The Happy Castle Commune
A New Way to Live
The Happy Castle Commune is the central aspect of Happy Castle Co. These are the people, buildings, and businesses which sustain them. Being a Happy Castle Collaborator means that you live onsite for weeks, months, or years at a time.
Villagers are more or less permanent residents of Happy Castle. They collectively own and operate the various business operations onsite as well as contribute to the more social aspects of the community like cooking, cleaning, farming and, of course, building.
Each Villager not only lives and learns in the commune, they also earn a discretionary income from the campground's various revenue streams, including the campground, festival, and farm. It's our vision that Happy Castle will provide an alternative mode of living for like-minded free-spirits, giving people a chance to remove themselves from the daily struggle and alienation of our capitalist-rat-race to instead live and work in a radical, inclusive, and fulfilling intentional-community while simultaneously saving up for the next chapter of their lives. By becoming a Villager at Happy Castle you have the opportunity to learn new skills and meet new people while living onsite and accruing savings without spending anything on personal necessities. So stay awhile before moving on to your next project, whether that's a new camper van or a homestead of their own, and leave with part of what you helped to create.
We want our members to not only share in our vision of a more inclusive and self-sufficient future, but share in the prosperity it provides as well. For some, Happy Castle may be their forever-home, for others just a memorable stepping-stone on their own journey of self-discovery. Come meet people who think and feel like you, people who want to build something bigger than themselves. Come join the Happy Castle Commune!
the Dreamers
behind
Happy Castle
Art Camp
MEET THE TEAM
Thomas Loveheart
Hello, my name is Thomas Loveheart, I’m 28 years old, I graduated from UCLA with a degree in Sociology, I’m unemployed and I’m launching an Organic Farm Festival Commune in (Socorro County, NM) the desert of New Mexico. My vision started years ago in 2016 when I saw the wealth being created with the legalization of recreational cannabis in California. What seemed like a promising opportunity for disadvantaged communities to reclaim and build wealth through small business entrepreneurship quickly developed into the same old story we’ve seen over and over again; insurmountable taxes and regulations starving out hopeful small-business owners while multi-billion dollar corporations seized up another industry. Since then, it’s only gotten worse. People are fleeing Growing up in poverty, financial security used to be the most important driving aspect of any future career I would consider, outweighing even happiness, personal fulfilment, or values. For many of us who grew up with nothing, I think you can relate. Unfortunately, in the world we live in today, paying your bills takes priority over living a life you’re proud of and that makes you happy. After studying Sociology, Psychology, and Political Science for a few years. Thankfully, I realized Capitalist society is designed around how to most efficiently create wealth for corporations and if that’s the only metric by which you measure a society, we live in Utopia. As people though, we know that we’re capable of so much more. We’re worth so much more than $15 an hour. And for so many of us, this feeling of being underutilized, letting our untapped wasted potential, and unable to escape is the root of so many mental health problems. We’re forced to contribute to a system that doesn’t value our humanity, only our labor. That’s when it hit me. A way out, not only for myself, but for everyone who was willing to contribute to that vision of independence, self reliance, and sustainability.
ETHOS AND CULTURe
of the Happy Castle Commune
Happy Castle is more than just a place to live—it's a shared experiment in creativity, collaboration, and sustainability. Our ethos is rooted in the values of self-sufficiency, inclusivity, and the transformative potential of communal effort. We believe in living lightly on the land, embracing challenges as opportunities for growth, and fostering an environment where everyone can contribute their unique skills and passions.
At its heart, Happy Castle is a community of dreamers and doers who reject the alienating grind of mainstream consumerism in favor of something more meaningful. Here, art, ecology, and shared purpose intersect to create a culture of radical self-expression, mutual support, and resourcefulness. Every member is both a builder and a beneficiary of this evolving vision, where the success of the whole empowers the success of the individual. Together, we are redefining what it means to thrive. We're meant to live connected and sustainably. Our cooperative eco-village model is the new American Dream.
VISION DOCUMENTS
Who We Are, What We Want, and Where We're Going.
Happy Castle Art Camp
Our vision at Happy Castle is to create a completely self-sufficient eco-village in the high-desert, demonstrating the possibilities and practicalities of living off-grid an environment that has historically been labelled inhospitable and commercially worthless by mainstream society, while promoting the growth and fulfillment of our collaborators.
