Design for living as boomers age
Their latest, "Unassisted Living: Ageless Homes for Later Life," features a collection of homes that are the antithesis of "senior housing." Credit: Handout
As boomers consider where and how they will live in their 60s and beyond, what are some envisioning? Think one part old-fashioned safe house and one part newfangled fun house, a kind of Little House on the Prairie meets the Jetsons.
"Boomers are not planning to go gently into that dark night," says Jeffrey Rosenfeld, a Long Island-based environmental gerontologist. "They are creating new homes, new communities for themselves."
Rosenfeld, the former director of the gerontology program at Hofstra, still teaches gerontology-related courses at the university as well as at Nassau Community College. His expertise is in the connection between the "built environment" and older people. "That includes homes, interior design of homes and product design for homes," he says.
Rosenfeld says boomers are hoping to stave off the need for assisted living by creating homes that will age gracefully. "They are aware that one day they will be older and frail, but they are trying to create options for dealing with that."
Rosenfeld and architect Wid Chapman have written two books about boomers and housing. Their latest, "Unassisted Living: Ageless Homes for Later Life," features a collection of homes that are the antithesis of "senior housing." From an isolated, upscale ranch in Wyoming to urban, downsized row houses in San Diego to the psychedelic, $4 million Bioscleave House in East Hampton, the homes all combine elements of youthful exuberance and age-appropriateness, sometimes jarringly. For example, some homes have senior-friendly kitchens and grab bars in the bathroom but also steep, spiral staircases that may become a challenge as boomers age.
A common thread is the homes' uncluttered interiors, even in the case of a tiny Manhattan loft. "The floor plans are, by and large, open," Rosenfeld says. "There's less opportunities to trip and stumble and fall into things."
Many boomers Rosenfeld interviewed for the book said a spare room is important. Today, it might be used as a home office or a place to work out. "But later it could be space for a caregiver or for a son or daughter who needs to come back," he says.
And that son or daughter may be one of Rosenfeld's students. What interest could a teen or 20-something have in taking a gerontology course? "They may be decades away chronologically, but many of them are thinking very seriously about what's going to happen to their parents and their grandparents."
