Kim at Large Family Logistics shares an incredible story from a family she met at camp. They bought an old school building in which to live. Someone in my hometown did this with the WPA-era post office, but a school building is even cooler. Brings a whole new meaning to the concept of a "home gym."
You might also want to check out 100 Acre Wood's series on low-cost housing, if you haven't already found it through the Festival of Frugality.
DOB has a fantasy of persuading all of his five younger brothers to purchase an old school building, converting the various classrooms into family apartments. Then we'd have the gym for the kids to play in on rainy days, the playground for when it was sunny, and a big kitchen and cafeteria for potlucks a couple of times a week. :-) It sounds like fun, but first they'd have to grow up and have families and still all want to live together!