It’s almost enough to make you proud to have gray hair.
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Developments for the 55-and-up set are so hot with home builders now that according to one count, there are 135 such developments open or on the drawing boards for the Chicago area.
Municipal town councils love us. We bring all the promise of an influx of new taxpayers in their peak earning years with loads of disposable income with minimal strain on expensive local services like schools.
Builders love us for the same reasons. We are a generation benefiting from an incredible price appreciation in housing.
Those of us who have owned for several years are most likely selling out for far more than we paid. We are turning around to buy a home–or two–flush with cash.
The immediate result seems to be that we buy big, buy luxurious and indulge our every whim — all the while insisting we are downsizing. With the kids out of the nest or almost out, we can spend on ourselves without guilt.
That means lots of services (we’re done with mowing), lots of upgrades (granite all around) and fat profits for builders.
Just about every builder is jumping into the game — and why not? The aging Baby Boomer generation is a huge demographic force that offers sales possibilities for the next two decades.
One of the newcomers to the category is Residential Homes of America (RHA), a Lake Bluff-based builder that has teamed with Avis Investments Inc. in a development of 52 townhouses in Libertyville. The in-fill project is dubbed Victoria Park and is billed as “a premier 55-plus community designed for active adults 55 or better with all residents over 21 years.”
Located off Peterson Road on the north side of the suburb, the development has two townhouse floor plans priced from $394,990. The townhouses are in groups of four and those who want a light-filled end unit should plan to add $10,000 to the base price.
This is a community for those who like, or have a high tolerance for, garage doors. Garages stick out toward the street and the main living space is behind them. This can make finding a front door something of a challenge.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for some prospective buyers is the absence of a ranch-style floor plan, says sales representative Erin Doherty. The development is for “active” adults, she notes.
That may be true, but I can’t help wondering if the builder is missing an opportunity.
A woman with a pre-teen girl appeared to be scouting the models at the same time I was touring them. The woman expressed disappointment when she saw two floors after entering the door of one model. However, she did walk through both models.
The Vardins Grove model could work for those looking for all-on-one-floor living. The front door of the model, with 2,155 square feet, opens into a two-story living/dining area from a standing-room-only front porch.
An elaborate kitchen is visible behind the dining area from the front door. To the right of the front door is a short hall with the stairs to the second floor, the door to the basement, a door to the two-car garage, a small powder room and the laundry room.
The two-story ceiling of the Vardins living room is dramatic and allows in plenty of light, but it also makes it impossible for this to be a cozy space.
The 15-by-15-foot kitchen, loaded with upgrades, is big enough for a small center island as well as a dining table and chairs, a chest for linens and a small built-in desk. Sliding doors open to a patio at the back.
An anteroom off the dining room leads into the 15-by-15-foot master bedroom at the back of the unit.
A short hall between two closets leads from the bedroom into a sizable bath with dual-sink vanity, shower, corner tub and an enclosed toilet. The two closets, if they are meant to be his and hers, are by no means equal. He presumably would have to pare down while she would have a generous space to turn around.
A couple could live entirely on the first floor, though there would be little getaway space and it seems a shame to waste the roomy second floor on occasional guests.
The 11-by-18-foot loft on the second floor overlooks the living and dining room. This is space enough for a family room and is shown with an optional fireplace.
A 9-by-12-foot storage room is accessed from the loft at the front of the house over the garage.
At the back of the second floor, looking out onto a row of trees and shrubs, is the second bedroom, 11 by 14 1/2 feet, with a decent closet; a bath; and an 11-by-15 1/2-foot den or home office.
A finished basement is an upgrade and is elaborately decorated. There is a family room with an entertainment center, full bath, a big bar with cabinetry and side-by-side refrigerator and a pool table.
I liked the interior spaces and traffic flow of the second model, the Ansel Cook with 2,172 square feet, more than the Vardins. But prospective shoppers should be forewarned this plan is not for those with impaired mobility because both bedrooms, two full baths, the laundry room and den are on the second floor.
One feature of this plan I find very unappealing is that visitors to the house must walk the length of the garage to find the front (if you can call it that) door at the side of the building.
Once inside, however, visitors are in a roomy foyer with a half-wall and the wide door to the living/dining room to the right. The door to the garage and a coat closet is to the left and straight ahead at the back of the foyer and discreetly away from the front door and the open living/dining area is a powder room
The living and dining room is about 16 by 21 feet and has a two-story ceiling with plenty of windows for natural light.
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At the back of the dining room a wall with a wide arched doorway and arched half-wall go into the family room. This gives the plan an open, yet defined feeling. The many windows and the wide doorways and half-walls allow plenty of natural light into all the rooms.
To the left of the family room is a workable galley-style kitchen, 9 1/2 by 17 feet, which has a walk-in pantry, a real plus for this plan.
Stairs from the living room lead to a second floor and down to the basement.
Upstairs, the master bath suite with two large walk-in closets, a 13-by-17 1/2-foot bedroom and private bath with tub, shower, and two-sink vanity, is over the garage.
At the top of the stairs to the left, along the open-rail gallery overlooking the living and dining room on the right, is the laundry room and a second bathroom on the left. At the back of the home is a den or home office and second bedroom.
The den, which has no closet, and the bedroom are both corner rooms so there is plenty of light.
The finished basement is shown with a full bath, bar area and home theater.
One word of complaint: Both models were over-decorated. Home buyers should be able to concentrate on the size and shape of the rooms, not the place settings on the table.
More to the point, some of what is shown is not available from the builder. While I understand that decorating is only an illustration of what can be done, some indication — and the cost — of what the builder can provide and what an interior designer can add would be welcome.
– – –
Victoria Park
Address: 1850 Torrey Pkwy, Libertyville
Developer: Residential Homes of America and Avis Investments Inc.
Phone: 847-367-0300
Web: www.res-homes.com
Description: 52 two-story, two-bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom and den townhouses, 2,155 square feet and 2,172 square feet, with attached 2-car garages, for adults 55 or older. Priced from $394,990 and $399,990. Monthly assessments $216. Prices as of Oct. 20.
Amenities: Full basements, 9-foot first floor ceilings, 42-inch kitchen cabinets, solid surface countertops, double-bowl vanity in master bath.
Neighborhood: Private walking path, 5 minutes from downtown businesses and shopping, close to Metra station and Independence Grove Forest Preserve.