alongside home life.
The intention is to create an open and welcoming neighbourhood that forms part of the wider Totnes community.
Residents might include families with children, individuals, people choosing to live together, and people at many different stages of life. Some may work locally in Totnes and the surrounding area, while others may work remotely or be involved in activities connected to the land, food production, crafts or creative work.
A mix of home sizes, tenures and affordability options helps make the village accessible to people with different needs and financial circumstances.
A Multigenerational Community
One of the aims of the village is to create a place where different generations can live alongside each other.
Children benefit from safe outdoor spaces and a supportive neighbourhood where people know one another. Older residents can remain connected to community life rather than becoming isolated.
This kind of multigenerational living often creates stronger social bonds and everyday support networks.
A Community That Grows Over Time
Like any neighbourhood, the village community will evolve over time as people join, move away and new relationships form.
The aim is not to create a fixed group, but a living community that continues to grow and change, shaped by the people who choose to make their home there.
Living Lightly on the Land
The village is being designed to support a way of living that places care for the land and natural resources at the centre of everyday life.
Homes will use energy and materials efficiently, reducing environmental impact while being comfortable and practical to live in. Renewable energy and thoughtful building design will greatly reduce running costs and support low-carbon living.
The wider intention is to support a way of living that significantly lowers environmental impact. The ambition of the village is a household carbon footprints of 5 tonnes per person per year within five years of occupation, helped by a combination of building design, renewable energy, shared transport and local food production.
👉 Read more in our Journal: What does living within 5 Tonnes Carbon Footprint actually mean? (coming soon)
Another important aim is that 65% of the food of the village will be grown and produced from surrounding land. Regenerative farming approaches and cutting out food miles mean this also slashes emissions.
The village is also exploring ways to support low-car living, with shared transport options, walking routes and connections to Totnes cutting dependence on private vehicles.
Together, these elements aim to create a place where good lives can coexist with the lighter ecological footprints the planet needs and a deeper relationship with land and nature.
Relationship with Totnes and the Wider Community
Bowden Pillars is not intended to be a separate or isolated settlement. The village sits close to Totnes and will naturally be part of the wider life of the town.
Many residents will continue to work, learn, shop and participate in cultural and social life in Totnes.
The intention is to create a two-way relationship: helping people living in the village feel connected to the town, while also welcoming neighbours, visitors and collaborators from the wider area to have a relationship with Bowden Pillars.
The Food Hub
One important element of this connection will be the Food Hub, a space that brings together the land, the village and the wider community.
The Food Hub is envisioned as a place for food, learning and sharing where produce grown on the land can be celebrated, cooked, preserved together. It will host workshops, seasonal gatherings, small food events and opportunities to learn practical skills connected to growing, preparing and preserving food.
Rather than being only a facility for village residents, the intention is for the Food Hub to act as a open, welcoming space that connects people from the village, Bowden Farm Collective and community of Totnes and beyond..
👉 Read more about The vision for the Food Hub in our Journal (coming soon)
Contributing to the Local Area
The village hopes to create opportunities for exchange and collaboration, such as:
educational workshops and skill-sharing
nature-based therapy
land-based learning and environmental activities
cultural and seasonal gatherings
land stewardship days
collaboration with local growers, makers and food producers
Exactly how these relationships will develop will emerge over time, as the project grows and new partnerships form.
Rooted in Totnes
Totnes has a long tradition of innovation in community-led projects, regenerative farming and local enterprise.
Bowden Pillars grows from this same spirit adding a new neighbourhood that will strengthen the town’s social, ecological and cultural fabric.
Joining the Village
Many people are curious about how homes in the village will be allocated and how the future community will form.
We are currently exploring what this process will look like. We are speaking with people who live in other intentional and community-led developments to learn from their experiences and understand how best to cultivate a thriving village.
The aim is to create a place where people share a commitment to living well together - supporting each other, caring for the land, and contributing to the life of the village. Building this kind of community takes time and participation from many people.
We are working on structures that will support this process as the project develops.
In the meantime, we warmly welcome people to get involved - through events, gatherings and conversations. This is often the best way to discover whether the emerging village resonates with what you are looking for, and to help shape it along the way.
As the approach to the housing and membership process becomes clearer, we will share updates here, through our newsletter, and at future events.
If you are interested in living in the village - fill in the survey and connect with us.