Pioneer huts first
Pioneers start in Conestoga-style huts: about 60 ft², insulated, lockable, built from workshop panels and assembled in a few hours, where the county allows them.3
The Settlement Plan
Shared systems first, homes around them
A conceptual plan for a settlement of about 100 memberships on 100–300+ acres, built in phases from a first cohort of around 20 Pioneers.1
Everything on this page is conceptual. The real layout will follow the land, water and approvals of the site that is eventually chosen.
The concept
Rings around a community core
A simple circular geometry organises the settlement. It is a planning tool, not a requirement to force the landscape into circles: hydrology comes before geometry.
Conceptual planning diagram, not a site plan. A ring road and four radial roads connect the zones; the blue line is a natural water corridor.
- Community coreA circular community building with a solar roof, built of earthbag (sandbag adobe) walls filled with soil dug for the water storage: kitchen and dining, showers, toilets, laundry, coworking, library, gym and gathering space.[^4]
- Park and activityShade, play, recreation and room to gather between the core and the service ring.
- Utility ringWorkshops, storage, maintenance, water treatment, batteries, food processing and administration.
- Residential ringSmall private sleeping and living structures, supported by the shared facilities at the centre.
- Agricultural ringGardens, greenhouses, orchards where the climate allows, and food processing.
Beyond the rings: a possible RV and traveller area, only if separately approved, then watershed restoration, trails, conservation and open land.
Conceptual site plan rendering 
Community core concept
Private homes
Small, simple and quick to build
Residents do not need a 1,500 to 2,500 square foot private house when much of the expensive space and equipment exists in excellent shared facilities.
Standardised homes next
One or two approved permanent types, with repeatable foundations, utility connections and interiors.
Prototype before production
Build one, measure labour, materials, energy and comfort, then build in small batches.
Code-aware
Quonset-style units are the baseline. One engineered dome prototype is tested separately, since dome and aircrete methods may need alternative-method approval.
Shared infrastructure 
Small private homes 
Food and regeneration 
Community first 
Room to grow
Systems
How the settlement is intended to run
Water
Every roof, canopy and lined apron feeds covered cisterns; household greywater irrigates the orchard; swales and ponds slow and sink runoff. Rain is planned to meet most, not all, of the need, so a permitted well stays essential.5
Energy
Solar-first with battery storage, backup for critical loads, and a grid connection where it is economical.
Food
Mostly purchased at first, with bulk buying and demonstration gardens. Local growing expands where it makes sense.
Sanitation
Central, permitted wastewater and shower facilities rather than a septic system for every small home.
Common facilities
Shared kitchens, workshops, tools, laundry and recreation replace equipment each household would otherwise buy.
Roads
One ring road and four radial roads, with engineered crossings where they meet water corridors.
Build order
Life-support systems before homes
Site 001 is not built as a finished town on day one. Each phase must make the land safer, more habitable and more useful to the next, and each has a go or no-go gate.
Before land
Feasibility and conditional control
Legal, water, planning and title checks before any commitment.
Months −6 to 0
Design and permits
Survey, engineering, permits and a procurement plan.
Weeks 1–6
Pioneer base
A safe, lawful construction base with water, sanitation, power, storage, communications and Conestoga-style sleeping huts under shade.
Months 1–4
Civil works and water
Access, drainage, permanent water, wastewater and utility corridors.
Months 2–7
Energy and community core
Solar and storage, workshops, then the shared kitchen, sanitation, laundry and gathering space.
Months 4–12
First homes, food and landscape
Prototype homes, gardens and greenhouse, shade and watershed restoration.
Months 10–18
Stabilise and measure
Commission systems, record real costs and fix failures before growing.
Years 2–3
Small crew
A crew of about 25 proves the systems, runs the first enterprises and finishes the community core.
Year 4 onward
Measured growth
Grow toward about 50 in years 4–5 and about 100 from year 6, only when infrastructure, governance and cash flow justify it.
Help shape it
Know water, building or planning?
The plan improves with every engineer, builder, grower and planner who pressure-tests it.
Notes
- Current planning assumptions (working, not decided): about 20 initial Pioneers, a small crew of about 25 in years 2–3, about 100 mature memberships and 100–300+ acres.
- Timings from the draft Site 001 Development Plan.
- Based on the Conestoga hut design from Community Supported Shelters in Eugene, Oregon. At Site 001 they would likely count as temporary shelters, so county rules decide whether they are allowed.
- Earthbag building needs engineering and county acceptance, and the site's soil must be tested. Some counties accept small earthbag buildings without an engineer; larger ones need sealed plans.
- From the economy model's water balance at about 300 mm of rain a year: rain plus greywater could cover roughly 85–88% of new water needs in years 2–5 and about 58% at 100 members in an average year, less in a drought. Capturing land runoff and large storage may need state water-rights and permit review.