Meet Us
VINCE and JESSICA and their four cats (Janet, Libby, Willow, Widget) moved to Liberty Village in the summer of 2011 from an intentional community in Baltimore. They are both from the New York City area, have also lived in Takoma Park, and done previous stints in Florida and, in Vince's case, California and Texas.
After spending much of the decade managing Red Cross family services for people affected by 9/11 and hurricane Katrina, Vince is "relaxing" by working on Medicaid case management and pursuing graduate study in public administration and nonprofit management.
Jessica is a web editor at a local newspaper, and has previously worked as a copy editor and as a web and print designer.
Jessica and Vince enjoy theatre, old movies, Karaoke, reading, swimming, biking and road tripping. Jessica also enjoys dancing, especially Middle Eastern dance, Medieval and Renaissance history, kayaking and loves horses. They are expecting their first baby in January 2012. They love the close community and the open space of Liberty Village, and are looking forward to raising a family here.
CONNIE came here from NJ/PA seeking intentional community over a year and a half ago. She visited three times, once for three months, before finally moving in August, 2010. Liberty Village is a great place to be surrounded by friendly, supportive, ecology-minded, liberal thinkers. She loves the multi-generational character here. She is retired and volunteering in non-profits with progressive, people-focused agendas. In her spare time she goes to the gym, follows a Weight Watchers plan. watches tv, listening to jazz, takes care of her dog, Lily, surfs the 'net, reads, works on the community land, and follows traditional Native American practices, where possible.
By day, IGOR is a medical scientist for the government. When he returns home he dons his Super Daddy persona for his 9-year old son DIMITRI and 7-year old daughter RUBY. Liberty Village fulfills his desire to connect with the land, connect with people, and create a greener and more natural way of life. IGOR is part of the "Chicken club" that maintains LV's egg-laying chickens.
TANYA also works at the FDA as a regulatory counsel. She dons her Super Mommy persona 24/7. She enjoys reading and growing vegetables in the community garden. She is wonderstruck at the freedoms that her children can enjoy in Liberty Village. She loves to see them biking on the pedestrian walkways, running food to the chickens or playing in the meadow. In moving to Liberty Village, IGOR and TANYA traded in a ten minute commute for an hour. They have no regrets. They relish the beauty of this area and their friends in the community.
DIMITRI (AKA Dima) enjoys teasing his sister, playing football his Dad, neighborhood kids and Old English Sheepdog, Josie, as well as biking, and collecting Star Wars “stuff.”
RUBY likes to run, bike, go barefoot, ride horseback, kittens, and to play princess.
GEORGE is a budget analyst for the state of Maryland. At home he can be found being super dad to his three daughters, four grandchildren and a cat and a dog. He enjoys hiking, camping, working in the gardens and open space of Liberty Village.
Finally Moved In
NAOMI is a teacher of dyslexic children and enjoys many avocations including Reiki energy healing, art, dance, and gardening. She is the mother of three daughters who have been homeschooled and grandmother of four. She and her husband, George, love being out in nature and enjoy the rural character of the Liberty Village.
Support from Friends
TOM is a very committed, politically conservative, environmentally sensitive, cohousing advocate. He works as a community planner, construction manager, and real estate broker and completed a lot of the work for our rezoning, subdivision planning and site development. He enjoys bike riding, swimming, skiing, scuba diving and triathlons as well as reading, cooking, cohousing and getting property taxes reduced. His major aspirations are to get his home and a common house built at Liberty Village, ski the Canadian Rockies, dive on the Great Barrier Reef, and find time to enjoy kayaking.
Lifetime Summer Camp
MARTIE works as a hospital supervisor and also has her own business as a personal life coach. She now has her grandson Tim and his family living with her and loves having the children around. She is a facilitator for Liberty Village, is on the marketing and development teams, and loves to cook. Her hobbies are reading, listening to movies and doing anything with her family.
TIM works in retail, customer service and selling anything he can on eBay. He is an AVID Cowboys fan, having grown up in Dallas, TX. His hobbies are fixing things around the house and watching movies. JODIE works as a waitress. She enjoys dancing and doing things with her children. HUNTER is 10 and wants to be a star football player. He enjoys reading, video games and playing outside with his friends. DALLAS is 5 and you can find him speeding around on the bike he just learned to ride, riding his scooter and learning skateboarding. He collects rocks and loves to paint. KATELYNN is 16 months old, gets into everything and thinks she runs the house.
Beautiful, Friendly Neighborhood
WENDY is a Psychology Professor, the wife of JANUS, and the proud mother of SILAS and CALEB. She enjoys playing tennis, skiing, hiking, and playing cards. She thinks that there is no better, safer, more enjoyable place to raise children than in Liberty Village.
JANUS is WENDY's Husband, and SILAS and CALEB's Dad. He enjoys playing with all of the kids in the neighborhood, and he, Silas and Caleb usually host after dinner parties for the kids while the grown-ups get to socialize. He also enjoys playing guitar, making music with computers and when there's time, watching freaky foreign flicks.
