The Compound

no cats - no couples - no police. we share utilities, fast internet, sundries, communal food; furnished room, communal craft supplies and more; zero money goes into the pocket of a landlord and this is not a profit-seeking project.

What are we doing now? we are suddenly a tiny zine distro, we’re making a house website, creating shaggy latch hook art, participating in a half dozen book clubs!... we’re maintaining this 100 year old house to make it more weathertight, rescuing pumpkin pies and bread flour and caramel apples from the dumpster, we’re getting things ready for a garden in 2021, writing, singing, performing, we’re decentralizing and empowering and resourcing, and we’re killing our inner liberal. We’re reading about queer negativity and nihilism, re-reading The Disspossessed, learning about anti-politics, discussing the Situationists, we’re watching vintage czech cinema WR: The Organism, trading stories about WWOOFING, and taking road trips. We’re sitting in front of the fire with hot cocoa.

All the poly people step up --- and answer for your tragedy! Who rules who and how have we let this go on? What is “ethical” about ethical non-monogamy? Is the relationship of a couple/ triad/polycule/whatever of greater value than others? How many collective and risky radical projects are iced in favor of the docile surveillance of coupling?

We antagonize commonly accepted modes of non-monogamy, and monogamism in general, as contrary to the tenets of anarchism and visionary relationship building. We hope this will spur participants to greater awareness of how our radical politics do (or do not) function on an interpersonal level.

Sink your teeth into the case for cheating, de-pedestalize sex, smash amatonormativity, enact boundaries instead of rules, nourish queer anti-assimilationism, decolonize love, and refuse ownership over one anothers’ bodies, hearts and minds.

Come deprogram, create anti-monogamist praxis, authentic joyful relating, explore the antipolitik of desire. Instigate against the dominance of couples and the nuclear family.

If you’re interested in living with us, send us more about you and your questions for us - consider answering these questions.

The Compound is a gorgeous 1914 house on a sprawling plot, right off of Woodward in Highland Park (Detroit). Seeking radicals, queers, @narch!sts, and socially critical writers/educators/artists to help co-create a burgeoning collective (short and long term).

Spacious 3000sf: big kitchen, two cozy fireplaces, light-filled LR gathers 20+, MCM paneled basement movie cave with 100” projector/screen, book & zine library, dining room, breakfast room, laundry and basement freestore, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths + 2 half-baths, carriage house apartment, garage for your bike, huge yard with: fire pit, compost, park benches under shade trees, a ready plot for your garden, grill, layout chairs... Bedrooms are large & furnished. Charming and warm, the house has original colorful tiled baths, honey woodwork, built-in cabinets/bookshelves, decadent accents/original art, and wood floors. Clawfoot yard tub for summer soaks; we dream of building our sauna.

We have enjoyed weekly dinners, stuff exchanges, yoga/body work, art nights, direct action meetings, discussions, readings, queer parties -- just to name a few. In a given month maybe we: talk big ideas, read/discuss articles, share skills, work on house improvement together, share explosive dreaming sessions, help each other, prepare community meals and deliver free food, have a slumber party, go on food rescue missions, host visiting friends...

In addition to cohousing, The Compound is a hub for pointed critique of monogamy, capitalism and myriad oppression. People come for shared projects/resources, and an expansive vision of pleasure, autonomy, interdependence, decentralization, and boundless queer joy. TC is explicitly ‘anti-monogamy’ (different to non-mono), and this antagonism is foundational to the project. A banner hangs in the hall, “this is a monogamy critical space!” We challenge coupledom, the nuclear family, and neo-liberalism as chilling to both autonomy and radical collective possibility. Folks have co-created media and experiences over many years that explore non-hierarchical relating/relationship anarchy.

Seeking ~2 residents to continue the cohousing and hub experiment. We do not pay rent, but share costs/utilities (for a big drafty house); rooms are generally intended for one person, sliding scale, average $500/month long term. Includes utilities, high-speed internet, furnished room, space for your events, guest room for your friends, rescued food, freestore, workshops, laundry, library, more as available.

Ideal Candidates bear some of the following:

- excited about learning, experimentation, work, fun, play, adventure, sharing housing, hub space, events! Living in a collective carries demands (daily interaction, weekly meetings, thought and action, chores, house maintenance, etc.) but we think it’s worth it… folks with experience or intrigued about intentional space to the front!

- working to resist avoidant (or codependent) behaviour and engage both boundaries and productive conflict (we have some supportive tools, and hope to develop more)

- find value in sociality in the home (everyone gets quiet alone time! but not a good fit for those seeking mainly solo undisturbed living)

- resilient to criticism/willing to actively support unpopular radical (visionary!? experimental!? risky?!) ideas and action. We are sometimes intentionally abrasive to liberal ideas of relating and organizing. We value discourse and are not a monolith --- but we hope for some significant overlap and alignment.

- invested in the idea that we are each subsidizing communal living + event space with our work, creativity, and funds (and cleaning). We are considerably cleaner than most radical housing; the right person feels comfortable in and wants to contribute to a pleasantly cared-for environment (beyond the bare minimum of washing your own dish; we clean up after events, communal meals, etc.).

- mammal/furry pet free (we do have a fish) due to allergies, politics, aversion, other; NO CATS OR DOGS. Small pets like a hamster maybe, ask early.

- Racists, Sexists, TERFS, SWERFS, Bigots, Slut-Shamers, Zealots, Homophobes and other general WTF need not apply.

Seeking long term, but also open to hosting for a few weeks or a few months; traveling weirdos inquire! Interested in people who want to come to Detroit to work on a specific radical project (so tell us yours!?), or to help with our ongoing anti-monogamist and home improvement projects (we’ll tell you more!).

We have a sliding scale system for covering the shared costs/utilities for a huge old drafty house. The average contribution needed to barely cover our bills each month if the house is full, is $500 per person; if some pay more and some pay less, this needs to even out for us to be able to pay the bills/sustainability. If you can pay more than the average of $500, you will help subsidize costs for someone who has fewer resources. You could also think of it as a scale from $0 to $1000+, with $500 being the middle-almost-sustainable-option if we are at full capacity. There is normally not any overage, but if people choose to contribute even a little more, it adds a tiny bit to our emergency fund for when the washer or fridge breaks down. Zero money goes in the pocket of a landlord each month. When you get in touch, please let us know: what do you want to contribute to shared costs of living?

We are currently creating a house website (want to help!?), but poke around:

https://www.patreon.com/thecompound (specifically about the house!)

www.communitiesnotcouples.com (some past and present projects)

bit.ly/RADContentLibrary (local zines and media by associated folks)