Fame!

After days of filming back in the winter, we were really excited last week about the launch of a BBC documentary about the co-op, made by Swansea-based film maker Ingrid Bousquet.

If you haven't had a chance to watch it yet, block out 15 minutes today for some affordable housing inspiration and very cute pets. 

 

 

Please feel free to get in touch with us directly if you'd like any more info.

Happy house 10th birthday

I love a birthday. It feels like an excuse for a celebration – and often some good reminiscence. I’m already excited about my 40^th birthday later this year, and as we hit a decade since the co-op got its first house (exactly 10 years today!), I realise I’m also a kind of middle-aged Golem, with roughly as many people who’ve joined the co-op since I did as co-op 'elders' who had the original dream and made it happen.

When I moved in four years ago, Golem already felt well-established, both as a group of lovely humans who’d been part of each others’ lives and loves for longer than the co-op had existed, and as a house that had been rescued from the clutches of a terrible landlord. In those first few years before I joined, through ridiculous amounts of difficult, stressful and disruptive work that frequently didn’t go to plan and cost a small fortune (necessitating the co-op to take out a third mortgage), our first house (and garden) was made beautiful and liveable.

Since 2018 we’ve done loads more. I was excited when I was invited to join the co-op, but my excitement was tempered by a mild sense of despondency at the state of the bathrooms. The upstairs bathroom got an early mini-makeover with improved ventilation meaning that the paint we reapplied to the ceiling actually stayed there – and just this month we got some beautiful new storage to replace the rusty dusty shelves in there too.

Beautifying the upstairs bathroom

 

 Lovely new storage in said bathroom

The downstairs bathroom underwent a more epic redesign a couple of years ago, transforming it from a damp, slug-infested dumping ground to a sleek new toilet and shower room with sexy tiles and a new utility space with sink and washing machine. In less exciting (but still useful) developments, we've also replaced some windows that were on the verge of falling out of their frames, given the basement steps a facelift and made the living room into a much cosier space.

Before: testing the shower space in the old downstairs bathroom

 

 After: new shower with sexy tiles

But of course the important stuff hasn’t been so much about buildings as people. In the four years since I joined we’ve had fabulous parties, less fabulous lockdowns, welcomed lovely new members, had old members depart for pastures new (and one come back again) – and we’ve bought an entire other house across the road!

I think I can now lay claim to being the member who has inhabited the most different rooms in the co-op (four at the last count – two in each house). I’m not one for sitting still (literally or figuratively) but my current room is definitely my favourite thanks to the fabulous view of Swansea bay (and Devon on a clear day) and the den I’ve build under my bed (which is 5’ off the floor) so I’m hoping I’ll be here for a long time to come. In the past four years I’ve learned a huge amount about myself and others, about communication and conflict, what makes me happy and how to live with other adults (plus an increasingly adult-like child, and a variety of cats and dogs) – but there's definitely still plenty more for me to figure out.

 

Attic view at 22

When I explain to non-co-op dwellers what my home is like, people often express surprise that I would choose or be able to live as part of such a big household. But for many people the lockdowns of the past two years brought a realisation that whoever you choose to live with – whether a partner, parent or child, a bunch of friends or acquaintances, or alone – there will always be compromises and things that aren’t perfect. For me the inevitable challenges of living with a group of other people will always be hugely outweighed by the joy of having such a wonderful eclectic group of people play such an immediate part of my life – from the delicious dinners, breakfast chats, film nights, gardening advice, hand-me-down fabulous clothes, acro-yoga lessons, life advice, beach buddies, jump starts, moral support, DIY help, hugs and random creative challenges to late night homebrew-drinking – and the glow of knowing I’m part of a small but beautiful alternative to profiteering private landlordism. I can’t wait for the next instalment in the many more decades to come of Golem housing wonderful people. 

 

- Christine

A lockdown garden project

One of the things we were most excited about when we first saw the new house was the garden. We couldn't actually see that much of it, since it was on a steep slope and completely overgrown with brambles which made it impossible to get more than a few meters across it. But it was south-facing with a sea view as far as Devon on a clear day, a palm tree in the middle of it and apparently much potential.

