Etsy's Handmade Blog
There's No Place Like Here: Communal Living with Nikki Silva
Story by objecked
Published on September 23, 2009 in This Handmade Life

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(music by Forrest Lewinger, animation by JuliaPott)

While traveling to help promote Etsy as a sponsor of the Bay Area Maker Faire, I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to visit the wondrous place that is La Selva. After a beautiful sunlight-through-the-mist drive down the winding seaside road of Highway 1, I reached Watsonville, CA, and eventually La Selva, where Nikki Silva, a public radio producer best known for her work as one half of the Kitchen Sisters, greeted me. Nikki led me through the communal home that she and eight others have built for themselves in over thirty years of hard toiling work. Naturally we waited all day for a break in the fog so I could get a shot of the majestic view overlooking Monterey Bay.

Davia Nelson, the other half of the Kitchen sisters, above left and Nikki on the right.

Any high-end designer home may be engineered by master architects and built by contractors for millions, but part of the beauty of this place is that it was designed and built by nine people, who wanted nothing more than a place to call home. I suppose it was to their great fortune that one of the original nine happened to be a master architect and builder, but even so, La Selva is built largely from reclaimed materials from other buildings in the Santa Cruz area that had either burned down or were being remodeled. The stories that Nikki shared of how and where they sourced building materials were both industrious and inspiring. La Selva was built on the weekends, one house at a time, step by salvaged marble step.


La Selva is filled with the families' interesting collections, including Nikki's sock monkey hoard.

While Nikki attests that there was no intention of building a commune per se, it is very much a communal living situation. They are all partners in the shares of a single plot of land, and each partner or couple has a housing space within the whole compound based on their share. On the property, there are four separate houses, a large barn, a storage shed and an art studio. There is also a main house that has the kitchen, living room, and bathhouse (I didn't pry). In total, eight unique yet cohesive structures share the property of gardens, fields, and forest, overlooking farmland and the pacific ocean. For those living at La Selva, they eat dinner together every night, take weekly turns with the meal preparation and cleaning of the kitchen, and share in a remarkable sense of togetherness that is much like that of a family.

As the sun seemed to slip into the sea, closing my window of opportunity to keep shooting this wonderland, the kind folks at La Selva were gracious enough to have me for dinner. I expect this is their tradition for many a welcome guest. After dinner, we tuned in to a local Santa Cruz radio station to hear Nikki's daughter, Molly, recite a recent piece of her writing for which she had earned an award. It was a touching moment to sit with the group of people who had collectively raised Molly and hear her voice over the radio waves, the medium of her mother's legacy. It's hard not to imagine that every evening there is just as spectacular.


Much of the original art seen on the walls of La Selva can be found in the shop of Nikki's husband, Charles Prentiss. The vintage radio shown above is from johnnyvintage.

Watch more There's No Place Like Here Videos| Shop Local Santa Cruz

Looking for more styles and interiors? Check out our video series, There's No Place Like Here, where creative types show us their unique spaces — infused with their aesthetic and filled with the treasures they collect. Get involved and show us your amazing space in this Flickr pool.

Tags architecture, artist, building, California, communal living, commune, cooperative, decor, Earth Tones, eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, film, green, Kitchen Sisters, LaSelva, lifestyle, Nikki Silva, public radio, reclaimed, salvaged, santa cruz, sustainable, Theres No Place Like Here, This Handmade Life, THIS HANDMADE LIFE, utopia, video, watsonville
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79 comments     Login to add your own!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:04 p.m. SusanFaye

What a great concept and what beautiful, creative spaces! Very inspiring!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:05 p.m. pinkytoeclothing

Wow, this article was simply amazing. What an incredible story, truly inspiring!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:06 p.m. foamywader

I love this series!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:08 p.m. poppyswickedgarden

THis is an Absolutley wonderful story! WE have a 4 apartment complex ourselves with 3 different ETSY artists living in them! It is wonderful to share and dine and create together!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:08 p.m. SeaFindDesigns

loved this!!!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:11 p.m. DreamzBoutique

love the story

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:11 p.m. LaveMeSoapCo

wow!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:14 p.m. VintageEye

Lovely story!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:14 p.m. aBreathofFrenchair

Great video! I enjoyed viewing their shared community...even the bathroom! :)

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:15 p.m. Vanessa

poppyswickedgarden, add some photos to the flickr group we started for this series. We'd love to see your guys' place!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/theresno...

I got to visit La Selva when I was working on the Sonic Memorial Project with Nikki and Davia in 2002. It felt like home. I never wanted to leave. To this day, I dream about having such a wonderful (and affordable) living situation with family and friends. Nikki, you are an inspiration as always!

