So you’ve got the house of your dreams. Maybe it’s a three-level townhome in the city or a spread in the country sporting a grand staircase. Perhaps it’s a historic bungalow with an elevated, wraparound front porch. It’s perfect for you and your family. And then one day it’s suddenly useless.
You’re T-boned at an intersection in your car or perhaps an elderly parent must move in with you. Or maybe your twins have moved beyond the crawling years and you’ve blown out your knee chasing them up and down three staircases.
The perfect home has not changed — but you have and it no longer fits your needs.
It would if it incorporated the concept of Universal Design.
The idea is simple: a home that is accommodating and convenient to all users at all stages of life. Universal Design principles have been around since the 1970s when the phrase was coined by architect Ronald Mace, who became director of the Center for Universal Design at The University of North Carolina.
Advocates for the disabled have been its biggest cheerleaders, but now it is taking hold across the country as the first baby boomers reach retirement. There are currently 35 million Americans over the age of 65, and that number will reach 40 million by 2010, according to Census Bureau projections. Some 80 percent of the population now lives past age 65, and about 86 percent of older Americans plan to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives, according to AARP.
Recognizing this growing trend, a recent White House conference on aging at the headquarters of the National Association of Home Builders focused on the role of housing design and housing modification in helping people stay in their homes as they age.
Custom homebuilders and home suppliers, such as Kohler Co., are increasingly incorporating Universal Design elements into their dwellings and products. Home Depot Inc. formed an alliance with AARP last year to pilot in-store resource centers that will provide products and information for older Americans who want to stay in their homes.
There are many sources of information to help you learn about incorporating Universal Design features into a new home or retrofitting your existing home.
Not for seniors only
Before visions of grab bars loom in your head, remember that marketers have become quite adept at giving boomers what they want over the last 50 years. They know that attaching « senior » to a product is the kiss of death.
This is the generation, after all, that has surged through the decades demanding the market meet its needs. It has ruled the country demographically from the day the first of its members popped out into post-war America. So the last thing it wants to hear is that it’s — ahem — getting old.
« Active adult » is the lingo of builders who now recognize that the coming wave of retirees has no interest in curling up in front of their televisions all day in retirement.
« One thing we’ve found over the years is that people think they’re 20 years younger than they are, » says David Smith, vice president of product marketing and development with Cambridge Homes.
Owned by home building giant D.R. Horton Inc., Cambridge is one of the biggest builders in Illinois and specializes in active adult communities in the Chicago area
« I guess people don’t recognize how their age affects them, » Smith says.
The Universal Design touches in Cambridge homes are subtle, he says. The grab bars in bathrooms are optional, but the company builds the walls in such a way that they’re easy to add on at a later date. There are lever door handles and soft-touch light switches. Counters in kitchens have open space underneath for knees in wheelchairs. The doorways are wide and have zero-step thresholds.
« How we incorporate these things into a home is as important as having them in the house, because if someone’s not interested in buying a home because it’s for old folks, then it doesn’t help anyone, » he says.
David Engelman, owner of High Mountain Homes in Albuquerque, N.M, won top prize in the Universal Design category during last year’s Parade of Homes organized by the Homebuilders Association of Central New Mexico. To the casual eye, there is nothing in the elegant abode that screams disability. The plaster walls smoothed by hand, the spacious great room and hallways, the large kitchen and the roll-in showers are all great features for people with disabilities. But its list price of more than $800,000 was due to its mountain location and excellent design. The couple buying the home is moving from out of state and wants it to be their last house, Engelman says, but they aren’t disabled.
More to come
He sees nothing but growth ahead for the concept as people live longer. He also foresees more demand as Americans’ health declines from disabling illnesses such as diabetes and obesity.
Not all Universal Design homes have such a hefty price tag. Almost any home can be designed with UD elements; however it is more difficult in smaller spaces, because there must be a fair amount of open space and wide hallways inside. And Universal Design isn’t just for single-family dwellings. University Neighborhood Apartments has recently opened in Berkeley, Calif., touted by its developers as the first affordable, universally designed apartment community in the country.
Depending on how extensive the Universal Design touches are, they could add up to $4,000 to the cost of a home, say builders and designers. However, the cost is much less than that of retrofitting an existing home, so including those elements at the beginning is critical, according to the Universal Design Alliance, a nonprofit corporation in Suwannee, Ga.
Smith, with Cambridge Homes, says in his market one of the more expensive features is the zero-step thresholds, because many homes in the Midwest have basements. It requires much more grading to prevent water intrusion. So in markets where those elements aren’t required, it means selling a buyer on an extra $4,500 that they could use on other options, he says.
« That’s where, politically, the problem comes in with what customers want, » he says.
Cambridge notwithstanding, custom builders have led the way in Universal Design so far. Many production builders, such as KB Home and Centex Corp., insist they will add Universal Design features if that is what buyers want, however they are not necessarily standard.
There is also the delicate process of bringing up the possibility of disability, through aging or injury. « People don’t want to admit that it’s possible, » says Rebecca Ingram, an architect in Albuquerque who became a paraplegic 13 years ago after a skydiving accident. « I’ve even done houses for people with disabilities who don’t think they might get worse. »
But it is buyers who will drive the bigger home builders to add Universal Design features, Ingram says, so it’s important to educate them at a grassroots level about UD’s positive aspects.
« I’ve never had anyone say ‘Rip out this door. It’s too wide. It makes the room too spacious.’ Or ‘I feel lost in my bathroom because it’s just too big’, » she says. « People appreciate those features. »
Megan Kamerick is a freelance writer based in New Mexico.
source: bankrate.com
Original text can be found at: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/real-estate/20051124a1.asp