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Become A Member

We’re accepting applications on a rolling basis for several upcoming vacancies!

Applications are now open for 1-3 studio and one-bedroom apartments at our 22-unit limited-equity housing cooperative just north of Downtown Berkeley BART. Read on to learn about these vacancies and Walnut House – and if we sound like a good fit, please apply!

Apply!

Applications are open for several studio and one-bedroom apartments at Walnut House Cooperative, with the earliest anticipated availability beginning in December 2026.

Important: The units we anticipate becoming available are currently undergoing renovation, and we don’t have a firm timeline for when they’ll be move-in ready yet. Because of this, we’re accepting applications for waitlist slots, not specific units. For photos and floorplans of comparable apartments of similar sizes and configurations, click the Past Vacancies tab above.

We’ll review applications as they’re received with the goal of building a waitlist to fill these vacancies, as well as any others that arise over the next several years. If you’re accepted for the waitlist, we’ll work together to select a move-in date that accommodates both your current housing obligations and our availability timeline.

Learn More & Attend An Open House

Before applying, please read over this page carefully, as well as our lengthier About Us page (which provides a fairly comprehensive overview of the co-op and its governance structure, including a few details about how the internal process of selecting new members works under “Membership Turnover & New Member Selection”). For a deeper dive into the geologic strata, dig through our Bylaws, Policies, and House Rules if you’d like.

We have two Open Houses scheduled in August:

Virtual: Wednesday, August 19th from 6-7PM (register on Zoom here).

In-person: Saturday, August 29th from 2-4PM, with building tours tentatively planned at 2:30PM and 3:30PM. Drop us a note at [email protected] for location details.

If you’ve already submitted an application via email, we’ll notify you about the open house directly — but there’s no need to apply before attending an open house.

Application Details

If you’re interested in living at Walnut House, download and complete the application form below. We’ll review applications as they’re received throughout Fall 2026. We don’t have a firm end-date for when this application cycle will close; we’ll update this page if/when that changes. (If you’re reading this now: yes, applications are still open!)

Download & apply (pdf)

Completed applications should be emailed to [email protected] as attachments. If you’re applying with someone else (a partner, for instance), please attach both applications to the same email. If you’d like to include additional documents with your application, or if your answers require a little more space than our textboxes allow, save them as .pdfs and attach them to that same email. 

Incomplete applications will not be considered, and we cannot accept faxed or mailed applications. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and fill the application. (It’s available as a free download from Adobe), and for longer responses, we recommend drafting in Google Docs, Word, or another tool that will automatically save your work if something goes wrong.

We’ll let you know that your application has been received, and will contact you again if you’ve been selected for an interview.

If you’re provisionally approved for membership, we’ll ask your permission to do a credit check, an employment/income/finances check, and a reference check — all of which will happen after an initial interview. We’ll notify you before contacting your employer or other references, and all information and documentation you provide as part of the application process will be kept confidential.

Questions?

Questions about the application and new member selection process? Read over this page first, our About Us page, and the entire application. If that doesn’t answer your questions, drop us a note at [email protected]. We’ll do our best to get back to you in a reasonable amount of time – but we’re all member volunteers, so don’t be surprised if it takes a little while.

Our website was designed to meet best practices for web accessibility, guided by W3 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. If you have questions or suggestions regarding the accessibility of our site, or the new member application form, also please email us at [email protected].

Past Vacancies

Find an archive of past vacancies below, including basic details, photographs, and floorplans.

Of note for prospective members interested in learning more about our upcoming vacancies: the units below are broadly representative of typical studio and one-bedroom layouts, but it’s unlikely that any of these specific units will come available for incoming members in 2026-2027.

Get Notified

Want to be notified of upcoming vacancies at Walnut House? Sign up below! Coming soon!

We’ll send out vacancy notification several times a year and we promise not to send you unsolicited email or sell your personal information.