October 2025 Update
Another open room, and some design photos
We're a bit late with the roundup this month, but we hope you're making some spooky and fun Halloween plans!
No party, yes donuts
In past years we've hosted a larger Halloween party outdoors. We look forward to doing that again some time, but this year we're aiming smaller as we deal with a lot of housemate moves and home improvement challenges. We'll be frying up donuts and giving them out to trick or treaters, so please stop by and say hi if you're in the neighborhood!
We do have a few events on our social calendar:
- We're trying out a new movie screening series where we watch weird, cult, and horror movies while enjoying a wholesome home-cooked meal. This is a "friends only" event series, but please get in touch if it sounds like your kinda thing!
- On Saturday Nov 29th we'll be hosting a harvest potluck. This one is also "friends only", but we're still figuring out the details; please reach out if you're interested.
- We're not opening our Q3 planning meeting to the public as we're behind schedule on it; but our Q4 planning meeting is announced. You should attend if you're interested in finances, governance, and other kinds of long term planning.
One more room opening
The last of our housemate moves is taking place, and it looks like we'll have one extra spot for the right person. Our current priority is to find new members with skills relevant to managing collective housing, and who could see themselves staying for at least several years. If you think this sounds like you or one of your friends, please start a conversation! We'd love to invite you to some events and get to know each other.
Our website's "Housing" page will always have the most up-to-date info on what's available and what we're looking for:
MALT Community
Please feel free to forward our housing page, or this email, to a friend or to another mailing list. We're especially open to working with people planning to relocate to Massachusetts.
Designing our new community space
In last month's update, we covered progress so far on our post-disaster rebuild. We just met with our designer today to work on color schemes and layout choices for our first floor. While none of these schemes are final, we thought it would be fun to post some photos of the process!
Tile choices for the first floor kitchen and bathroom
The timeline on major home improvement projects means that you have to make a lot of tile and fixture choices before demolition starts, but won't get a chance to see them installed until the construction is almost done. There will be a second round of design work when the space is ready for painting, and that's where we'll choose furniture and accessories to finish the overall design.
The rebuild will be partially covered by insurance, but less than we'd hoped for due to various factors like depreciation. Rebuilding most of a housing unit to a more modern standard, with communal design in mind, will cost at least as much again as the insurance payout. We're also dealing with that unexpected expense at the same time as having to replace an oil boiler and a roof.
Thankfully, we practice very conservative financial management and plan for the long term. We are capable of taking on a project that will require years to pay off, because we plan to be here for years.
Happy haunting!
This update is a bit short and late, but we're hoping we can post some construction photos for next month. Until then, stay warm out there in your Halloween costumes! As always, please reach out if you have any feedback about our website or mailing list.