SILAS is 7 years old and CALEB is 3 years old. They enjoy hosting all of the neighborhood kids for impromptu get-togethers in their playroom. They also love running, riding bikes, and skateboarding along the car-free road in Liberty Village.
NANCY is a parent of ANNA. Both feel very settled into the cohousing lifestyle and love being part of this exciting community. Nancy is a social worker in Frederick County. She enjoys scrapbooking, photography, going to movies, and cooking international cuisine; she fantasizes about exercising, preparing nutritional meals, and traveling around the world.
ANNA enjoys soccer, dancing and singing.
A Lifetime Home
MIKE is the father of Matthew & Kate & husband of Beth. He loves to ride his bike around the fabulous local country roads, help coach wrestling, run in the park, raise & eat vegetables from the garden, work around LV with others, eat with neighbors, share in a book club, besides enjoying his work as a physical therapist.
The Ultimate Extended Family
BETH is a nurse-midwife, mother of two school-age children and spouse to MIKE Johnston. She loves living in community, especially community meals. She enjoys outdoor activities such as biking, hiking and camping as well as reading and knitting.
Growing Together
JANET discovered cohousing while living in the San Francisco Bay area. During her 30 years in California, she practiced law, worked for several nonprofit organizations, and studied aikido, meditation, and foreign languages. She moved to Liberty Village rather than into cohousing in California in order to be closer to family (she's a Pennsylvania native), breathe cleaner air, and - yes - because of housing prices. She still works part time for the State of California, and is re-discovering gourmet natural foods cooking, gardening, and how to live with Atlantic coast humidity. Working from home has given her the chance finally to adopt a dog, and she also works with dog rescue organizations and takes care of neighbors' dogs when they're away.
The village I always wanted to live in.
CHELSEA is Freelance Designer, who owns her own start up business. She works in Graphic Design, Event Design and Interior Design. She enjoys volleyball, board games, gardening, reading, ping-pong, cooking, going to the beach and sparking ideas in others. She has made good friends living in cohousing.
Fresh Air
PETE is a software engineer currently working for a small company near Ft. Meade. He maintains a saltwater reef tank at home. He enjoys playing indoor & outdoor volleyball and spending time with his wonderful wife, CHELSEA.
A Wonderful Destination After a Commute
JOHN is a cancer researcher who works for the federal government at Ft. Detrick. He likes backpacking in the Pacific Northwest, riding a bike on back roads, or spending time at his cabin in Pennsylvania. He is master of the chicken coop and an avid gardener and woodworker. He lives with his terrier, Waldo.
Not at Liberty To Say
MIRIAM is the wife of JIM. She is the mother of two grown children, Andy married and living in Florida and Whitney at home. Miriam is a Physical Therapist and enjoys exercising, reading, and knitting.
I see cohousing as "Neighbors Who Care"
ANN moved to Liberty Village with husband, drex, & daughter, Rachel, in August 2005. In searching for a more rural, but not isolationist, lifestyle, Ann happened upon the Liberty Village web site. The web site (and cohousing philosophy!) were so amazing that she and her husband sold their home in Silver Spring, MD, built their new home and moved in under one year! Ann works as a Frederick County high school chemistry teacher. When not preparing lessons or grading papers, Ann enjoys edible landscaping and keeping fit with Tae Kwon Do based exercises at Liberty Village.
Hard to Move Away
For MARSHA: No, it’s not that I didn’t breathe a deep sigh of contentment while having dinner on our back deck overlooking seasonal changes… changes vibrant in color and beauty expressed through the land of grass and forest. It’s not that I didn’t love the quiet, lilac scented mornings with a mug of hot tea on the screened porch off our bedroom door. It’s not that I didn’t relish connective times of relaxation, conversation and laughter as only a front porch swing and a neighbor can bring. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy a home environment of lovely quiet with a soothing, romantic décor. It’s not that I didn’t grow and learn in patience and better communication in our community and all that was offered in the D.C. area. It’s not that I didn’t take delight in being part of the lives of children growing into fantastic teens and adults. It’s not that I didn’t feel the grief and sadness with the leaving of community members and neighbors who moved away or left the planet. It’s not that I didn’t take extreme pleasure in immersing myself in the joy and challenges of co-housing. It’s not that I didn’t love, love, love to cook and create and eat and commune with people I came to adore.
It’s just that I felt an intuitive call to move to The Woodlands, TX, and serve as a minister in a different kind of community. It’s just that I needed to be closer graphically to my daughters, sons and grandchildren. So I re-located…
And, now there is an empty house waiting to be a home once more for someone else… someone who wants to know the happiness and sense of contentment in an outrageously caring and loving community set in an environment of nature that is nurturing to the body, soul and spirit.
We have openings...you could be added to this list!