Lesbian retirement communities: what exists, and how to start one with other women

Carefree Community, North Fort Myers, Florida

Gina Razete and Cathy Groene, a married couple, bought 50 acres of empty land in North Fort Myers and built a gated neighborhood of manufactured homes. The first lot sold in January 1997, and all of them had sold by 2001. When WGCU visited in 2022, it had 278 homes and about 500 residents, with a long waiting list. The private clubhouse is for women over 21. It's known as a lesbian neighborhood, though the founders say people of all backgrounds are welcome. "If something happened to anyone here," one resident told WGCU, "everybody would step up and help."

Alapine, northeast Alabama

Alapine calls itself a lesbian neighborhood. Its own website describes 108 acres on Lookout Mountain, about 40 minutes from Fort Payne, Alabama, and Rome, Georgia, divided into lots of one and a half to two acres, and says it now has 30 residents. A couple can own a lot together. Men can visit and stay, but none live there permanently. The land was bought in June 1997 by women including the founders of the Pagoda, a lesbian community in St. Augustine, Florida, which closed in 1999 (The New York Times, 2009). When we checked, the website listed one developed lot with a home for sale and a waiting list for five more lots.

The Bird's Nest, Cumby, Texas

This is an all-women tiny home community about an hour from Dallas, started around 2022 by Robyn Yerian. CBS News Texas reported in December 2025 that it had 11 residents, all in their 60s and 70s. It isn't lesbian-specific, but it's one of the few women-only options in the US. Our guide to tiny house communities for seniors has the details.

Women's housing outside the US

New Ground in High Barnet, north London, is the UK's first co-housing for women over 50. It opened in 2016 with 25 apartments, for women aged 50 to 87 when they moved in, and a mix of owners and renters. It wasn't set up for lesbians in particular, but it shows how a group of women can build exactly what they want. Our senior co-housing guide explains how groups like this get started.

In Berlin, the nonprofit Rad und Tat and the state-owned landlord WBM have built 73 apartments for lesbian and queer women, many with subsidized rents, in the Mitte district, according to WBM. The first tenants were due to move in during June 2026 (taz), and by July every apartment had been applied for (Good Good Good). There's also a shared care flat with eight places for older women who need more help. We haven't been able to confirm how many residents have moved in since.

What to ask before you join

"Women-only" and "lesbian land" can mean different things from one community to the next, and each sets its own rules about who can live there. Some are stricter than others, so confirm eligibility directly and ask to see the rules in writing. If it matters to you, ask plainly whether trans women are welcome, and whether partners or visiting friends can stay.

Ask about getting older, too. Some of these places are rural, and the nearest hospital can be a long drive. In 2009 Alapine's residents were already talking about how to pay for assisted living and hospice care as they aged. Find out what a community has planned, and what's actually in place.

Starting your own with other women

The women who built Carefree and Alapine started with land and a few friends. Today it's easier to start with the people. Find a handful of women who want the same thing and agree what you're building. Land and money come after that. Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC) has chapters across the US and is a good place to meet other lesbians in later life.

On Among Our People you can start a project and say it's for women, or post your idea on the online notice board and see who answers.