A place to relax in nature with sustainable buildings, organic orchards, healthy food, and a natural swimming area, and rejuvenate yourself with yoga, meditation, silent retreats, juice fasting, digital detox, and workshops.
Permaculture Wellness Community
Overview
Vision
Many people in urban areas are very busy in their daily lives and are looking for ways to rest and recharge. Many are looking for more natural alternatives to the typical vacation. For this type of person, being in a nature with sustainably-built architecture and surrounded with living orchards and healthy food, a natural chemical free swimming area, and more, a naturally restorative feeling emerges. In addition, unplugging and doing restorative practices like yoga, meditation, silent retreats, juice fasting, digital detox, and workshops can provide a life changing experience. This kind of experience carries back home with you and produces lasting improvements and positive shifts in their normal life when they get home.
How did I create my vision?
When I was 2 years old, I had leukemia. I was continuously in the hospital, getting spinal taps, and more. My parents could see that the treatments were killing me and, against the doctors’ advice, they stopped the treatments and instead fed me carrot juice and pau d’arco, a medicinal tree bark. Their treatment brought me back to life. There were nine other children in the hospital with me, and sadly, they all died. I was the only survivor.
Eventually, I began teaching yoga. I went on many retreats and became attracted to the management side. That was when I first started thinking about running my own retreat center. By 2012, my wife and I opened our own vegetarian hostel with a yoga floor called Swami’s on the beach in Bali where we also hosted mini yoga retreats. In retrospect, this was a miniature version of my current vision. I’m also an experienced fine carpenter, and love to build and design buildings that support health and wellbeing.
I moved back to the US and set up a contracting business in Chicago in order to access specialized help for my autistic daughter. There, I was reawakened to the toxic nature of most American agriculture. In particular, in early 2025 when all the local farms were tilling, I got an alert on my phone that a big dust storm was coming, and suddenly we were immersed in a wall of dust. I knew that this dust was full of toxins that had been applied to the soil. While I knew I wanted to get back to building retreat centers, this was the moment I truly committed to this project.
Eventually, I began teaching yoga. I went on many retreats and became attracted to the management side. That was when I first started thinking about running my own retreat center. By 2012, my wife and I opened our own vegetarian hostel with a yoga floor called Swami’s on the beach in Bali where we also hosted mini yoga retreats. In retrospect, this was a miniature version of my current vision. I’m also an experienced fine carpenter, and love to build and design buildings that support health and wellbeing.
I moved back to the US and set up a contracting business in Chicago in order to access specialized help for my autistic daughter. There, I was reawakened to the toxic nature of most American agriculture. In particular, in early 2025 when all the local farms were tilling, I got an alert on my phone that a big dust storm was coming, and suddenly we were immersed in a wall of dust. I knew that this dust was full of toxins that had been applied to the soil. While I knew I wanted to get back to building retreat centers, this was the moment I truly committed to this project.
Milestones
Here are my plans for the year ahead:
- Find and purchase a beautiful 50-acre plot of land with established orchards east of San Diego where most of my family lives today.
- Survey the land, and determine the plan for tiny homes for rentals and possible ownership, a learning and therapy center, food production, and the natural swimming area.
- Build a membership community to support me in creating this result.
- Raise the funds required to build the community.
Budget
PROJECT BUDGET: $7 million
- Land: $1 million
- Tiny Homes & Buildings: $5 million
- Year 1 General Operations: $1 million
Website
Project website pending further development.