Inspired by the countercultural arts lab movement of the 1960s, the New Brighton Arts Lab is a beautiful six bedroom house in New Brighton, opposite the Gorsehill Water Tower.
We are a five minute walk away from New Brighton train station, and ten minutes from a 3.5km promenade, the longest in Britain. By car, we are 20 minutes away from Liverpool, 30 minutes from Chester and an hour from Manchester, where some of us work.
The mix of different individuals brings diversity to our experience of living together, including different social, environmental and cultural perspectives, and interests ranging from music, art, psychedelia and permaculture through to martial arts, saunas and nature spirituality.
We eat together most evenings, buy our wholefood staples communally, grow some of our own food, and keep bees and a small flock of chickens. We are part of an organic veg co-operative based in Chester and receive a fortnightly order of seasonal and mostly British produce. Every few weeks, we visit a local spring to collect our drinking water.
The house has several communal spaces, including a music room with a record collection and library, a living room with a wood burner, and a cinema room in the loft where we host regular film nights, workshops and community gatherings.
The house is privately owned, and we make decisions together. Our long term vision is to expand this intentional community with more properties in the street, to reignite the ancient ways and play our small part in creating what Charles Eisenstein calls ‘the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible’.