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Formed: 1976 Established: 1984
Bubbaland
Palo Alto, California,
United States
Bubbaland House & Garden
 Bubbaland is a suburban residential co-op. We enjoy a few shared meals each week, buy basic staple food as shared food, prioritize cleanliness, participate in a small (half-day) project to maintain and enhance our living situation each season, and value our gardening space. Bubbaland's purpose is to provide a living situation where residents and guests can have fun and live well, with minimum effort.
The residents and guests go about this with respect to the Priorities, Guidelines, and within the Rules, as enumerated in our Bubbaland Handbook. That forms the extent of Bubbaland, and no committments are sought beyond that. The content of the Handbook has been written down (with a few new modifications) long after its actual organic development over the course of Bubbaland’s 30-some year history as a shared house.
While acknowledging the fact that Bubbaland is a part of its surrounding culture, Bubbaland completely avoids any ideological or religious affiliation whatsoever, including any listed “Priorities” that may be construed as such. Regularly scheduled dinners, prepared by residents and in-residence guests on a rotating schedule, are a place for meaningful dialogue regarding any significant issues that may affect sharing the house and common food. House meetings are minimal, averaging under three hours in the past two years.
 
Website: http://www.geocities.com/bubbaland_house/
Contact:
Bubbaland Communities Directory Listing Manager
160 Lincoln Ave
Palo Alto, California 94301-2437 United States
Phone: 650-328-0367, 650-327-0367
Email This Community!
Links:
http://www.geocities.com/bubbaland_house/Bubbaland_Handbook_in_HTML.html: Our Handbook. This is required reading for members intending to move into Bubbaland.
Last Updated:3/12/2006
 
Visitors Accepted
Visitor Process: Please contact us via paper mail, e-mail or phone with a brief statement of your interest and intent. We will respond within two weeks. We do not accept visitors unless we give prior written consent to the visit.
Population
Adult Members:
5
Child Members:
0
Open to new adults:
Yes
Open to new children:
No
(From time to time, the opportunity to have child members does open up.)
Gender Balance:
60% M 40% F
(This is an average figure. We have always had at least 20% female and at least 20% male residents.)
Government
Decision Making:
By consensus
(Not every decision is made by a full consensus, but all major decisions are, with the exception of eviction. The "Bubbaland Handbook" provides details.)
Identified Leader:
No
(We usually have one, two, or three individuals only holding our lease, which makes those persons the landlord to the rest of the group.)
Leadership Core Group:
Yes
(The person or persons on the lease would constitute a formal core leadership group. However, in practice this situation is not observed. We do have an informal leadership core group, because we often have members who are only residents for one year or less.)
Labor and Money
Financial Style:
Members have independent finances
Labor Contribution:
Expected
(The House Project committment is once per season (four times per year), at approximately four hours per session (16 hours per year). The House Dinner committment is approximately seven hours per month (72 hours per year). The House Job committment is approximately 3 hours per month ( 36 hours per year). Thus the total equivalent monthly hourly committment is 10.4 hours.)
Join Fee:
No
Regular Fees:
Yes
($5 to $15 per month (sliding scale) for items such as the laundry machine, earthquake preparedness kit, stereo, video center, etc.)
Land and Buildings
Suburban
Area:
0.3 acres (0.1 hectares)
(We rent two floors of a three-story house, and a garden, amounting to about 1/3 acre of space.)
Land Owned By:
An absentee landlord
(The owner is very supportive of our living arrangement, and has experience with co-operative living as a resident of a co-op.)
Number of Residences:
1
Cohousing:
No
Food, etc.
Percentage of Food Grown:
1-5%
(We have additional garden space off-site that could be gardened more intensively.)
Share Community Meals:
2-5 times/week
(These meals are strictly vegetarian, and optionally vegan. Attendance by all members at least one of these meals per week is expected, excepting special circumstances.)
Dietary Choice or Restrictions:
Diet is up to each individual
(We require a verbal statement of dietary choice and restrictions from members before they move in.)
Dietary Practice:
Omnivorous
Alcohol Use:
Used occasionally
Tobacco Use:
Seldom used
Social Factors
Open to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and/or Transgender members:
Yes
Shared Spiritual Path:
No
(We strictly avoid any group affiliation with any spiritual or religious path or organization.)
Which Spiritual Path(s):
(We strive for tolerance.)
 
 
Bubbaland House & Garden
Courtyard at Bubbaland
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Become an Editor Current editor(s): christopherbalz
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