The road less traveled: Hacker House: Lessons learned (and how to start your own)

Thanks for writing this up. There were good, specific bits of advice in here I hadn't thought of (and I've had lots of roommates).<p>(Though I do think no matter how common your interests are, the most important part of sharing living space is stuff like respecting other people's moods and stuff, etc)<p>So, that's it, I'm inspired. I want to start a Hacker House in Portland, OR. Though <i>I'm</i> a computer person, other people's hacking would not be limited to code. I'd also welcome bike hackers, materials hackers, etc.<p>Dudes and dudettes (i'm a girl, both boys + girls welcome) in the area should hit me up to talk/wiki-ify any thoughts you have. Am thinking of starting this late summer-ish.<p>Email within two clicks of my profile here.

This is something that's interested me ever since I heard about the first Hacker Houses here on HN, and it's great to hear some details about how it worked out. I'd love to get a bunch of folks together in one place and let the ideas flow, especially if there was some hardware involved. Kind of a modern-day mad scientists' laboratory, if you will...<p>EDIT: and if anyone else in Wellington NZ thinks the same way, take a look at my profile and get in touch. :)

Another tip: get a cleaning lady. 5+ guys in a house can get messy quick. :-)

If you are interested in this, you may also enjoy this presentation on "hacker space design patterns": <a href="http://events.ccc.de/congress/2007/Fahrplan/events/2133.en.html" rel="nofollow">http://events.ccc.de/congress/2007/Fahrplan/events/2133.en.h...</a><p>These design patterns proved helpful when setting up Noisebridge, a hacker space in San Francisco.

Your formula for sharing rooms doesn't seem to scale well to many room-sharers. How about:<p>P = (houserent * 0.5)/numpeople + (houserent * 0.5 * a)/numrooms<p>Where a=0.5 if you're sharing a room, else a=1. This basically assumes that half your rent is going towards the common areas &#38; utilities and the other half is going towards the room.

Anyone interested in starting a HH in the Cambridge/ Boston area? If so, ping me!

Anyone else besides me pass the first two tests? Pretty awesome way to attract a group of nerds, if you ask me. (going to work on the third at home).

What counts as a commitment? Just a verbal agreement or contract / down payment? Seems like people backing out would be an early concern.

check out the current pa hh rates ;)