11 Features of Our Ideal Retirement House.

Posted by cameron

March 21, 2007 |

Our present home reflects our past. It is ideally suited for family life. Now we are in an empty nest and retirement is on the horizon we are thinking about how we want to live going forward. It is time to get past the generalizations of a far off future and to start applying some details to the things we want. Our next home is starting to come into focus and will probably have to be designed because I don’t see it out there today. If anyone knows better I would love to hear about it. Following is a list, or the starting framework, for our next home.

For Any Age

The house would be “Green” in every practical way. There are significant improvements in photoelectric cell technologies about to appear on the market that will make electricity from sunlight cheaper and more practical than ever before.

A smaller, single story, open plan house that would open onto a large patio that would act as an extension of the home. A fireplace on the patio with great cooking facilities and for entertaining. A low maintenance yard for someone who wants to do it himself or herself. E.g. patio and potted plants. This layout would accommodate 2 people most of the time and a large number of people a few times a year.

Two permanent bedrooms with more capability designed into the home to cater for a larger group when necessary.

Built in home security with wireless networking throughout the home. Security will be paramount, not an afterthought.

A garage with built in storage capability, not something we put in ourselves later. Maybe.

A large hobbies room/den. Large enough for two computers and anything else we need for our hobbies.

Plenty of natural light.

A garage door that can be opened with my cell phone. It’s the one thing I always have on me.

Swimming Pool for exercise and entertainment.

For Later Years

Heated floor tiles in the bathroom.

Able to take a shower sitting down. Hand rails if necessary. There will not be a tub in this house.

Now to get some house design software.

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Comments

7 Comments so far

Little Miss Know it All on March 21, 2007 4:06 pm
I agree with the green home…for me I’d add radiant heat in the floors throughout a home. Very expensive to install, but much more efficient all winter. Not to mention an on-demand water heater, instead of the traditional tank that wastes a lot of energy!
Cameron on March 21, 2007 6:55 pm
Thanks for your thoughts. I’ll add those to my research topics. I’ll post on the various topics later on.
Edd on March 22, 2007 10:59 pm
How about a front verandah to talk to parsers bye. I love to lay in my hot bubble baths to relax in, keep the tub!
Polished timber floors rather than carpets.
Cameron on March 24, 2007 5:47 am
Hi Edd. I couldn’t tell if your tub was on the verandah.
Components Of A “Green” Home · Empty Nest on March 25, 2007 5:20 am
[…] In a previous post I stated a need for my retirement house to be as “green” as practical. You can read that post here. That could mean a simple strategy to have the best possible insulation or it could mean having a home that runs entirely on renewable energy sources. My motivations are twofold: 1. To minimize my costs in retirement and 2. To make my own small contribution to resolving the environmental problems we now have. […]
doreen cereoli on March 10, 2008 4:22 pm
pls send plans for retirement homes
retirement home plans on June 2, 2008 6:53 pm
[…] 25, 2007 5:20 am … pls send plans for retirement homes. Name required. Email required. Website …http://empty-nest.contentquake.com/2007/03/21/11-features-of-our-ideal-retirement-house/Retirement Plans for Small BusinessesHome Contact IRS About IRS Site Map Espa?ol Help. Advanced […]