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This home in the city of Mississauga features solar photo voltaic, solar hot water, in -floor hydronic heating, straw bale insulated walls, and a co -housing livingarrangement. Three women have created this sustainable dream home in theconservative city-suburb of Mississauga, just twenty minutes from Toronto.Ac hieving this dream took a great deal of determination patience and will power .The genesis of this remarkable co-housing idea came from the needs of threeindependent, smart and creative women, Cheryl, Grace and Beth. Cheryl hadlearned about the concepts of co -housing in 1994. Cheryl was in her 30s and wasconcerned about her long-term economic future as a single woman.In 1997 She decided to talk to her friends Grace and Beth about the idea of workingtogether to build a home that they could share . Grace had been looking for condosin Toronto. This would enable them to express their independence while supportingeach other.Renovating at the time seemed like the best means to try out co-housing. However,with Beths sensitivity to chemicals the houses they looked at didnt work as shereacted to them badly. At that point they began looking for properties in Torontoand Mississauga. The two criteria for Cheryl were shopping within walking distanceand easy access to transit. The property in the town of Clarkson, near lake Ontario,in the south end of Mississauga fit the bill.They looked at five properties. The property cost $250,000. They purchased it inDecember 1998. Some concerns existed with the property as a honky tonk bar hadbeen tr ying to get permission to start a business on the corner. Several developershad looked at the property but had not done anything. Other properties simplydidnt have things like easy solar access. One, for instance, was in a valley near asw amp. There was also a desire to have enough space to grow food. This was, as itturned out, the last undeveloped property in Toronto.The day they closed on the property they met for a picnic lunch with MartinLeifhebber to start design on the site. It w as critical that the design be done on thesite, following the principles and ideas of Christopher Alexander, especially thebook A Pattern Language, Towns-Buildings Construction. Most architectureschools disdain him because he is too people oriented. Decisions are then madeon the basis of what people will live in the space, what God would do and based onthe ideas of beauty. Beauty is, Alexander found, based on 15 things or patterns thatwere common to all people. Architects typically dont accept these ideas. MartinLiefhebber did however.Ü This 6,000 square foot straw bale home was built in theconservative large city of Mississauga, near To ronto. Ifyou can build straw bale in Mississauga Ontario youcan build with straw bale anywhere.153