Everyone should check out the Kitchen Sisters' radio documentaries. So great.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:21 p.m. MyMoms

Very inspiring & creative spaces! love the picks. Thank you!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:27 p.m. WoodPigeon

sounds great! amazing story!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:36 p.m. UglyBaby

Drooling.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:56 p.m. slidesideways

So so beautiful and inspirational. We should all be able to live together like this. Thanks for sharing your story!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 4:57 p.m. fallenpeach

this is an idea that has been thrown around my circle of friends - it's great to see that it can be done.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5 p.m. LuuLuu5150

Gorgeous! It makes me want to start following my dream of having a small hobby farm. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful home!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:07 p.m. shantishanty

i had a dream like this when i was younger...i'm so glad it has been a reality for some!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:27 p.m. marymary

So inspiring!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:28 p.m. TheCottageCheese

What a beautiful place! I dream of building a mini version of this - a weekend retreat of tiny homes and artist/writing studios. Great inspiration!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:43 p.m. ChloesRuffleButt

Wow! What a beautiful place to live!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:43 p.m. blueskyclouds

Love those beautiful succulents!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:44 p.m. paramountvintage

absolutely beautiful! the tin roofs, the garden, the outdoor pizza kitchen....what a dream!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:50 p.m. BlackStar

great piece! LOL @ $8.00 sq. ft!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:55 p.m. sherrytruitt

This is so amazing, my Dad moved from Brooklyn to Napa and lived very similarly. Such great memories.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 5:56 p.m. daniellexo

Dreamy! I love how the salvaged pieces inspired the construction.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 6:34 p.m. VixVintage

What a beautiful story, thank you!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 6:34 p.m. poppyfox

Beautiful place!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 7:14 p.m. Furiousdreams

This is my favorite Storque article yet! Takes me back to my hippie roots and shows how folks can live together harmoniously and with great design. Love it. Thanks, posting on my blog.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 7:56 p.m. stubborndogAD

All I've got is "wow!" What a beautiful home!

Sept. 23, 2009 at 8:16 p.m. Horticopia

Having originally come from the Santa Cruz area myself, I'm not surprised by the wealth of creativity inspired by that magical place.

Happy Gardening

Sept. 23, 2009 at 8:37 p.m. ancientfuture

such a great story. i lived in an urban style communal living arrangement in davis, ca for a while when i first moved to california. it was a magical place filled with so much love and creativitiy and family! thanks for taking me back and reminding me of that feeling... xo

Sept. 23, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. MagicMarkingsArt

WoW! I am enthralled, and would love to see more. Just curious...has anyone ever done a film documentary on this amazing place? I will definitely check out the kitchen sisters radio documentaries.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 9:54 p.m. recycledwares

i've always wanted to try communal living - this so inspires me to do so. but would take me years to get where you are, with the lovely buildings and landscape.

Sept. 23, 2009 at 10:07 p.m. girltuesdayjewelry

Sounds amazing. I'd love to see it in person.

Sept. 24, 2009 at 1:48 a.m. bitfolky

i am so stoked to see this story.
we're trying to do the same thing. much work to be done but our little yurt is up and there's a combined total of 7 kids screaming through the trees....
love the communal kitchen and bathing spaces. great idea...now on to find me some 50ft trusses...

Sept. 24, 2009 at 2:04 a.m. shizendesigns

How cool is this story?

Sept. 24, 2009 at 5:05 a.m. Iammie

Love it!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. ericawalker

what a beautiful home! i love the whole idea of working from salvaged materials.

Sept. 24, 2009 at 8:34 a.m. 1AEON

what? loove those monkeys!!! nice story!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 9:57 a.m. allthosethrees

How amazing.

$8 per sq foot?! A little different to London living. Haha.

Thanks for this heart-warming & inspiring post!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 10:06 a.m. designlab443

I love the whole idea of this style of living... not sure about the showers... but the rest is awesome!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 11:56 a.m. ultravioletvintage

Fabulous and definitely inspiring!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 12:27 p.m. bhangtiez

cute, luv the sock monkies!!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 12:34 p.m. chocolateandsteel

what a beautiful house, compound. I love the architectural details and the openness of it. I'm not sure if there are 9 other people I could live with for that long but I'm glad it works for them:)

Sept. 24, 2009 at 1:57 p.m. EJPcreations

What a touching story.

Sept. 24, 2009 at 2:33 p.m. bklynstitch

Wow, that was great! The music was perfect for that too.

