Community House

The main community house is at the geographical centre of the property and is the beating heart/hearth of Anam Cara. It is a recently renovated and fire-safe brick building (having survived intact the catastrophic 2009 Black Saturday bushfires).

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The central community kitchen is where the community meals are prepared, and can also be utilised by guests for their own cooking. We love our Rayburn wood cook-stove, and plan to use this for cooking, hot water and heating over the cooler months.

 

The community house has a dining room and living room that is for guests to enjoy, and a small meditation and yoga room that we call the Sanctuary Space. This is where we gather for our morning meetings.

 

Both paying guests and volunteers at Anam Cara are generally accommodated within the community house, although you are welcome to BYO tent, camper van or caravan if you would like more privacy. There are usually some residents also living in the community house alongside guests, including children and pets.

 

We try to keep our heating of the house to the two wood stoves. However, there are several electric heaters throughout the building for very cold days that can be used if needed. Air-conditioning is also available for very hot days. Ceiling fans are provided for your comfort in the summer.

 

We have one dormitory style room, which is where you may stay as a volunteer or Experience Week guest. The dorm-room is either mixed, male or female, depending on the needs of guests at any given time. There is also one twin room, and one private double room. It may be that you are assigned your own room simply due to numbers, but you can also request a private room at booking in(see prices).

 

Bathrooms are shared, modern and clean. We have both electric (solar and on-grid) and passive solar hot water, but as our sole water supply is rainwater, we ask that you are mindful with shower and bath water usage during your stay. 

 

Toilets are of the worm composting variety - they seem just like ordinary flush toilets, but eco-magic is happening in the humanure world of the homestead outside!

 

Entry to the community house is via the mud-room where we request all outdoor footwear be deposited before entering the rest of the dwelling. This keeps the farm mud out of the living space. Bring slippers or indoor shoes if you don't like bare-feet! Crocs or some kind of covered shoe for working in the kitchen is also a good idea.

 

Other features of the community house are a laundry that guests are welcome to use for a small fee, and a tuck shop where you can buy basic toiletry items and treat foods. The front covered verandah space is another lovely place to relax, and this is where you will find our 'phone-friendly' couch. We ask that you not use your mobile phones anywhere else on the homestead.

 

The community house is freshened by guests and residents together each day, and deep cleaned once weekly. We seek to bless this home by our Karma Yoga cleaning work, and we take the honouring of this space very seriously. Different houses and spaces on the homestead acquire powerful energies over time, and are discreet entities in their own right; requiring ritual, offering and relationship. We love our community house and greatly appreciate the shelter that it offers. We ask that guests also treat the house with respect and care during their stay, knowing that they are part of a creation of loving positive energy that is paid forward to the next visitors to Anam Cara.