The residents of Cotton Farm Village Cooperative in Danville celebrated the purchase of their manufactured-home park on June 14 with a community cookout and ribbon cutting. 

After two attempts to purchase Cotton Farm Village over the last three decades, the residents were thrilled to finally be able to say, “We own it!” and stabilize their housing affordability as they became New Hampshire’s 152nd resident-owned community (ROC). 

“It’s been a long journey and it's worth it,” said Guy Pichette, treasurer of the board of directors of Cotton Farm Village. “We’re quite happy and we're very thankful for all the support that everyone has given us.”

In New Hampshire, ROCs are corporations whose members — the homeowners — own and operate their park as a nonprofit, with coaching from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s ROC-NH™ program. Each home is individually owned, but the land under the homes is owned by the co-op. Cotton Farm Village — made up of 144 homes, two lots, and 12 apartments — is a multi-generational community with a mix of long-time residents and young families with children.

Residents take pride in belonging to a community much larger than their co-op. They are connected to 151 other ROCs in New Hampshire through ROC-NH™ and across the country through ROC USA®, which is spreading the Community Loan Fund's park conversion strategy nationwide.

Financed with a mortgage from the Community Loan Fund and our mission-aligned partners, the purchase was made possible by our neighbors-investing-neighbors model that turns donations and impact investor funds into loans and services for homeowners, small businesses, nonprofits, and communities.

New Hampshire faces a severe and urgent affordable housing crisis which impacts employers and families across the state. A recent report highlighting the state’s housing needs found N.H. will need nearly 60,000 new housing units before 2030, 40,000 of which are homes needed for purchase.

“The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund is preserving one of the most affordable homeownership opportunities remaining in our state by helping homeowners convert their parks to ROCs,” said President & CEO Steve Saltzman said. “We’re thrilled to welcome Cotton Farm Village Cooperative as the 152nd resident-owned community in New Hampshire.”

The Community Loan Fund got its start in 1983 when we connected impact investors with a community-in-need to play a role in creating the Meredith Center Cooperative — New Hampshire’s first resident-owned community (ROC). It quickly became a model for stabilizing manufactured housing affordability nationwide. Since then, we have helped purchase or preserve over 9,000 affordable homes and added coaching and guidance loan services that help borrowers navigate repayment. A complete list of ROCs in New Hampshire is available here.