Alvastra
In 1980, Alvastra, the first property of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires was founded in Egremont, Massachusetts, on ten acres of land purchased for the then market rate of $25,000. On the land sat two houses, a garage, and an apple orchard established in 1925. Eventually the garage became a house and an additional home and studio were built. The added house is now home to residents with developmental needs and their caregivers. The studio is now home to the office/library of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics. In 2003, The Nature Conservancy donated an additional acre to the Community Land Trust abutting Alvastra land. Today, the three private residences, group home, the library, and the orchard occupy eleven acres adjacent to Jug End Reservation, a state forest.
