Camino del Sol was the first single-family subdivision developed by the Madison Area Community Land Trust. We completed development for the first three homes in 2001. In 2002, we built a new street, Camino del Sol. From 2003 to 2006, we built 9 single family homes, as well as two zero-lot-line duplex homes. 

The homes at Camino del Sol are Energy Star and Green Built Home certified. The duplex homes are barrier free, and the single family homes built in 2005 and 2006 are visitable by persons who use wheelchairs.

The duplex homes were honored by Homes Across America as an innovative example of housing which combines affordability, accessibility, and energy efficiency/green building techniques.

Troy Gardens is an award-winning 31-acre project which combines community gardens, a certified-organic Community Supported Agriculture farm, a restored prairie, and a thirty home mixed-income cohousing community with 30 MACLT  homes. MACLT began working on Troy Gardens in 1995 along with a wonderful group of collaborating organizations and community members, and after 12 years, completed the housing component in 2007. 

Alongside the Troy Gardens housing community is urban conservation land, an organic farm, and a community garden, all on MACLT land.

Troy Farm is a 5-acre, certified organic farm in operation since 2001, and the city’s first urban farm. It is surrounded by 15 acres of urban open space including woodlands, a restored tallgrass prairie, grassland savannah, wildlife corridor, and an edible woodland trail for neighbors to explore. 

Troy Community Garden consists of 327 community garden plots gardened on by 190 families each year, which are available at low cost for Madison gardeners at a sliding scale based on income.  Our nonprofit partner, Rooted, Inc., stewards the non-housing portion of Troy Garden land with educational programming since 2002.

For more information on the Troy Gardens development and history, see www.troygardens.net.

To learn about the community gardens, farm, and natural areas of Troy Gardens you can visit Rooted.

The cohousing community at Troy Gardens

There are 30 cohousing units at Troy Gardens. Twenty of the units are reserved for low-moderate income buyers, and ten units are market rate with no income restrictions. 

Troy Gardens is organized as a self-governing condominium.  The community’s vision says:

“Troy Gardens is a welcoming and affordable cohousing community where we cultivate sustainability, trust, and meaningful connections with one another and the land through celebration, cooperation, and open communication. We are working toward a common house and common areas that facilitate this vision.”

Anniversary Court was the first multifamily condominium project developed by the Madison Area Community Land Trust. This neighborhood has 14 duplex-style townhomes, and is governed by the Anniversary Court Condominium Owners Association. The initial sales price of these homes was $91,500 back in 1998. In 2005, these homes were re-selling for a price of $107,500, and in 2019-2020, two homes resold for about $119,500. As the first homes in the land trust, Anniversary Court condos show us the power of permanent affordability as they remain deeply affordable long term while allowing for some equity gain for their homeowners.

The Madison Area Community Land Trust has a growing number of single family homes in Madison neighborhoods across the city. While a couple of these scatter-site homes were new construction, most were acquired, rehabilitated, and added to the land trust one at a time with the support of the City of Madison.