Early Days – 1972
Stelle began in 1973 as an intentional and private community comprised of individuals who embraced such principles as striving for excellence, fostering personal responsibility, being self-reliant, and nurturing a love for learning, for life and for others. As is often the case with intentional communities, disagreements in direction and priorities led to the departure of many early residents. In the early 1980's the community opened its doors to the public, thus ending its private status. Those who remained decided to organize themselves into a home owners association, and since that time the community has operated as would any other open and democratic community with elected officials, individual home ownership and shared utility maintenance.
The Community of Stelle Today
Transition to a homeowners association did not stifle the values and ideals residing within the hearts and minds of those who remained. From this social foundation, an atmosphere developed that supports application of sustainable practices to many areas of living, ranging from renewable energy to social interaction to food production. While no one would characterize the community as being completely sustainable, many would agree that it does provide a climate which encourages residents to consider the quality of life they would like to create as well as their individual and collective impact on the earth.
Today, Stelle's population has stabilized at approximately 100 residents (all ages) residing in 40 homes, one fourth of which benefit from either passive solar design or active photo voltaic hardware, or both. Stelle has its own solar powered telephone mutual (cooperative) providing telephone, cable TV, and wireless internet service. The community water plant receives a portion of its electricity from a windmill and a number of the households obtain a fair percentage of their food from either their own gardens or from the community garden (also a cooperative venture). Harry Carr, a long-time Stelle resident, has converted the farmland surrounding the community into an organic meadow-based sheep farm.
It is out of this atmosphere that CSC emerged, and now provides opportunities for others to experience this social experiment. While every experiment in living has its challenges, we in CSC have found the Stelle experience to be growth engendering and supportive of our desire to discover a more fulfilling life. This is the foundation of CSC.
Click here for the Stelle Community website to learn more about community life in Stelle.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the Center for Sustainable Community and do not necessarily represent the views of all Stelle residents.
We have found over the years that there are basically two types of folks who come to visit us here… well, three really. The first is the person who is interested in the fact that there is a community ‘out there' doing some interesting things and just wants to check it our for a casual visit. If this is you, we suggest you check out our:
The second type of individual is the person who is not only interested in what is happening here but genuinely resonates with the ideas and concepts around sustainable community and/or living more authentic and meaningful lives. We have found these folk desirous of asking more serious or inquiring questions and would like more than just a walk around town. If this is you, check out our ongoing events. You will find opportunities for part day, day long and weekend visits where you will be invited to ask what is really on your mind.
The third type of person who comes to Stelle is the person who is being dragged around by someone else. Sorry if this is you, but on the bright side, many of these folks have found their visits interesting if not even intriguing. We hope your visit will be fun too.
Visiting CSC and Stelle
If Center for Sustainable Community creates a context for exploring holistic, sustainable living, then the community of Stelle, Illinois created the context for the birth of CSC.
Stelle, Illinois
