Eighteen members of a family, spanning three generations, are sharing how living together on a 15-acre compound has enriched their lives, strengthened their bonds, and even saved them money.
Teran Sands, 35, lives with her husband, Carson Sands, 36, and their three kids–Sailor, 8, Slate, 5, and Scotlynn, 4–in a “barndominium” on their family’s 15-acre compound in Decatur, Texas. Six years ago, the Sands family moved from their luxury self-built home in Fort Worth when they had their first child and began to crave a simpler life, leaving their large mortgage and high-stress jobs behind.
Ms. Sands’s mother had bought a piece of land in 2011 on the edge of the city of Decatur after her divorce and built a home there. When the property behind her new home was listed for sale, she bought that too.
Ms. Sands’s mother transferred the deeds to the land, and Ms. Sands and her oldest sister divided 10 acres between them—at just $15,000 an acre, the land was a “huge blessing.” A third sister and her family soon joined them.
The Sands’s plot was overgrown with trees and needed clearing, re-surveying, and new property lines. Within 10 months of buying the land, the family had built their home, moving into the barndominium in 2017.
Next to the 3-acre barndominium, Ms. Sands’s oldest sister and her family live on a 5-acre property. Their in-laws live behind. Two hundred yards across the pasture is another sister’s home, and their mother’s. Fruit trees cover the property, and there has even been “some talk of a community garden.”
Having family “super close,” and with eight kids on the property, has proven to be a game-changer for the family.
Ms. Sands said: “I can easily let the kids go out and play, and they have built-in playmates. ... Maybe they don’t get along with one of them, but they’re always going to have somebody in their corner. That’s going to be something that they have their whole life, and this bond that they’re creating, it’s just so, so special.”
With her family as a part of her neighborhood, Ms. Sands, who runs an accounting firm with her husband, said she doesn’t need to worry, as she can always just let her kids go out to play.
“They have a lot of freedom,” she said. “they’re outside playing volleyball ... basketball, or jumping on the trampoline. We have three trampolines on the compound.”
According to Ms. Sands, other advantages of living in close proximity to her family are that the sisters can take care of each other’s kids when they get sick, family gatherings are easier to organize, and the households can share resources. The compound has even made it a “tradition” to host epic parties for birthdays and Halloween.
“We get multiple bounce houses, we have games, we do really big prizes for the kids,” Ms. Sands said “and we invite everybody, all of their friends.”
For other holidays, they meet amongst themselves and take turns hosting the gathering in each of their houses.
Apart from being able to be there for one another, the family has also been able to save money as they now can split the costs of things like fencing, dirt work, and more.
“My mom has a pool, so I would never spend the money on a pool because we have one right there,” Ms. Sands said. “My sister bought a volleyball net, and I was like, ‘Okay, great. Now I don’t have to buy one.’”
The kids are also reaping the benefits of living close to their grandmother, who loves to entertain them.
“I think it makes her life just fun and interesting,” Ms. Sands said, adding that her children “get to experience a lot” from their grandmother, who teaches them crafts and how to take care of plants while she and her husband are busy with work. With their simplified life in the compound, the couple can now afford to work less than before and spend more quality time with their kids.
By living close to her family, Ms. Sands hopes to teach her children, “that family is important, even if you get into a disagreement.”
“I think Americans are some of the loneliest people in the world,” she said. “We often separate ourselves, we want to do our own thing, and we’re busy all the time, so I think that for us to slow down and just really focus on the relationships in our life would make us a lot happier as a society in general.”
Are our relationships perfect? No. Do we continue to work on them all the time to [ensure] that we’re in each other’s lives? Yes.”
By sharing her unique story of togetherness, the mom of three wants to show that embracing community and a slower pace of life can reap huge results.
“Creating a really tight-knit group of people in your life, even if it’s just a handful of people, can really change your life,” she said. “If you’re 30 or 60, you can still make that change, and surround yourself with people that have similar values that you do.”
