Gilding the golden years

Luxury retirement retreats decorate with ideas for any home

Betsy Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 19, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More dig!

More stories »

Imagine strolling into your luxury home without breaking your stride to climb stairs. In the kitchen, painted your favorite color, your glass-top stove wipes clean after dinner and the single-lever kitchen faucet swivels easily as you rinse the dishes.

Should you spill a glass of red wine on your designer sofa during an after-dinner toast with friends in front of a two-story living-room fireplace, no worries. You can practically sweep the stuff off the stain-repellent upholstery.

If you're a senior, these are the types of amenities and products that can make life easier. Apartment residences such as Holly Creek in Centennial, Boulder's Academy and the Lodge at Balfour in Louisville offer many of these features. Even better, they contain design ideas and products you can use in your own home to make your life easier at any age.

"Once I build my nest, I can go on and do other things," says Jane Stewart, 79. In March, she moved from her home in Raleigh, N.C., to the Lodge at Balfour to be closer to her daughter. The 167,000-square-foot, lodge-style community was designed by DTJ DESIGN of Boulder and is a 2006 Architect's Choice award winner.

Before she arrived, Stewart got a copy of the unit's floor plan and had workers paint the apartment walls her favorite colors, making the place feel more familiar to her.

"Once you have your own paint colors on the wall and your own drapery up, you feel more at home in your own skin," she says.

These days, Stewart keeps busy writing biographies of her fellow residents, taking recorder lessons in the entertainment room and dining with friends in the on-site restaurant. The architects gave the facility a resort-style feel, with tenants renting apartments on a month-to-month basis.

"I don't think of it as an apartment building as much as I think of it as a retreat," says Mike Bensky, who headed the project at DTJ DESIGN. "The overlying theme was to create a community with a strong emphasis on social connections."

Working in an Arts and Crafts style popular in the 1920s, members of the design team broke up the massive building into smaller, human-scale pieces. Starting with the roof, they varied its levels and added cupolas, dormers, an octagonal theater and a four-story clock tower. Near the main entry, they constructed eight small cottages to add a neighborhood feel.

Roofs are brown, the shingle and board-and-batten siding is dark green or buff, and the windows are trimmed with white. Elements such as rough-sawn timbers and faux stone are also worked into the facade to break it up, along with lots of windows, overhanging eaves and recessed balconies.

Inside, colors are lighter. Wide, soundproof hallways connect to places where people can meet. Tenants can stop at the concierge desk just inside the entry before making their way to a two-story stone fireplace that marks the living room. Other gathering spaces include a library, several dining rooms, a beauty salon and an indoor pool with hot tub.

Everywhere, walls are covered with landscapes and botanical prints, and alcoves are filled with clusters of easy chairs and tables where people can read or talk.

An inner courtyard is landscaped with young trees, walkways, fragrant flowers and ponds full of koi.

The project is part of a trend in luxury, carefree living for people 55 and up. Pioneers in the field are Gary Berg and Karen McMurry, who were one of the first to develop luxury retirement living. In 1998, they converted an 1892 girls school in Boulder into 33 upscale apartments because they couldn't find a comfortable living situation for Karen's mother, Sally. One of the biggest draws of their place - the Academy - is its highly rated restaurant, with a star chef, table linens and polished wait staff.

"We wanted to develop a place that we and other adult children could enjoy coming to for dinner," Berg says.

The couple expanded the Academy and recently renovated a hilltop Boulder home into 10 units for people with memory loss. Despite a monthly cost of more than $7,000, the new facility,the Academy at Bella Vista, is full.

"Consumers in this market are becoming more and more discriminating, and as baby boomers enter the market, this trend will only increase," McMurry says.

So, whether you're debating an easy-care lifestyle for yourself or your parents, you have plenty to choose from, whether you stay at home or move somewhere to be closer to friends or family.

"If I were in their shoes, I'd want to have fun," says Bensky. "I'd want to live in a place that encouraged me to celebrate my life.

"I think we all deserve high quality in our life."

Entry

• Planning to remodel? Go with a floor plan that eliminates or reduces the height of steps or thresholds.

• Install keyless deadbolt locks. Some operate by reading your fingerprint. Add front-door lights with motion sensors, and solar lights along your walkways.

• Place a decorative shelf just outside your front door where you can rest groceries or mail while you unlock the deadbolt.

Living room

• Use antimicrobial, stain-repellent fabrics for drapes or upholstery. High-end Crypton Super Fabrics (pictured at right) come in designer textures, colors and patterns.

• Replace carpeting with vinyl or hardwood flooring. To soften the look, buy sections of carpet with bound edges and use like area rugs. They're easy to roll up for cleaning or wheelchair use.

Kitchens

• Drawer-style dishwashers, refrigerators and microwaves make it easy to prepare meals while sitting down. (At right, Sharp's Insight Pro Cooktop+ Microwave Drawer comes with front-mounted knobs, sealed burners and a pull-out microwave oven for easy cleanup. Around $1,699)

• Use antimicrobial paints or wall coverings to keep kitchen decor clean and fresh-looking.

• The Architects' Choice Award is given out by a panel of judges from the Rocky Mountain News, the AIA-Denver chapter and the city and county of Denver. Licensed architects interested in submitting completed homes for consideration should call AIA Colorado at 303-446-2266, ext. 15.

From their home to yours:

More ideas for easier living . . .

Bedroom

• Adjustable beds with therapeutic massage and memory foam make sleeping more comfortable. A twin-size Solution Bed from Tempur-Pedic starts at around $2,900.

• Add a set of French doors that open out onto a colorful deck or patio that is at the same level as your bedroom floor. Landscape it with trees, pots of flowers and bird feeders.

• Convert an extra bedroom into a guest suite, complete with a private bath and small kitchen. If you have an illness, you have a perfect retreat for a family member or nurse's aide.

Bath

• Install heat lamps in the ceiling, radiant in-floor heating and heated towel racks. .

• Cover walls floor to ceiling with easy-to-clean tile. Make the entire floor skid-proof, using waterproof, textured material. .

• Replace the tub with a walk-in shower and built-in bench. .

Entertainment

• Replace your old TV with a large plasma screen, which is easier to see. This one from Panasonic starts at about $1,285 for a 37-inch display.

• Invest in high-tech, wireless headsets so you can hear your favorite music or TV program without disturbing others.

• Soundproof the walls and reduce echoes with sound-absorbing materials, such as drapes and area rugs.

Home office

• Choose ergonomically designed equipment, chairs and tables. The Celle Chair from Herman Miller (right) provides lumbar support and boasts innovative "Cellular Suspension." The basic chair starts at $499 at www.Sit4Less.com.

• Increase the size of fonts and icons on your computer screen to ease eye strain and turn up the volume on the speakers.

Luxe locales

Here are three retirement communities that offer resort-style or luxury accommodations:

The Academy

• Where: Boulder

• Completed: 1998

• Number of units: 33 luxury apartments and nine bungalows for independent living.

• Fees: $4,000 to $7,000 a month plus a one-time membership fee of $75,000 for a single, $90,000 per couple

Holly Creek

• Where: Centennial

• Completed: June 2005

• Number of units: 114 apartment homes and 51 cottages