The House

House residents. We also have a couple of rooms set aside for short term work-exchange visitors. Currently Inram from Scotland.

As of Aug 2021 (in alphabetical order):

Jeff started as a work exchanger in Sept 2020 and now helps us with partial work exchange. From his bio: “I am at a crossroads right now: I just completed my MA degree in Global Politics at McMaster University, and have not made up my mind as to whether I should stay in Canada or return to my hometown, Hong Kong. As you may know, Hong Kong’s political developments have been worsening and I’m afraid that my career prospects there are limited. As such, I’ve been entertaining the idea of applying for a work permit and taking up a full-time job in Toronto. I am very keen on trying a vegetarian/vegan diet, and I’m also quite enthusiastic about learning how to prepare meat-free meals. After all, I’ve intended to move towards vegetarianism for the past year.”

Kamilla started as a work exchanger in May 2021 and became a longer term resident. She works at a farmers market. From here original profile she sent us: “I am eager to join your community. I think it is exactly what I need right now, and not only that, after reading the description, I know that I will most likely resonate with many if not all of its members 🙂 On a more practical note – I have experience with gardening, cooking, helping around the house, lots of charity work. I also have my masters degree in interior design so I can help with any DIY and building projects. I have been plant-based for 6 years now, I am mostly vegan with the exception of honey.

Karma moved in Sept 2020. She is an artist that loves to create environmental art out of stuff that is considered to be garbage. She also loves being creative in our kitchen

Luke started here as a work exchanger in early 2020 and became a longer term resident. He is now working at an indoor aquaponics farm. He brings us lots of organic baby greens. From his original bio he sent us: “I am a Canadian however I grew up overseas in Tanzania. I am outgoing, outdoorsy and fun-loving, I hold a degree in Environmental Engineering and I am extremely interested and dedicated to eating healthy and limiting my impact on the world around us. I have experience with construction, landscaping and all things handy-man related. I also love cooking, it recently has become a great passion of mine and enjoy experimenting with what would otherwise be discarded food waste.

Sarah

She is from Canada and started living here in Sept 2018. She now works in Massage Therapy. She originally wrote us:

“I have been searching for a family-like community living situation in Toronto for some time now. I aspire to live amongst people who are diverse yet like minded in the way they view the world, environment and food and the Lotus Feast Community House appears to encompass all of that and more.

I love living simply. A slower paced life where genuine connection is prioritized; connection with others, connection with nature and connections with oneself. A life filled with love, positive energy, joy, understanding, respect and cooperation. I am fortunate to currently have my life filled with family, nature, many forms of movement, bicycling, trips to the Saturday morning market and experimentation with hummus recipes and beet kavas.

I just returned home (London Ontario) from seven months of travel. For the most part, the trip was unplanned however an underlying theme seemed to reveal itself. From Norway to Denmark, Southeast Asia and New Zealand a ‘naturalist’ way of life, for lack of a better term, was consistent throughout. In Norway I connected with nature and slept out under the stars. In Denmark I was introduced to and experienced community living for the first time, a arrangement which I resonated with immensely. In Southeast Asia my life was forever changed through the my experience at an immersive Thai Massage course in the Lahu village. There was space, time and energy devoted to spirituality within the framework of a loving and supportive environment. Finally, in New Zealand I learned, worked and lived on lifestyle blocks and organic farms with people who not only believe in wholesome earth-conscious food and lifestyle choices but who act accordingly. I experienced outdoor showers, the wonder of composting toilets and the joy of worm farms!

I started my journey as a passionate vegetarian and now follow a mostly vegan diet. I’m not a big fan of titles but I am a fan of conscious food choices. I have retuned home even more passionate about food – how it is grown, permaculture, soil biology, animal welfare – and determined to one day own land and grow food and live sustainably.

Steve

“About 26 years ago, I was able to buy this house with the help of my father. From the beginning, the house had a vision of environmental awareness, spiritual connection and exploring alternative ways of living. I did a world trip through Asia 30 years ago. I had a life-changing experience at a Buddhist meditation retreat in Thailand. After a silent 10-day retreat I stayed longer and read a book about Gandhi. The combination gave me a strong desire to do service. Also during my trip I did a two week yoga retreat in India. Upon returning to Montreal to finish an architecture degree, I started an animal rights group at McGill called META. After returning to Toronto, I was a core volunteer for Toronto Vegetarian Association for many years and am still very involved. I pretty much follow a vegan diet for many reasons, including not wanting to participate in animal suffering, maximizing wilderness (less meat, more trees), and health. I like to do fix-up projects around the house, and participate in events put on by Meditation Toronto, a group that does soulful chanting to guitar music.”

Swetha (away in India until Sept 2021)

She started as a work-exchanger from India in Oct 2017 and loves cooking and offering yoga classes. “I love how Eco conscious and healthy your community home is and this would be a great match.
I would love to cook meals for everyone! Cooking vegetarian / vegan food is my interest and if we live together be ready to be surprised with new recipes ! ”

Steven (occasional resident)

He joined the house originally in July 2011 and moved out June 2016 but came back in 2017. He is leaving again for several months starting Oct 2018.  “I’m interested in technology and how it can be applied to make organizations more efficient. I’m also interested in environmental issues – sustainable and low-energy housing, transportation, food consumption, community gardens, and general sustainable and lightweight lifestyles. I’m becoming more interested in sourcing food and other things locally. I am also interested in other global issues around inequality and would like to work on things that improve the situation for people in communities, especially in developing countries.”

Vishal has been here since Jan 2019. He is into carpentry, creating community, dance and spiritual devotional practise.

Past residents:

Marius, Adonia, Elia, Chloe and Antoine, Narjiss, Neslihan, Nazeer, Olivia, Rael and Melanie, Angie and Peter, Andrea, Tonia, John, Jeannie, Silk, Soleil, Alina, Kat (and Marco), Sam, Mary, Steven, Carola, Alicia, Sambam, Khadeja, Bridie, Ashley, Chad, Emilio, Erika, Yana, Diana, Suzanne, Jophiel, Nelson, Lorraine, Ana, Maria, Lina, Doruk, Basil, Natalie, Alora, Mojo, Joe, Mike, Miriam, Diana, Meaghan, Derrick, Chantal. See our past residents page.

The house is an intergenerational mix of people aged 20s to 50s.

Interested in living here?

Update Aug 2021: There may be some spaces coming available to rent. Plus we do maintain one or two rooms for work-exchange, generally through the programs run by workaway.net and helpx.com. Before Covid hit, we also had an Airbnb space and may offer that again soon.

For longterm, we often allow a current work-exchanger to stay longer.  If you are interested and are currently in Toronto it may be possible to come by to see the house. If no space is currently available you can request to be on our waiting list. Shared houses like ours often have spaces opening up every several months.

An ideal candidate is someone who is inspired by the recent vision. But also important is being keen to live in close community with others, and get along well with the current mix of residents. New people stay for a month or two or three, then after that the current longterm people decide to whether to make them permanent or not.

Please email us a bit about yourself. See our Contact Us page. For more about the individual rooms see Pictures Needs updating.  Note: Comments submitted to this website about wanting to live here are read by us, but not posted, unless requested.

Sorry, no cats. Some of us have allergies.

A new vision for the house started May 2012. But as always it is changing and evolving.

Note: For the house vision we had prior to this one, see our archive page.  ‎

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