What is Commonplace Vasse?
Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They have been kept since antiquity. Commonplace: locus communis in latin, means "a general or common topic", such as a statement of proverbial wisdom.
Commonplace Vasse is a Community Venue that takes on this essence. It is a home away from home, a living room and library transported in time, a garden of beauty and fruitfulness, a community of fellowship. Set on "The Common Grounds", it is a gathering spot for the common folk. It is the elevation of your soul and spirit to that of which is good and beautiful.
Commonplace Vasse is venue that our individual members and member groups have custodianship over, and use for their private purposes - open to guests and visitors on occassion.
The venue is set amongst the South Stoke private farm estate in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Five minutes from calm, pristine turquoise beaches and Busselton city centre, yet secluded on 40 acres completely away from the world.
A place to be immersed.
Please Note: You will not find Commonplace Vasse on Social Media.
We are a private property, used for private purposes, by private citizens. If you'd like to stay up to date with events, offerings and open days to guests and visitors, then please subscribe to our newsletter, or better yet - join our membership for access to our Commonplace Connect digital noticeboard + online community.
At Commonplace Vasse, we have a large number of spaces, collectively called "The Common Grounds", that our members share in the use and custodianship of.
These spaces include our village town hall, 'The Hall", equipped with a comprehensive library, commercial kitchen, a barista-style coffee lounge, farm shop, lounging spaces, co-working spaces, art + craft resources, nature-education resources. We also have our Conservatory Gardens, Lawns, Community Food Gardens, Community Fire Pits, Forests, Naturescapes and Playspaces, Nature-Based "Classrooms"s, Cabins, Contemplative Spaces, Bush Camps and much, much more!
Individual members and our Member Groups take share in using these spaces for their private uses, including educational activities (i.e. a Homeschool "School"), private music, culture + art events, workshops and programs, as well as gardening + food production activities. Members are also welcome to camp and host camps at the property.
External visitors and guests are welcome to hire the venue spaces as well, for their personal and business uses, however our priority is to support our member community in creating a culture of commitment and connection to this local space. We welcome once-off events, but encourage all visitors to consider becoming contributing members long-term if they enjoy our community venue. The currency of both giving and receiving, in a greater sense than simple transactional space hire.
"The Commons", as a general term, are the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons can also be understood as natural resources that groups of people (communities, user groups) manage for individual and collective benefit. Characteristically, this involves a variety of informal norms and values (social practice) employed for a governance mechanism. Commons can also be defined as a social practice of governing a resource not by state or market but by a community of users that self-governs the resource through institutions that it creates.
At Commonplace Vasse we have an ethos that first we must give to receive. Accessing our shared "commons" do not not come with a sense of entitlement or ownership, but rather a sense of custodianship. All our members contribute what they can to the shared management of the "commons", and their gifts in return are innumerable and intangible in the Higher sense - community, connection, goodness, beauty.
Furthermore, sub-communities within the general membership have formed, which have become the Education Commons and Food + Garden Commons, and which have their own systems of management in the space (i.e. their own cleaning rosters, their own access hours, their own community events and their own membership benefits, etc).
Venue Hire
Members and Members Groups are entitled to heavily discounted space hire (or in some cases subsidised or sponsored free space use), as well as access to various members-only access to The Common Grounds.
Non-members are also welcome to enquire about venue hire.
Commonplace Vasse can cater to nearly any kind of event you can imagine - however we encourage all events to be in line with our ethos and values - with a focus on elevating goodness and beauty within the world. Such events include:
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Art + Craft Workshops,
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Educational Courses,
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Music gigs (jazz nights, classical concertos, etc),
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Community Fire Pit Gatherings,
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Boardroom + group meetings,
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Talks + Discussion Lounges,
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Charity, special needs + social work activities
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Puppet shows + theatre productions,
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Clay + pottery,
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Permaculture Programs,
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Church group gatherings,
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Soup Kitchens,
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Long-Table Dinners,
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Weddings,
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Bush Camp Outs,
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Weekend Community Retreats,
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Mothers groups + playgroups,
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School Holiday programs
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Book clubs + writers workshops
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Choir + band rehearsals and performances
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Music lessons
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Small group tutoring + education
We are wheelchair friendly. Please note however, we are not a "wellness centre" or a "healing centre" and our venue is typically not suitable for these kinds of events (although wellness and healing are indeed byproducts of the wonderful things that often occur in this space).
Work + Stay
opportunities for international worldschooling families to stay, learn + contribute to Australian culture, community and experiences
opportunities for devotional practice through art, to gift offerings to the community in exchange
short-stay opportunities to learn + contribute on the land with your hands - traditional knowledge + farming wisdom
please email us if you are interested in stay + work opportunities.
stay@commonplacevasse.com.
Long term
SPACES + SUBLEASES
We are currently open to the possibility of sub-leasing spaces at Commonplace for private use. We have many containers / sheds, etc, that could be converted into a perfect pottery studio, office, massage rooms and more. The land is rich in resources and we are open to partnering with the right people to do good and create beauty with them.
From time to time, we are also open to letting the land for larger events -- such as multi-day camps, weddings or other private events of scale, up to a few times a year.
Please contact us if this is something you'd like to explore.
connect: hello@commonplacevasse.com