Sept. 24, 2009 at 3:29 p.m. brianslittlegirl

what else can I say? Inspiring!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. thewheatfield

This is so inspiring! I'm lucky enough to be moving into a farm commune in under a week!!! For years, my dream has been to get a little barn studio, and I just so happened to find this amazing nook. The people at the farm are wonderful too :)

Thanks for sharing this great video - it made my day!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 4:12 p.m. BLUERAINBOW

great story... and charming people!

Sept. 24, 2009 at 6:17 p.m. monkeyandsquirrel

how wonderful! so beautiful too :)

Sept. 24, 2009 at 7:22 p.m. babook

Great video inside with the nice place and story !! perfect house : )

Sept. 24, 2009 at 9:24 p.m. sean11

I think this is my favorite No Place Like Here. Totally amazing.

Sept. 24, 2009 at 11:35 p.m. abianchi

Lovely Story!

Sept. 25, 2009 at 1:01 a.m. mooshoopork

ooh! ive always had a dream of living on a commune! hehe, the whole.. "it takes a village" seems ideal to me :)

Sept. 25, 2009 at 1:31 a.m. blueberryshoes

um. IM SORRY WHAT? this is a dream.

Sept. 25, 2009 at 10:28 a.m. Art2ArtColorado

LOVE this... especially the architectural salvage... the glass block, the rafters... i could go on & on.

beautiful!
thank you for sharing!

Sept. 25, 2009 at 10:42 a.m. vesselsandwares

That was a really lovely. Thanks for sharing!

Sept. 25, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. marikoartstudio

the ultimate lifestyle (^_^)
admire people like that in ca
my dream...
what a wonderful story, thanks

Sept. 25, 2009 at 4:42 p.m. OwlandMouse

the gardens are soo pretty!

Sept. 25, 2009 at 11:54 p.m. katieanneclothing

Truly a wonderful story, thank you!! :O)

Sept. 26, 2009 at 1:16 a.m. fasola

great work. you were ahead of ur time. love it!

Sept. 26, 2009 at 10:32 a.m. mosey

wonderful. so wonderful!

Sept. 26, 2009 at 2:49 p.m. JeannineRobertsRoyce

beautiful to live out the creativity of relationship with others, combining all the talents of people committed to making it work.

(hope the weird spam post above gets removed soon.)

Sept. 26, 2009 at 9:33 p.m. Sukiezw

This looks like such a wonderful place to live and raise children...very inspiring.

Sept. 27, 2009 at 4:01 a.m. orchardfarmsoap

la bella vida, thanks for sharing

Sept. 27, 2009 at 9:36 p.m. MetroGypsy

Ah! To quote your words it's "a wonderland" indeed! A true little Shangri-La! Simply beautiful...

Sept. 28, 2009 at 3:16 p.m. dumbo

This is fighting fon my Top 1 with "Something's hiding here". Wonderful spaces!!! We want more like those! Definetely MORE!!!! :)

Sept. 28, 2009 at 5:20 p.m. PhatGrrl

Amazing place to share with like minded people.

Sept. 30, 2009 at 12:56 a.m. DIPdesigns

I feel inspired!! There are many talents out there :)

Oct. 1, 2009 at 2:23 a.m. amcorrao

I am so inspired by your living situation. I've always wondered how I would live in such a communal way and still have my own space to create my art projects.

I am amcorrao@etsy.com and need help selling on this site.

Oct. 7, 2009 at 3:28 p.m. BeauBazaar

What a beautiful, practical, dreamy place.

Oct. 15, 2009 at 1:52 a.m. raghousenternational

Absolutely amazing. I love it. I am that much more inspired to continue to make it to a heavenly place like that!

Ren
http://www.raghousenternational.etsy.com

Oct. 16, 2009 at 2:01 a.m. aehinto

this is ridiculously beautiful. i am so in love and so inspired!

Oct. 19, 2009 at 10:48 p.m. EcoFelt

I really enjoyed seeing that! Thanks for sharing.

Oct. 20, 2009 at 11:03 p.m. deniseks

This just proves you can live the creative life! Thanks for this affirmation. I want to join you! I live in Scotts Valley.....

Oct. 21, 2009 at 12:37 a.m. ColourflyNaturals

i want to watch this again and again, thanks!

Oct. 21, 2009 at 4:39 p.m. Spiralmystery

Looks like heaven to me.

Oct. 23, 2009 at 5:51 a.m. MetroGypsy

Watched again after a long subway ride, love it even more! :)

Nov. 17, 2009 at 10:09 p.m. DodgeStationPottery

Wow! Such a great story. I'm trying to do the same thing but roll reversal. Even though my parents are artisans, I'm trying to start the family business and keep it going so we can all live the way they did and do--for their art, craft, and surroundings! This is what I came home to try and start up, beautiful I think: http://www.dodgestationpottery.com/

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