What's more is that, although we will establish the infrastructure necessary to do so, in no way do we intend to cut ourselves off from or shun the rest of the world, but rather, we intend to embrace and invite them to share in a revolutionary lifestyle that is radically inclusive, communal, and environmentally sustainable through our interactive art-garden, campground, classes, commune, content and, of course, our festivals.
Through this outreach, we seek to not only inspire wonder and growth in our visitors, but offer a genuinely viable alternative to the alienation and meaninglessness of the modern capitalist wage-slavery that oppresses the mind, body, spirit, time and potential of so many across our planet. Through our many onsite income-sharing ventures, we aim to build economic-freedom for our people as well as an internationally recognized brand which we hope to leverage in order to establish an ever expanding network of sister eco-villages across the country and eventually the world, thereby promoting raising human consciousness and restoring the environment.
COMMUNAL RESOURCES
At Happy Castle, communal resources are at the heart of our community’s collaborative spirit and efficiency. Residents share tools, books, buildings, meals, and access to some vehicles, increasing the need for individual ownership and encouraging cooperation.
We also provide access to a fully equipped gym for wellness and fitness, along with workshops and studios for resident artists of all kinds—whether you're a painter, sculptor, or builder. These shared spaces foster creativity, learning, and personal growth, while also making life more sustainable and resource-efficient for everyone involved.
COMMUNAL BUILDINGS
At Happy Castle, our community is designed around shared buildings and infrastructure that foster connection, sustainability, and efficiency. By prioritizing communal spaces, we lower construction costs, reduce labor input, and minimize resource consumption, all while cultivating a vibrant, cooperative culture.
One key feature of this design is our shared bathroom and shower facilities, which serve the entire community. Instead of each household constructing its own facilities, this centralized approach dramatically reduces water consumption per person, simplifies maintenance, and lowers overall construction costs. Similarly, our shared cafeteria and dining areas provide a central space for meals, bringing people together while reducing the energy and resources required to cook individually.
This type of communal infrastructure creates a unique culture of cooperation, where everyday activities become opportunities for connection and shared purpose. Unlike the isolated, individualistic nature of most modern living arrangements, our design encourages collaboration and collective problem-solving. It fosters a deeper sense of belonging, where everyone plays a part in the upkeep and success of the community. This efficiency-oriented, community-centered approach provides a way of life that prioritizes not only environmental sustainability but also the well-being and relationships of those who live here.
COMMUNAL LABOR
COLLABORATION & COOPERATION
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAMWORK
Living at Happy Castle is built upon a foundation of collaboration and cooperation, core values essential to the success of any commune. As members of a self-sustaining community, it is expected that everyone contributes to the many aspects of life at the campground. This is not only necessary for the smooth operation of our day-to-day activities but also fosters a sense of shared purpose and belonging.
Labor contributions at Happy Castle span across a wide range of tasks in many different areas. For example, members are responsible for the construction and maintenance of housing and infrastructure, building new Earthbag domes or maintaining our solar and wind power systems. They participate in growing food, preparing meals, cleaning the communal facilities, and tending to our permaculture gardens and landscaping. We'll also operate a number of onsite businesses and income-generating ventures, from the Desert Nursery to Skoolie Factory, all of which require input and participation from our members. These efforts help the community achieve financial self-sufficiency while providing members with meaningful work that supports the collective.
Beyond this day-to-day labor, members also play a role in creating guest experiences, ensuring our campground is welcoming and our festival runs smoothly. This includes everything from selling food and ensuring the comfort of guests to erecting art installations that inspire and delight visitors. Every person’s contribution helps create the magic of Happy Castle, making the experience both for residents and visitors one of creativity, sustainability, and community spirit.
In essence, being part of Happy Castle means embracing the shared responsibility of building and maintaining a thriving off-grid community, where each of our unique skills and talents are valued and we all play a part in shaping the future of the commune. So get to work and help us build a desert commune in the Land of Enchantment.
COMMUNITY CAMPS
Pods, Planning, and Businesses
Happy Castle is as much of a start-up mission-driven business venture as it is a commune. We understand that this type of set-up might not be for everyone who is searching for a community to call home, but for some of us, it’s exactly what we’ve been missing.
