‘Hybrid’ homes cater to seniors

Wendell and Nada Anglesey knew they wouldn’t be able to live in their split-entry home much longer, but they sure weren’t encouraged by the housing alternatives on the market.

Wendell Anglesey’s bad back and knees made stairs hard to handle, and the upkeep of the home they had lived in for more than 30 years was too much. Yet the couple, both in their 80s, didn’t need or want an assisted-living situation and weren’t sure they wanted to buy another house, even if they could find one that met their needs.

Then they saw the duplexes built by Jim Rippy on Spokane’s South Hill. Rippy, a social worker who helps smaller communities in the region develop small – 16 units or less – assisted-living facilities and who teaches gerontology at WSU-Spokane, built the three duplexes to help meet a growing need for a population that he and his wife, Sue, found themselves in.

These are units designed, according to Rippy, as “a kind of upscale hybrid between assisted living and your own home, roomy and airy, but set up for the convenience of an older and less agile population.”

The 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath units are all on one level with no steps down to garages or patios. Faucets and door handles are levers, not knobs (levers are easier for arthritic hands). Electric outlets on the walls are placed higher than normal. Kitchen shelves pull out, and interior doors are 36 inches wide rather than the standard 30 inches. Floors are laminate and tile. Windows are big, hallways are wider and there is light everywhere. The two-car garage is insulated, and a gas fireplace in the living room or great room offers backup heat.

“It just makes it easier to live when it’s harder to move around and care for a home,” said Rippy, 66, who moved from his Browne Mountain home to the first duplex four years ago. His wife, Sue, has health issues that made the care of their former home difficult. So they built the first duplex in 2005, the second in 2006 and the third in 2008, making improvements as they proceeded.

The three buildings sit side by side at 2520 to 2530 E. 53rd Ave., share a common yard and have recently become condos. Rent for the units Rippy still owns is $1,250 a month, which includes maintenance, condo fees and grounds work.

Rippy said he has no desire to become a real estate magnate in what may be a growing market. “My building needs have been met with these three units,” he said. “I have no aspirations to buy more land and build more units.”

Joel White, executive officer with Spokane Home Builders, said he is glad to see these kinds of structures. He said they are still fairly new to the market but reflect a growing trend for homes that are wheelchair- and disabled-friendly, while not necessarily built in strict compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and incorporating some amenities.

He said Spokane Home Builders has offered a certification course for several years on universal construction for builders and associates based on an aging-in-place model, which is designed to facilitate lifetime housing for people even as their physical needs change.

Largely, he said, this has meant the retrofitting of existing homes or the construction of mother-in-law-type additions, with Rippy’s buildings a logical expansion of aging-in-place concepts.

They are upscale dwellings, with costs that reflect that. Even so, Rippy said, with the typical cost of assisted living exceeding $3,000 a month, this new choice can be attractive.

The Angleseys’ daughter and son-in-law, Julia and Steve Bates, of Deer Park, decided to buy one of Rippy’s duplexes. The Angleseys live on one side and the other is for rent. The purchase was an investment for their children, but Nada Anglesey said it’s turned out to be a lifesaver for her husband, who enjoys doing some yard work there even though he doesn’t have to.

“This is the most convenient place I’ve ever lived,” Nada Anglesey said. Added her husband: “We’re going to be here forever. At our age, I don’t know how long forever is, but that’s the plan.”