The common building
The shared heart: studies, workshops, practitioner sessions, and a place to exchange ideas.
Santa Elena · Costa Rica
A homestead with a wider purpose
A family-led community in Costa Rica, bringing regenerative living, wellbeing, and useful technology into everyday life.
Property archive · The land’s first chapter
Land
Grow food, care for the forest, and work with the water.
Wellbeing
Make room for movement, rest, connection, and discovery.
Intelligence
Observe, learn, and share what helps a homestead thrive.
A good life, grown together
Finca BuenaVida is our family homestead and future wellness community on about 2.3 hectares in Santa Elena, near Pérez Zeledón.
We are bringing regenerative land, human wellbeing, and useful technology into everyday life. The main house is under construction; the wider community will grow around it.
A campus at a human scale
The movement gazebo
A large open-air space for yoga, physical training, breathwork, and gatherings.
The volunteer village
Simple volunteer cabins with a communal kitchen nearby.
The river retreat
A quieter wellness area and sauna, designed around the atmosphere of the river.
Built here. Useful beyond here.
SoilJournal is our homestead platform for land, crops, belongings, tasks, and observations. We are building it through real use, with AI tools and an affordable subscription for other homesteads in our longer-term plans.
Open SoilJournal →A place to contribute
Growers, builders, practitioners, engineers, hosts, and curious minds. We welcome people who want to help bring this place to life.
Explore opportunities →Demo story
Living principles / Observe and interact
An observation becomes a decision.
The demo garden makes “observe and interact” concrete: afternoon wilt on 27 July leads to a task on 28 July and a return visit on 4 August.
In SoilJournalKeep the dated field note, the bed, the care task, and the harvest expectation together. A land action can hold the question for the next growing cycle.
What happenedThe notes capture less wilt; the harvest still comes in below plan. Both belong in the record.
The next stepWrite what you saw, name one action, and set a date to look again.
BuenaVida / Living principles
Twelve principles. One connected place.
The ideas guiding BuenaVida, connected to everyday practice and a living record in SoilJournal.
01Observe and Interact
Get to know the place before deciding what to change.
At BuenaVida
Seasonal walks and field notes help us design around the land we have.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleKeep dated observations of shade, wet ground, flowering, and wildlife. Return to the same places through the seasons.
Record your first observation
02Catch and Store Energy
Keep some of today’s abundance available for tomorrow.
At BuenaVida
We plan to catch rainwater, store water, and make good use of solar energy.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleRecord rainfall, tank levels, and energy measurements to compare supply with everyday use.
Map your land
03Obtain a Yield
Make each stage produce something useful for everyday life.
At BuenaVida
Gardens and small-batch farm produce will bring the work of the land to our table.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleLog harvest amounts and the effort involved. Note what reaches the kitchen and what deserves more growing space.
Track your first planting
04Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
Let results change the plan.
At BuenaVida
We will let growing results and everyday experience shape each next step.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleKeep the original idea, the observed result, and the adjustment together in a dated journal entry.
Record a follow-up
05Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
Work with the recurring contributions of living systems.
At BuenaVida
Shade trees, perennial crops, and renewable energy are part of our design.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleNote which natural services replace purchased inputs or repeated work, and where additional care is still needed.
Plan a land action
06Produce No Waste
Find a useful next life for materials and resources.
At BuenaVida
Compost, useful repairs, and shared tools keep resources in circulation.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleTrack reusable materials, compost observations, and repair tasks alongside the belongings they support.
Organize your property
07Design from Patterns to Details
Understand the larger relationships before choosing individual parts.
At BuenaVida
Water, sun, slope, and forest shape the plan before individual spaces take form.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleDescribe the land zones and the patterns connecting them before recording smaller design choices.
Map your land
08Integrate Rather than Segregate
Place elements so that each can support another.
At BuenaVida
Gardens, animals, compost, and the shared kitchen are planned to support each other.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleLink crops, belongings, tasks, and observations to their land zones so the relationships stay visible.
Bring your crew together
09Use Small and Slow Solutions
Choose a scale that people can care for and learn from.
At BuenaVida
We are building in stages, beginning with the home and everyday essentials.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleChoose a manageable task, give it a review date, and record what it teaches before repeating it at a larger scale.
Plan your homestead costs
10Use and Value Diversity
Build resilience through different species, skills, and ways of contributing.
At BuenaVida
A layered food forest and a community of different skills bring variety to the project.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleKeep crop varieties and seasonal observations visible. Notice gaps in the planting plan and in the skills available to care for it.
Plan your next planting
11Use Edges and Value the Marginal
Pay attention to the places where different systems meet.
At BuenaVida
We are making room for the life along forest edges and the river.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleReturn to the same edges and note changes in light, moisture, plant growth, and wildlife activity.
Record a field note
12Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Treat change as information for the next useful move.
At BuenaVida
Flexible spaces and a living journal help us learn through the seasons.
In SoilJournal
Follow the worked demo exampleKeep a history of changes and follow-up tasks so each new decision builds on what happened before.
Plan your next action
Design principles by David Holmgren. Applied here at BuenaVida.