While as a community, we’re designing for ultimate connectedness, as a business entity, some level of separation is necessary. Thus Happy Castle will be composed of a number of income-generating businesses as well as various “public-service departments” necessary to its operations. Just like society at large, each one of these functions benefits from its own specialized leadership and support. Not everyone has the greenest-thumb or the computer-skills, but not everyone has to when we have farmers and coders. As a communal village, not only do we benefit from eliminating redundancy in common-spaces and resource-sharing, we also benefit from the diversity of skills, abilities, and experiences that each of us bring to the table. So whether you're an entrepreneur, construction worker, or you flip patties at McDonald's, we can build a better life together than we can alone.
We call these specialized pods Camps. For example, Camp Cholla may be responsible for managing Happy Castle’s social-media while Camp Mesquite ensures the success of our permaculture projects. In addition to designating a business or administrative area, each Camp functions as a sort of pod for our members. Think of this almost like a neighborhood except your neighbors are your coworkers and teammates.
Although together neighborhoods make-up a cohesive city, like Happy Castle Art Camp, separately each one is special and unique. New members can apply for a particular Camp depending on their interests and abilities or be assigned to one depending on Happy Castle’s current needs. As you build your life at Happy Castle, we encourage you to serve on multiple boards and committees from other Camps depending on your particular strengths, but you’ll always have a unique responsibility to your Camp in terms of promoting it’s specific culture of community life as well as contributing to the successful operation of its business or administrative aspects. While some of our people might stick with their first placement for life, indulging in their passion for gardening, teaching, conservation, or whatever else their neighbors might need, others might prefer to move around and experience life in multiple Camps.
At Happy Castle, we’re searching for synergy and harmony with one’s work-life balance by combining and sharing resources, eliminating redundancies, and promoting common wellbeing. By working together, we don’t have to live the majority of our lives working at a job we hate for wages that barely subsist us in a society that seems designed to alienate us. We can create a revolutionary home together that frees us from this oppressive consumerist system, allowing us to create the rich, happy, meaningful lives that we deserve and build the world we want. If you think you can help bring the Happy Castle vision to life, we encourage you to apply to one or more of our Camps. We’re looking for artists, visionaries, and leaders like you so find your Camp and do what you love!
Camps
FIND YOUR CAMP
and then change the name because ours suck!
Camp Accountancy
Camp Kitchen
Camp Commune Planning and Administration
Although most camps will be responsible for their own accounting, Camp Accountancy serves as a supervisory board responsible for ensuring proper financial record-keeping of the camp as a whole for tax purposes, including expense-reports, write-offs, salaries, and budgets. They will identify areas for improvement across various camps in terms of lowering costs, increasing profits, and taking advantage of local tax-incentives. Camp Accountancy also takes requests and makes recommendations for the dispersal of funds to Camps from the Common Treasury. However, budgets are decided through consensus in Town Councils.
Camp Clean
Camp Clean is responsible for ensuring a clean and sanitary environment for our members and guests. While everyone should strive to reduce personal waste and clean up after themselves, Camp Clean is there to pick up after as well as perform routine cleaning of various common facilities. All members living onsite, regardless of which camp they belong to will be expected to contribute to cleaning duties, however Camp Clean has the additional responsibilities of designing schedules, allocating labor, ordering supplies, and eliminating inefficiencies.
Camp Kitchen is our chefs, servers, and meal-planners. They’re responsible of bulk-food purchases, planning menus, and ensuring timely and tasty meals are available for our members and guests. Although members of Camp Kitchen perform the more technical aspects of managing a cafeteria for 100+ people seven days a week, nearly every member will share in weekly cafeteria responsibilities including cooking and dishwashing.
Camp Construction and Building
Camp Construction are the heavy lifters behind many of the projects and designs of other Camps as well as the main planners and builders for the physical infrastructure of the intentional-community itself. They’ll seek to promote ecological, self-sufficient, and passive building materials, design, and construction wherever possible. Eventually they will offer their expertise as a service to neighbors in the region to help realize our aspirational goals of providing sustainable affordable housing to the world.
