JAMAICA, Vt. – Located north of Route 100 in Jamaica, near Wardsboro Brook, Earthseed Ecovillage is a 430-acre intentional community and land-based cooperative project, designed to explore avenues to regenerative and affordable coliving and cooperative self-employment.
The cofounding team of Bob Rolen and Marissa Peck have successfully developed a growing residential community designed to foster social cohesion and teamwork, through worker collectives, forest farming, wild building, running cooperative businesses, and self-employment.
Established in 2022, the original “pie-in-the-sky” goal and vision was (and remains) to ultimately create a minimum of five interdependent intentional communities on the more than 400 acres of land, with each community sector consisting of five neighborhoods composed of roughly five pods. The key is each neighborhood remaining in alignment with the overall mission of supporting the emergence of the community.
Rolen began as an inventor and mechanical engineer at heart, which helped him develop the skills and resources necessary to create a broader impact. After becoming a parent in 2012, and eventually landing at an improvisational dance retreat in western Massachusetts, this led him to become the founder of an ecovillage near Brattleboro. Not long after, Rolen obtained the land in Jamaica for Earthseed in 2022.
Peck has an extensive background in nonprofit work and the local food economy, and moved to southern Vermont in 2022 to work with the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA). Additionally, through her work at NECCA, Peck launched SilverCircus, a program designed to build balance and memory for older adults through the joys of circus arts.
“Social connections across different demographics is an opportunity as Vermont’s population continues to shift,” Peck stated in a Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation interview. “Which was a part of the reason I launched the SilverCircus program to build these connections.”
Completely onboard with the concept of developing a cooperatively owned, land-based businesses and eco-friendly housing in the region, Peck joined the Earthseed Ecovillage project in 2023, and became a cofounder in the spring of 2024.
“Affordable housing and support for young and new businesses are two challenges facing Vermont, and I am seeking to support these challenges through the Earthseed Ecovillage project,” Peck said.
Peck has made an impressive impact in a short period of time, after being one of 24 people honored as a Southern Vermont Emerging Leader at the Southern Vermont Economy Summit. Individuals were nominated based on their work as community leaders and volunteers, and for their professional accomplishments and commitment to serving the region.
Upcoming plans in 2026 include beginning prep work for a “common house” build, an outdoor kitchen pavilion, and a cob oven-rocket stove setup. To learn more, visit www.earthseedecovillage.com.