Coming Soon

Sustainability. Community. Possibility.

The Vision

Villa Terra is a small, evolving project in Omaha built around a simple belief: one ordinary city lot can teach extraordinary lessons when it’s cared for with intention. It’s not just a building. It’s not just a garden. It’s a living experiment in growing food, building smarter, and strengthening neighborhood connection through practical, achievable steps that regular people can actually copy.

Villa Terra sits beside and grows out of the Benson Community Garden, a long-running neighborhood space where people rent small plots to grow their own fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The garden has always been about more than produce. It’s about shared responsibility for common areas, keeping the neighborhood beautiful, and building relationships the old-fashioned way, by showing up and working side by side.

From there, Villa Terra expands into an eco-friendly studio and greenhouse designed to support creative work, quiet focus, and hands-on demonstrations. It’s intentionally right-sized, flexible, and built to evolve. The point is not excess. The point is comfort, function, and thoughtful design that proves sustainability can feel normal, welcoming, and doable.

The third piece is what we make and what we share. Villa Terra includes a small kitchen and apothecary for seasonal, small-batch goods, along with an educational outreach effort that helps people learn the basics of gardening, home systems, and living well within their means. Taken together, these parts support one another, each strengthening the mission and giving the project real roots in the neighborhood.

The Elements

Benson Community Garden

Celebrating 15 years as an organization, BCG is a place where neighbors grow their own food and flowers, care for shared spaces, and build real connections. The garden is active, public-facing, and foundational to everything Villa Terra is becoming.

Eco-Friendly Studio & Greenhouse

A compact, flexible space designed for work, creativity, learning, and small gatherings. Built with practical sustainability in mind, the studio and greenhouse are meant to show what “right-sized” living and building can look like on a city lot.

A Living Classroom

Villa Terra is designed as an open notebook. We test ideas in real conditions and share what works, what doesn’t, and what we’d do differently next time. You won’t find perfection here. You’ll find progress, curiosity, and practical examples of how small choices add up over time.

Outreach, Kitchen & Apothecary

Seasonal small-batch goods made from what the land produces, paired with workshops, tours, and shared learning. The goal is not mass production. It’s place-based making, honest process, clear sourcing, and useful education that people can take home and apply.

Why It Matters

Villa Terra exists to spark action. It’s meant to inspire people to grow something, build something, or simply rethink what’s possible in an urban setting. This project is about community impact and real-world learning, not hype, not a big footprint, and not a polished “look at us” showcase. It’s a steady, hands-in-the-soil effort to build something useful and share it as we go.

Follow Along or Join

Villa Terra is actively evolving through planning, building, planting, testing, and sharing. Some areas will be clearly marked and limited during construction. As the project grows, so will the opportunities to learn, visit, and get involved in ways that are respectful of the neighborhood and the work underway.

Villa Terra is actively evolving through planning, building, planting, testing, and sharing. If you’d like to be part of it, we’d love to hear from you.

Because sustainability and reclamation are central to our mission, we welcome:

Reclaimed or gently used building materials (lumber, windows, doors, fixtures, hardware, and useful odds and ends)
Guidance from experienced builders, tradespeople, and problem-solvers who enjoy helping good projects take shape
Helping hands for occasional work days as different phases move forward

If you have materials to donate, skills to share, or simply want to follow the story and learn alongside us, reach out anytime at kurt@thevillaterra.com

Progression Steps

Groundwork & Visioning

Design: meet with experts in construction, sustainability, and affordable housing.
Define land and structure layout (studio, greenhouse, utilities, systems)
Seek early feedback from community partners, neighbors, and students
Begin administrative tasks: confirm zoning, permits, utility decisions

Site Prep & Materials Gathering

Where vision meets action.

Grade and prep the land (earth berm, drainage, pad layout)
Order major materials: concrete, metal roof, solar, batteries, mini split
Begin sourcing reclaimed and donated materials — great chance for volunteer outreach and story-building

Build the Bones

Framing a future.

Pour foundation/slab
Frame structure, install roof and greenhouse shell
Run solar + utility lines, install doors/windows

Finish & Furnish

Bring life inside the walls.

Install flooring, walls, fixtures, bathroom, kitchenette, mini split
Paint, seal, and furnish with intention: local, upcycled, functional
Add garden beds, greywater system to pollinator garden, rain tanks, etc.

Open & Activate

Welcome community into the story.

Soft opening for friends, supporters, and volunteers
Host art nights, open studio events, or seasonal gatherings
Offer stays or tours — share how Villa Terra inspires future builders