We're looking for our people.
Brayden & Lucy here. We're parents to triplets, ten years into intentional community living, and searching for families to build the next chapter with.
A little about us
We moved to the Bay Area a decade ago and have built a life here centered on community from the start. We've each founded group houses, seen them expand though marriages and kids, and even (surprise) welcomed our own three little ones in 2023.
We're thoughtful, high-agency, and a little intense. We love saying yes to big escapades, spontaneous dinner hangouts, and the chaos of too many kids in one room right before bedtime. We work in AI, we care (a lot!) about the future, and we've learned to build systems that help us keep up with our own ambitions.
Our home dream is simple: people to build home with. Families to plan weekends with. Kids growing up alongside ours, learning to share and fight (and make up). Adults who celebrate each other's journeys and show up when it matters.
We know what it feels like to have your village since we've been living it for years. And we're not giving this lifestyle up.
Two ways we could build together
Start a new community with us at our existing place
We co-own a beautiful home in Elmwood, Berkeley. About 2,000 square feet of shared space, similar space for private rooms, a kitchen-oriented floor plan that brings families together for combined living, a big backyard where kids can go wild, and a decade of infrastructure and investments for making community work.
This was the home base of our previous community, Dreamship, which has been home to dozens of people over the years. We've learned to navigate conflict and growth, built systems to solve problems before they fester, and supported each other to follow our dreams wherever they take us. That chapter has closed, but our family of five is ready to co-create something new and bring everything we've learned.
The right family could join us here: two private bedrooms, a mixture of shared and private amenities, a garden plot and room to grow, and the rights to help shape the shared spaces from day one.
We'll offer to start with a 12-month rental to make sure the mutual fit is real, and have a fractional ownership structure in place to facilitate a transition to co-ownership if it works out and we're committing for the future together. It's a rare way into Elmwood that's otherwise hard to access. Co-ownership of 25-50% of a home in a premium location, without needing to buy the whole thing outright.
Find a village to join together
We're equally interested in multi-roof community setups. Neighborhoods where families live close, units or backyard ADU arrangements, places like Radish or Berkeley Cohousing.
We're in a highly time-constrained phase of life and aren't set up to lead the heavy lifting of building a whole new village from scratch for the benefit of others. What we can do is bring ten years of community experience, genuine investment, and a family of five ready to go all-in on the right opportunity.
If you're already building something, or know of a setup with room for us, we want to hear about it. If you don't have a specific opportunity but you're also searching, maybe we co-search together and figure out our compatibility in the process.
A Turnkey Option
Maybe you're part of a group already formed, looking for a large community-ready home which might work great for you. We're built on top of an LLC ownership structure that allows for fractional ownership and smooth transitions. If your group is serious about completely taking over something like this from our family, we'd be open to that conversation. If that's you, tell us in your application.
You might be a fit if...
- You've lived in community before, have confidence navigating common pitfalls, know yourself well, and are seeking intentional community rather than just a housing situation.
- You have (or are planning on) young kids, and you're excited about them growing up alongside others, even through the tougher chapters of the parenting journey. Or perhaps you are a childfree adult who is safe around kids and know what you are getting yourself into.
- You're drawn to intentional investment in each other and use systems as a way to move past conflict rather than dwell in it.
- You're financially ready to make a move like this a reality, whether renting or buying.
None of us fit perfectly—that's not what we're looking for. What matters is mutual growth, openness, and commitment to figuring it out together.
Let's see if there's a fit.
We'd love to hear from you—whether you have a specific opportunity or just a spark of curiosity.
Reach out to braydenmclean@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Start a conversation →