Our Building

Walnut Commons consists of nineteen condominium units in a three-story building to Santa Cruz highest standard of Green Building with underground parking and storage. In addition to our privately-owned space, we share a natural outside deck garden, community space on the ground floor, with gourmet kitchen and dining facilities with music, art, and play rooms and other shared amenities including a shared laundry facility.

The Plans

You may download a Floor Plan (3 pages) or Exterior Views (2 pages) in PDF format. The units that are available to purchase are highlighted on our Join Us page.

The Architects

Charles Durrett
Author of three books on cohousing, Charles Durrett is the leading designer of cohousing communities in North America and credited (with his wife) for coining the term “cohousing.” His work has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist and Architecture and Architectural Record magazines. Among many honors he has received the World Habitat Award by the United Nations and Mixed Income Development Award from the American Institute of Architects. He lives with his wife and partner Katherine McCamant in Nevada City Cohousing in northern California.

Bob Hightower
Affiliated with Barry Swenson Builder since 1995, Bob Hightower has worked on a variety of projects, notably historic rehabilitations and multi-family housing in San Francisco. As lead architect on the Mountain View cohousing project also developed by Barry Swenson Builder, Bob is gaining noteworthy expertise in cohousing design.

The Builder

Barry Swenson Builder is a name synonymous with quality, care and stewardship in northern California development. Over the past three decades Swenson has had a hand in numerous signature developments on and around the San Francisco Bay. A native of San Jose, he’s known for hands-on participation in each project bearing his name, and for his ability to structure innovative partnerships and joint ventures. Swenson also built Mountain View Cohousing on the San Francisco peninsula.