This administrative body is elected by other members and is responsible for the administration of daily communal life including organizing strategy and decision-making meetings, new member onboarding and expulsion, and finances. They will closely coordinate with every other camp to identify short and long term goals, measure progress, provide reports and transparency and promote efficient functioning of the whole camp.
Camp Greenhouse
Camp greenhouse is responsible for designing and operating our greenhouse infrastructure. In the desert, growing non-native water-intensive plant species for consumption can be extremely challenging without thoughtful design. Our mission at Happy Castle is to be self-sufficient so Camp Greenhouse will store not only to create the necessary systems to provide for our members, but also work with Camp Rainwater, Camp Permaculture, Camp Compost and Camp Kitchen.
Camp Rainwater Harvesting and Storage
Camp Rainwater is responsible for realizing the aspirational goals of total water self-reliance at Happy Castle. They’ll identify efficient and cost-effective ways of building the physical infrastructure necessary to capture, collect, and conserve hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater each year. They’ll also ensure the responsible management of water resources, including its best-use prioritization in relation to the various needs and opportunities of the camp. They’ll work closely with other Camps to encourage sitewide integration as well as personal-accountability through a water-conscious culture.
Camp Land Plan
Camp Land Plan is responsible for designing and implementing a conducive, cohesive and sustainable land-use plan to be used in Happy Castle’s various stages of development. This involves integrating all of its various structures, art, roads, landscaping, and open-space, including those yet to be built or imagined. As such, its members should plan on working closely with every other camp, collaborating on the design and placement of essentially every structure.
Camp Campground
Camp Campground aims to build and operate a thriving campground onsite where visitors can come and explore the camp. Besides designing beautiful campsites and common areas, they’ll serve as the Camp Hosts for our many hundreds of year-round visitors, organizing campsite reservations, cabin rentals, and the maintenance and operation of camp facilities. They’ll work with Camp Shade, Camp permaculture, Camp Land Plan, Camp Art Design and others to collaborate on the placement and design of various sites as well as coordinating especially closely during special-events. The year-round campground is expected to be a core revenue-stream for Happy Castle, so members should seek ways to ensure its health and profitability.
Camp Classroom
Camp Box Office
Camp Classroom will coordinate the planning and execution of various classes to be offered to the public and hosted onsite. They are essentially the main interface between casual guests, interns, and current members hoping to learn new skills and the various Camps onsite that can accommodate those desires. Camp Classroom will coordinate with a number of campgrounds such as Camp Construction and Building, Camp Art Planning and Execution, Camp Greenhouse, Camp Rainwater, Camp Solar, Camp Permaculture and many others to develop various classes, workshops, and programs for our guests and members. This is expected to be an integral component of the revenue-generating aspect of the Happy Castle mission, so members should seek ways to ensure health and profitability.
Camp Box Office is tasked with all associated responsibilities of running our Box Office including ticketing for large and small events, ticket transfers, guest check-ins. They will work closely with Camp Campground for cabin rentals and campsite reservations and Camp Classes to organize special events.
Camp Art Design and Execution
Camp Art collaborates with community members and the public to design and implement art projects onsite. The Happy Castle Art Camp, as a whole, is intended to serve not only as the physical infrastructure for self-sufficiently sustaining 100+ people, but as an interactive art-garden that inspires wonder and awe for travelers from around the world. We intend to integrate art into every aspect of the camp from the buildings and landscaping to the people and infrastructure. As such, Camp Art will probably work closely with many other Camps, like Camp Rainwater, Camp Solar, Camp Permaculture, Camp Construction, Camp Land Plan, and Camp Greenhouse to design projects that supplement and enhance one another.
Camp Solar is responsible for the design and installation of solar-panel, wind, geothermal, and battery systems that meet the community and campgrounds ever growing needs. We someday hope to be able to provide RV-hookups year-round, electric-car charging, dazzling laser-light-shows at our festivals, and even net-metering as a , so eventually our power generation goals will far exceed our needs. Camp Solar and Wind will work closely with other Camps to design systems that are functional, efficient, beautiful, and cohesively integrated into the landscape.
Camp Solar and Wind
Camp Permaculture and Regeneration
A central component of Happy Castle’s mission is to regenerate the landscape on which we reside to help it better support agriculture and natural ecosystems. Camp Permaculture is tasked with designing and implementing a site-plan including landscape architecture that promotes the goals of water conservation, ecology, farming, and regenerating desert soil and ecosystem.