    

Day 1: the view of - and from - the garden

So one of the first priorities once we moved in was to hack back the brambles so we could get to the end of it, uncovering a steep slope littered with rocks, various bits of concrete and some vague semblence of a path.

We made it to the bottom of the garden

Early discoveries: the remains of an old stone lion - and a spot for the hammock

Despite finding a space for the hammock, there was still loads of hard graft to come, pulling out the stone and roots of all the undergrowth, and breaking up the soil so that we could build terraces to create more usable space.

Hard graft on the terracing

But with a bit of vision and a lot of hard work, we've ended up with a fabulous wall and some solid terraces which have incorporated an extra lawn and even a rockery! Since then, we've also added compost bins and a vegetable patch with a good crop of potatoes and a steady supply of greens at the bottom of the garden.

The new wall and rockery ready for planting

With lockdown meaning that we can't have guests visit inside the house, transforming the top part of the garden also became a priority when the rules relaxed enough to allow us to have visitors in the garden. We cleared, dug over and levelled the litter-strewn overgrown mess outside the front of the house and in a single afternoon, Ian and Jess laid meters of turf and relaid the path to create a beautiful lawn.

                                Before...                               ...and ready for turf

Add the turf...                          ...and enjoy the finished lawn!

We've ended up with a space right outside the house which is perfect for dinners, barbecues and hanging out with friends. With the on-going coronavirus restrictions, it's meant we've been able to hang out as a whole co-op, having socially-distanced meetings and even a birthday party with enough space to have everyone there at a safe distance.

The best uses for a garden

While there's still more we'd like to do with the space, we're really proud of what we've achieved in just a few months with virtually no budget but a whole lot of people power. We know we're really lucky to have access to outside space and the time, energy, skills and collective ownership to enable us to transform it, and feel blessed to have been able to create a space we can enjoy and nurture social connections at a time when that feels more important than ever.

 

- Christine

Community In Lockdown

Times are interesting in the world at present, and these strange times have come at an already strange time for Golem. After almost 8 years existing only in our present house, in February we bought a second just across the road. The plan was for three of our existing members to move to the new house and for us to then look to fill the empty rooms in each, spreading the huge amount of knowledge we have as a group between the two houses and enabling some existing co-op members to move into spaces more suited for them. This would take us from housing 8 to housing 14 people (plus a dog, a cat and a business too).

It was a great plan which I firmly believed would work - but even then I had a lot of trepidation. Firstly I would be losing three housemates I’d lived with for between 2 and 12 years. They are my family and it was hard not to feel a sense of loss even though they were only moving across the road! I was also concerned about whether we would fill so many rooms at once. But I was also excited about the growth of the co-op, a project I have invested so much time and energy into, and I was looking forward to the injection of new people with their own ideas about how things should be done. Community is about being open to change and welcoming to compromise. Having such a large amount of new people joining at once felt like an amazing opportunity to invigorate Golem, ensuring it continued to grow and thrive.

The existing members thought a lot about how we would keep a sense of community and continuity between the two houses. How we would still eat together weekly, share meetings and work. It was important to us all to keep the culture of the co-op as well as forming new cultures in our respective houses. It also felt important to me to keep those relationships I had lived with for so long whilst enjoying forging new ones with the people I would not be living with.

And then, what felt like such a short time after having the keys to the new house, we were torn asunder. All those careful plans for how we would stay in each other’s lives on a daily basis put to one side for an unknown time by lockdown. No communal meals, no meetings at each other’s houses, no popping over to see what work has been done or needs doing, no lending a hand. The sudden break felt brutal.

As well as that, just before lockdown we welcomed two new housemates to the house I live in. Barely any time after they’d got their stuff through the door, this house became their world and the people in it the main people they could see in person. I cannot imagine going through such an enormous change but they have dealt with it amazingly. At the start of lockdown we also offered our spare room to a friend so they were not alone, and so in a matter of weeks we went from eight to five to eight again.

I’ve been missing the people who moved to the new house hugely (though we still say hello over the garden wall it is just not the same) but I'm also relishing the chance to bond as a household in such interesting times. At first I was concerned about how difficult it might be to fit our lives - and the challenging emotions that seem to go with lockdown - into the house. 8 people living in one house is busy even when everyone has a life outside! But what I have experienced has filled me with delight and a sense of calm and stability at home which would normally have taken a much longer time to develop when new members move in.

