If your question isn’t answered then please email it to staff@qumbya.com!
A. Yes, each individual living in the house pays a food group fee, which covers food, utilities, and other house expenses. Rent is paid per room.
A. Bowers House and Concord House are vegan/vegetarian–all house meals must be vegetarian with a vegan option. Haymarket is vegetarian. However, all houses strive to accommodate all members dietary restrictions. People cook a whole a host of cuisines. We have a large collection of cookbooks and are happy to help newer cooks get the hang of things.
A. If you are interested in learning more about us and looking into applying you are welcome to come to a house dinner. It is best to contact each of our Membership Coordinators directly to arrange a visit with a particular house. Once you have looked at the pages for each of our houses, choose 1, or 2, or 3, that you would like to visit and contact the MCs. Their email’s are below:
A. The best way to find this out is to contact the Membership Coordinator for the house(s) you are interested in (see above for email addresses). During the summer we often have several sublets open, and often have spaces opening around the end and start of the academic year.
A. Bowers has 6 parking spaces on a first-come, first-serve basis. Concord does not have parking spaces. Haymarket has a driveway this isn’t usually used for member parking. Street parking by each of the houses is not too difficult relative to other locations in Hyde Park.
A. Each member is responsible for participating in a bathroom clean rotation. Members rotate cooking so that one member cooks dinner (or brunch!) every day. Each member has a household chore (cleaning the kitchen, tending the garden, doing maintenance work, shopping for food, etc.) or administrative position (Membership coordinator, Treasurer, Secretary, etc.) that takes about 2 hours per week. In addition, we have a house meeting weekly on Sunday evenings. While this might sound like a lot, most members find it is less work than maintaining their own home would be. We encourage you to come learn more about us and ask questions about how we keep our houses running smoothly together!
A. Each member has their own bedroom. Two individuals are permitted to rent a room together if they wish, though.
A. While our application asks for rental references, we understand that not everyone has a rental background, and thus often accept other references such as employment or professional references.
A. Our co-ops are not specifically for students, but they do typically have a strong presence by University of Chicago students, alumni and employees. Students probably make up about half of our members on average, and more of these students are graduate than undergraduate. The specific makeup of each house is different as well, and of course, changes as members come and go.
Q. What is the rent, and are there any other costs involved?
A. Rent ranges from ~$450 to ~$800 depending on the room you choose. We also pay “food group” which pays for all your food for the month, as well as utilities. Depending on the house/season, this ranges from $195 to $205. In addition, when moving in there is a $30 fee for dues to Qumbya co-op.
A. Pets are decided upon on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the membership coordinator of the house(s) you are interested in for details.
Q. Where can I learn more about how Qumbya operates?
Take a look at our policies! Follow this link to our policies.
Qumbya Housing Cooperative 