Want to downsize and move to planned community closer to family.
marilynblind
3 months ago
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marmiegard_z7b
3 months agoRelated Discussions
Home plans for in-laws looking to downsize
Comments (5)The desire of folks to downsize and live on one level is a common one and for good reason, as we all age and look for simpler life styles. Downsizing from 14,000 SF, with a house full of treasured antique furniture, however, may be a rather unique challenge. It will help the process if the couple can reach agreement on: --a list of "essential" rooms or spaces for the style of living they seek; --a list of "essential" furnishings they wish to keep and transfer to the new house. These should be itemized, with dimensions, to be used in any design studies. --a list of "essential" storage will also be helpful, i.e., clothes, equipment, specialty items, etc., in lineal footage, also to be used in any design studies. These "essential" needs are very different from "desirable" wants. If budget is an issue, then these lists become very critical to good design and decision making, not to mention establishing and maintaining a design and construction budget. Wanting a "large dining room, 2 masters on main and very large storage closets..." suggests quite a large house, albeit somewhat smaller than their current 14,000 SF, especially since the desire is for one-level daily living. On the surface, this sounds like a one-level house with a lot of perimeter, i.e., not likely a compact, economical house to build, operate and maintain (if that's important). It certainly sounds like the best and most productive approach in this situation is to find a talented and experienced architect to work with, saving time, money and frustration rather than trying to find the "perfect" stock plan (which always requires substantial modifications for individual life style, site and regulatory conditions). My guess is that this couple has strong standards and an established sense of what they want and need (although they may not yet have defined and reached mutual agreement on all of it). Under these conditions thinking one will find a suitable "stock" plan may be the proverbial needle under the haystack. Go find an architect experieced and capable of working in this environment. If you don't know where to start, contact the closest chapter of The American Institute of Architects and get referrals to interview. Good luck with your project....See MoreGetting closer wtih my plans
Comments (17)Pocket doors are a good solution, especially for the closets, because you never want any two doors inhabiting the same swing area. Actually, that's a safety issue and may be covered under the local building codes. So put the W/D upstairs, and put a TV in that room. Gorsh, another TV isn't all that expensive. Go online and meander through some of the sites for 'closet designs.' The reason small walk-ins aren't very good is that they are small walk-ins. They usually bear a strong resemblance to a crowded cave and are extremely difficult to adapt to useful, convenient, usable storage. You also lose the visual openess (means that the whole bedroom looks smaller) when you enclose a space that used only to stand in while reaching for a hangar. A single-use space isn't too efficient. And I know from experience that not many children are going to go into that cave to get and/or put away shoes. It doesn't seem to matter that they are small enough to bend over without putting their butt through the back wall, it's just that they WON'T bother. Their viewpoint seems to be that shoes and socks belong in the same armreach, and socks are usually in drawers so drop the shoes near the sock drawer. Uh, huh. This doesn't apply to those folks who walk in the door and immediately remove their footwear -- and I'm one of 'em. [I keep houseshoes and yard shoes by the most-used door; dress shoes are stored on the wall in the dress closet.] Okay, we appear to have a difficulty with tactile use of a 4' wide space. Go to your present bathtub; hang some hangars from the shower curtain rod. Measure the space -- it'll probably be real close to 4' from the far shoulder of the hangar to the wall. Now get into the tub and walk up and down with the wall on one side and the hanging clothes on the other side....that's what you are planning to allow for the closet....See MoreMoving to a condo from single family home
Comments (22)Iheart.. Sign me up..........your mother's garden home sounds wonderful. Is she in a climate where you can use the pool year round? Like so many others have mentioned I know we're not cut out for an apartment lifestyle. We've lived in this house for 30 years and downsizing will be difficult. Our home is large, private and exceptionally quiet - now that the kids are gone it's downright soundproof. Over the years we've put on a 1000 sq ft addition, added an enclosed porch, a pool and wonderful landscaping. It really is our sanctum. It's a shame none of our adult kids could afford to live here. We're in NJ - tied with NY for the highest taxes in the US. Even if we gave one of them our home they couldn't manage the maintenance and taxes. Which is one of the reasons we're looking to move when DH retires. A townhouse is a possibility but still not that high on our priority list. We'd prefer a rancher or a Cape Cod so that we could live on one level. We might even look for a lot and build. We don't plan on moving soon since the house is paid for and we can take our time to decide our next step. All 3 adult kids live in Philly and are less than 10 miles from us. It's wonderful that they can visit easily and I'm adamant that I don't want to move further away and I now have deep roots and close friends in this little town. We have a home on 100 acres in the mountains and when DH retires we'll be able to split our time between the 2 homes. The kids love spending time there too. I think in a few years we'll know when the time is right to downsize....See MoreElders not really willing/able to downsize yet
Comments (20)The past couple of years of both of their lives was exhausting for us (their caregivers). I'm 49 and have 3 teenagers and own a shop. Days were none stop from the moment I woke until the moment I fell into bed. I wouldn't change it for the world. I had one sister who thought they needed taking care of. Would it have been easier? Yes for us. Would it have been better? Not if its something they weren't ready for, which they weren't. The past 4 months, cleaning out their home of 87 years of life has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do and the most rewarding. I'm still not completely finished. The house is empty and waiting to be sold. I go in about once a week to make sure all is ok and I leave knowing that I was able to help two wonderful people be happy and content right up to the end. I hope If I'm lucky enough to live to be 87 that I'll be right were I want to be when I die. It might be assisted living or a smaller home or right where I am right now. I hope my children will not make me choose which things are important to me by their standards. I understand what you're saying and I'm glad you were able to help your parents live out their lives. I think, however, that the balance is different if there's only one of you doing the caretaking (along with job/career and family obligations) and/or if the "destination" is not death but long-term care. Right now my 70-something mother is caring for my wheelchair-bound brother. He has a degenerative disease that, for better or worse, does not really affect his lifespan. I am responsible for his care after my mother passes on. It is not possible for me to provide my brother with the full-time care he needs and keep any kind of decent-paying job -- nevermind the career I have now. He really will need to move to a nursing home -- a shame, because he will be a generation younger than almost anyone else there and because, at some hours of the day, he does pretty well for himself. Nursing home spots -- especially at good facilities (or, very especially, at one that can better serve people his age) -- don't open up automagically when you need them. So my mother and I have agreed that, if we find a good spot for my brother before it actually is needed on a daily basis, it would make sense to move him there and let him acclimate to this new stage in his life. My brother likely will not be ready for that whenever it happens. At this point, my brother rarely understands the limitations imposed by this disease. We're doing what we can to prepare him. But the time ultimately will not be of his choosing. When my mother passes on, my brother may have to deal not only with that loss, but with a complete change in his living accommodations. Moving him to a care facility - especially before it's absolutely necessary -- is not easy, either. But, for him, we think it will be the better way to go....See MoreDesign Fan
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