Michael Van Den Bossche answers the door of 1900 Jefferson Park Avenue, an acoustic guitar slung across his chest. He has a frizzled beard, wears an orange Amnesty International T-shirt and running shoes, and his shoulder-length red hair is pulled back in a ponytail. This must be the only residence in town where his appearance seems entirely appropriate.
Ven Den Bossche, a chemical engineering graduate student, is a member of Co-operative Housing at the University of Virginia, a group that promotes affordable, democratically-run housing. CHUVA's three residences on Jefferson Park Avenue and Shamrock Road are jointly rented by 14 undergraduates, graduates and community members.
Visiting the 100-year-old house on JPA is like stepping into a European hostel. Paintings by past residents decorate the walls and guitars are strewn on couches and in corners. There's a sound of something sizzling in the kitchen and residents speak with Turkish, French, Russian and Vietnamese accents.
"A lot of international students see this as a cheap housing alternative," said Rory Campbell, an Australian native and music graduate student. "Then they realize it's a great way to meet people."
Van Den Bossche, who is Dutch, spent six months in graduate dorms. In dorms, he said, students kept to themselves and avoided their rooms as often as possible, but CHUVA is a welcoming place to return to at the end of the day.
"I can come back, turn up the guitar amp and have a Heineken," Campbell said.
To keep the house running smoothly, residents are responsible for weekly chores like cleaning the kitchen and paying bills. They agree upon grocery lists and split the costs evenly and purchase in bulk whenever possible at places ranging from Integral Yoga Natural Foods and local farmers' markets to Kroger.
Every CHUVA houses recycles and keeps a compost heap. They also have gardens where they grow tomatoes, herbs, pumpkins, bell peppers and kale.
On Sundays, the house on JPA holds a house dinner and meeting. Tonight, the residents devour the meal of Turkish meatballs, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, greens and chocolate mousse; for the rest of the week, they'll be following the cost-effective, less-is-more graduate student's diet.
In this house of organic food junkies, jugglers, musicians and European ex-pats, you've got to wonder -- there must be some crazy parties, right?
University faculty member M.B. has stayed in other co-ops around the world and said some are famous for their party atmosphere. CHUVA, however, is a little different.
"I lived in one with 60 people," she said. "There were house meals every night, huge meetings, and it was mostly students. It was a lot dirtier. We're more of a mature environment."
Though a few residents have been known to knit together, that's not to say CHUVA residents don't let loose once in a while. Taking advantage of his chemical engineering education, Van Den Bossche and Campbell have learned to brew their own beer. 1900 JPA hosted a giant potluck dinner with charades, and the aftermath of their Halloween party is still on display: Hanging on the coat rack by the door are a bear mask, a green helmet, a cowboy hat and a gold trench coat.
The CHUVA community was a welcome change for sociology graduate student Inna Faktorovich, who lived alone prior to joining the co-op.
"I spent a year in Ukraine living in an apartment with my cat," she said. "The cat was wonderful, but being alone really sucked."
Now, she said, the challenge is choosing among the numerous options of what to do every night.
"There are so many different types of people and so many things going on," Faktorovich said. "I will only be here one and a half years -- it's going to be difficult to leave!"
CHUVA is part of a national organization of co-ops, North American Students of Cooperation. Any resident of a NASCO co-op is welcome at any other NASCO-registered co-op. So for M.B., leaving Charlottesville doesn't mean her days of kale-growing and kitchen-cleaning need to end.
"I plan my vacations around NASCO co-ops," she said.
Editor's note: M.B.'s name has been removed for reasons pertaining to her safety.
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