A private website for your family’s history
A family village is a private website built around your family tree, where relatives find each other, share what they know, and see the story in one place instead of scattered across group texts and a dusty binder.
The sample village is a fictional family, built to show what’s possible. Nobody in it is real.
This site is a working example. It’s the Nelson family’s own village, running on the same platform I’d build for yours.
Built on a live family site — this one.
Living relatives hidden automatically.
Keep your Ancestry or MyHeritage subscription.
Why build one
Three reasons keep coming up when I talk to families about this.
One place, not a binder
Your family history stops being a file only the historian can open. It becomes something every relative and fellow researcher can actually get into.
Built around the family
It gives your family an extension of what Facebook and Instagram already do, but built around the family instead of the algorithm. Relatives find each other, share what they’ve dug up, and recognize each other’s milestones in one place.
Always current
And the tree itself stays current. Nobody exports a PDF once and emails it around. The record updates as the historian’s research does.
See it working
Everything below is running on nelsonfamilyvillage.com right now, not a mockup.
“How are we related?” calculator
Shows how two people in the tree are connected.
Family group page
One branch of the tree written up in full.
The blog
Where family stories get told.
Living relatives are hidden automatically across all of it. That’s not a setting someone remembers to flip. It’s built into the site.
Can be built for your family: family event announcements, invitations and RSVPs; a space for family discussion; tools that help relatives find each other inside your tree. These aren’t live here — I’m building toward them, and they’re part of what a village can become for your family.
Comments are off on this site by design. If your family wants discussion, that’s a feature I build in, not something already running here.
How it works
1. Export the tree
Your family historian exports the tree from Ancestry or MyHeritage. You keep the subscription; I just need the file.
2. I build the site
I build the site around that tree: privacy for living relatives, the family’s own pages, and a walkthrough so your historian can keep it updated.
3. Your family uses it
Relatives sign in and explore, and your historian keeps adding what the family learns.
Questions families ask
Do we have to give up Ancestry or MyHeritage?
No. Your family historian exports the tree file from Ancestry or MyHeritage and keeps the subscription. Relatives who just want to see the story don’t need one.
Who can see living relatives?
They’re hidden automatically from the public. That’s not a setting someone has to remember to flip. It’s built in.
What if our historian isn’t very technical?
I include a walkthrough, so whoever keeps the tree updated can do it comfortably.
How long does it take?
About two weeks once I have your family’s tree file.
Who owns the site?
Your family owns both the domain and the data, and can export it any time.
What does hosting cost?
With Build & Hand Off, or the $100 Family Blog, your family pays its own hosting, typically $5-15/month. Village Care includes hosting, and so does the $10/month Family Blog.
Can we pay over time?
Yes. Any build fee can be split into three monthly payments.
Start a conversation
Tell me about your family. Your answers shape the proposal I send back.