Dacha Project

The Dacha Project a do-it-yourself, egalitarian and educational homestead. They are comprised of six friends and an extensive circle of supporters and community members. Situated on 16 acres in Finger Lakes region of New York, they built an off-the-grid, earth-bermed, solar-passive house, powered by active solar and a diesel generator converted to run on waste vegetable oil. In addition, they built, or rather sculpted, a straw-bale cottage, planted a fruit and nut tree orchard, and are ever-expanding their gardens. The Dacha Project is almost entirely owner built, with innovative designs for their energy, heating, water, waste and agriculture systems. They often invite the community in for tours, events and workshops. In the future, they plan to expand their educational programming and more official artist/writing residencies, as well as internships and apprenticeships. Although, they are not looking for more permanent members at this time, any interested people are welcome to visit, write, propose projects, or simply explore the website or keep up with the project on Facebook.