After 5 weeks or so of lockdown, the sense of being tuned in to each other’s moods and energy levels is strong, and seeing the tides of introversion and extroversion sweep through the house is fascinating. There have been times where we have all been doing things together (music, crafts, Tiger King!), times when everyone has kept themselves to themselves, and times when we have naturally come together to do different things in the same room at the same time. I treasure every shift, watching the rhythms of the new household emerge. There is energy being lavished on the garden, much thought going in to changes we wish to make to the communal areas to suit our new incarnation, and most importantly love and support growing between us. I am reminded every day of why living in community is so important to me, especially as I cannot be with so many of the other people I care most about.

When lockdown ends, there will be a new normal to create. I cannot wait to see what changes the other house have made, what new culture they have forged together, what plans they have made, how settled in they must now be. I can’t wait for us to share help and support and meals and meetings in person again - and hugs of course! But in the meantime I am relishing the chance to immerse myself in my household community, getting to know people on a level it could otherwise have taken years to achieve.

Community is always important to us all whether we recognise it or not. To me it seems like lockdown throws our need for it into stark relief, for many people bringing a desire for more of it in their day-to-day. What it has brought home to me is that community needs time, patience and compassion to develop. Lockdown has proved the perfect time to practice those things and I am, in a strange way, grateful.

- Hannah

The basement

We've had the new house for over two months now, and although there's still plenty of work still to do, we've achieved loads - especially with the basement which we have now transformed from a functional but grim dumping ground to a fabulous new bedroom for Joe.

Before: the basement was a dumping ground 
with lovely fluorescent strip lighting and pipes everywhere

The only way we could afford to buy the house was having 6 bedrooms to rent out to members, and although when we came to look round the first time the house was advertised as having 5 bedrooms, we sussed out that the basement was pretty big and dry, and wondered if it could be used as a sixth bedroom. Some research when we got home established that, since it has large south-facing windows that lead into the garden which give adequate light levels and a means of escape for emergencies, there's no reason why the basement can't be used for this.

So within hours of moving in, we'd pulled down the crumbling ceiling and in the following week had the strip lights replaced with gentler spot lights, a radiator fitted and a load of superfluous pipes removed.

Day 1: ceiling destruction

We insulated the ceiling...

 Insulation!

...and put up new plasterboard, and then Ian and his mate did an awesome job of plastering it one night after work.

 

The new ceiling, pre- and post-plastering and painting

Then we liberally applied white paint to the ceiling and walls, and Ian put his floor-laying skills to work, covering the scruffy concrete with screed which Joe spent a weekend painting. By which point it looked a whole lot better.

The finished room - with cat

There was much hilarity moving all Joe's random stuff (including lifesized jester and pharaoh head) from the other house - just in time before our lovely new member Eve moved in and the UK went into coronavirus lockdown. And so Joe's double life between the two houses came to an end.

Moving house

After: the finished bedroom - with bed

 

 

And then with all the things!

 And so our first big project of the new house was complete. It's a great illustration of the power of community, as we did all of the major work ourselves, and only had outside help with the electrics and heating.

 Before  and  after    

 

In the next instalment, the garden...!

 - Christine

We bought another house!

It's been an exciting first couple of months to the year. In January we welcomed our newest member, Ian - and in February we finally got our new house so that he could actually move in!

The view from the new house (more pics here)

The first few weeks of being a two-house co-op have been a blur of ceiling destruction, key cutting, mould removal, painting things white, blagging free furniture, ceiling reconstruction, packing and unpacking - among many other things. Plus numerous trips back and forward between the two houses, which mercifully are only about 100m apart - although this includes a flight of about 50 steps.

 Ceiling destruction

We're still sharing evening meals between the two houses, so half the week we get to go out (to the other house) for dinner. Sometimes there are even enough chairs for everyone!

There's still loads to do, including finding the garden under the brambles, converting the garage into a gym and installing a sauna - but we'll get there. There is also a housewarming party in the pipeline - watch this space!