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Twin Oaks

Twin Oaks is an intentional community in rural Virginia in the United States, with about a hundred residents (roughly eighty-five adults and fifteen children) who live on approximately 450 acres (180 hectares) of farmland and woods. The community was founded in 1967 by a group of people inspired by the utopian novel Walden Two, written by the father of behavioral psychology, B. F. Skinner. While the influence of Skinner is still evident in the systems of labor and governance, the focus on behaviorism was abandoned in the early years of the community.

Values

Twin Oaks is a secular community that emphasizes equality, sharing, cooperation, and nonviolence while working to avoid sexism, racism, and other forms of discrimination and prejudice. The community practices income sharing and provides for members' basic needs. Community assets are held in common and the community is incorporated under 501(d) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service tax code. (Under 501(d), communal religious communities are tax-exempt and pass on corporate income to members as dividend income; members are then responsible for filing individual income tax returns.) The community of Twin Oaks has no recognized leader or shared religion.

Twin Oaks considers ecology to be an important focus of the community and refers to itself as an ecovillage. An emphasis is placed on conserving energy through practices such as sharing vehicles (private vehicles are not allowed), promoting carpooling and bicycling, and using passive-solar construction and other environmentally sound building practices. Photovoltaic electricity is used in one of the residences, and a solar hot-water system provides hot water in most of the community's buildings in the warmer months. The community has organic gardens and orchards for its personal food needs (though it is not self-sufficient in food production), and it uses organically grown soybeans in its soy foods business. Along with meat dishes, vegetarian and vegan menu options are provided at meals.

Income and Work

The major income source for Twin Oaks comes from a hammock-making enterprise, and the community has a long-standing hammock contract with Pier One Imports. Other income-producing enterprises include a book indexing business and a soy foods business. As a result of these businesses, members need not seek employment outside the community. Members participate in a variety of income-producing and domestic work in a labor credit system inspired by Walden Two. Members work about forty-two hours per week (although this varies based on the number of community members at any given time). For older members, the work requirement is reduced by one hour per week for each year over age fifty. Members are encouraged to learn a variety of jobs, and traditional gender roles are eschewed in work assignments (and in other aspects of community life). Members are not paid for their work but do receive an allowance of $75 per month for incidentals. Members automatically receive two to three weeks of vacation time per year but can earn more vacation time by completing more work. Every few years, members are eligible for a $400 vacation bonus. In addition, members are allowed to engage in a limited amount of work outside the community to earn money for vacations.

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