Watermyn House records

Watermyn is one of the houses of PEACH (Providence East Association of Cooperative Housing), formerly known as BACH (Brown Association for Cooperative Housing). PEACH was founded in 1970, the brainchild of student activists at Brown stemming from a wider cooperative movement revived in America during the 1960s. BACH's founding resulted directly from a Group Independent Study Project (GISP) organized by Brown University students in 1970. BACH was the first organization in the United States to receive non-profit status for fighting gentrification.

It was intended to provide an alternative lifestyle to the capitalist system. Though PEACH was founded by Brown University students, it was an incorporated entity independent of Brown University, and has an open membership. Though predominantly Brown students, recent members have included students from RISD, University of Rhode Island, and Johnson and Wales University, non-students, travelers, locals, and all sorts of other types. BACH members have been involved in many other Providence area projects including the foundation of AS220, the Dirt Palace, the Hive Archive, WaterFire and a Community Supported Agriculture program via the Wheeler School.

The first BACH co-ops were leased from Brown University in 1970 and included Milhaus at 67 Charlesfield Street and Carberry at 71 Charlesfield Street. These were both closed in 1998 after the university terminated the leases.

In 1971, BACH independently purchased a third house, Watermyn Co-op at 166 Waterman Street, the mortgage of which was guaranteed by Brown and paid off by BACH over a 25 year period. In 1994, BACH purchased a fourth house independently of Brown University, Gnuhouse at 116 Waterman Street, which was later renamed Finlandia. In 2016, due to financial difficulties and building maintenance, BACH faced the possibility of foreclosure. In response, the two properties were sold to NASCO Properties (North American Students of Cooperation) from which BACH operated as a leasehold co-op. The Finlandia property was sold in 2020 to a private developer and was demolished. The Watermyn property was closed in September 2024.