Camp Shade aims to build adequate shade structures for members and guests alike. It gets hot in the desert and shade is an invaluable reprieve. Besides making Happy Castle more attractive as a venue and campground in general, ample shade can foster community and interaction by creating vibrant public gathering spaces, protected gardens, and luxurious campsites underneath it. Camp Shade should work closely with Camp Solar, Camp Rainwater, Camp Land Planning, Camp Campground and even Camp Art to ensure their projects are mutually compatible and beneficial. To sustain a village of 100 people, we estimate we’ll need to build at least 10 acres of non-permeable surface area for rainwater collection. For life in the desert we estimate we’ll need just as much shade.
Camp Shade
Camp Compost
Camp Poop
Camp Waste Management
Camp Waste Management is responsible for ensuring the proper disposal of garbage and waste. They aim to emphasize ways to reduce overall waste in the first place by creating a waste-conscious culture onsite as well as repurposing, recycling, and reusing wherever possible.
Camp Compost ensures that nothing goes to waste at Happy Castle. Essential components of our mission at Happy Castle are to live self-sufficiently, sustainably, and to regenerate the desert landscape on which we subside. As such they’ll be responsible for developing systems which minimize the waste of organic materials generated onsite. They’ll work closely with Camp Waste Management, Camp Greenhouse, Camp kitchen, Camp Poop, and Camp Permaculture to collaborate on ways to best reduce waste and reuse organic materials.
Someone has to do it. Camp Poop is tasked with designing and maintaining various sewage facilities, including vault-toilets and RV dumping areas. They’ll work closely with Camp Campground and Camp Compost to ensure the pleasant functioning of onsite human-waste disposal facilities.
Camp Merchandise
Camp Irrigation and Plumbing
Camp Merchandise is responsible for designing and producing merchandise for sale online and onsite at Happy castle as well as managing sales. They’ll work closely with other camps to identify and develop new product lines for Happy Castle from clothing and crafts to food and beverages.
Camp Irrigation will design most of the watering systems for Happy Castle, working closely with Camp Rainwater, Camp Greenhouse and Camp Permaculture to create efficient and innovative systems that use water wisely.
Camp Laundry maintains the onsite laundromat in good working order for use by members and guests and washes common items such as tablecloths, towels and sheets for our rental cabins, ensuring that only eco-friendly detergents are used. Members and guests are generally expected to do their own personal laundry. Camp laundry will generate some minor revenue for the camp from guests so it should be operated efficiently.
Camp Laundry
Camp Festival Planning and Execution
Camp Art collaborates with community members and the public to design and implement art projects onsite. The Happy Castle Art Camp, as a whole, is intended to serve not only as the physical infrastructure for self-sufficiently sustaining 100+ people, but as an interactive art-garden that inspires wonder and awe for travelers from around the world. We intend to integrate art into every aspect of the camp from the buildings and landscaping to the people and infrastructure. As such, Camp Art will probably work closely with many other Camps, like Camp Rainwater, Camp Solar, Camp Permaculture, Camp Construction, Camp Land Plan, and Camp Greenhouse to design projects that supplement and enhance one another.
Camp Social Media and Online Presence
Camp Social Media is responsible for producing and distributing content for Happy Castle across their social media as well as interacting with our followers on those channels. They’ll collaborate with other Camps for content ideas and opportunities. Camp Social Media will also continuously optimize our website and other digital assets. Our online identity will likely serve as one of our main income-generating sources, so members should seek ways to expand and capitalize upon our online presence.
the Dreamers
behind
Happy Castle
Art Camp
Happy Castle Art Camp Team
Get to Know Us
WANNA JOIN?
A project like Happy Castle requires lots of collaboration, resources, and hard work. While we're optimistic about our ability to raise seed money through Kickstarter, our vision cannot come to life through finances alone. No matter how much money we might have on hand, Happy Castle is, at it's core, a community. And communities need people!
Membership in the commune is open to potentially anyone as long as they demonstrate a shared commitment to living sustainably and collectively. Of course, space is not unlimited, so we must prioritize our applicants according to the needs of the camp. Fill out our application to learn more and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.