Pay It Forward: Homes that Care for You, Your Children and Your Grandchildren
“Consumers are redefining value to take more careful account of not only what a product or service costs, but what importance it occupies for them and their families.” -Nancy F. Koehn, Historian Harvard Business School; published in the Boston Globe January 3, 2010 excerpted from the article; WHAT’S AHEAD FOR 2010: GLOBE ASKED EXECUTIVES AND PROFESSORS WHAT VARIOUS SEGMENTS OF THE ECOMONY FACE IN THE NEW YEAR.
I recently was having a conversation with our publicist, Sabrina Velandry. ‘Recently’ probably isn’t quite the right word, as we speak to each other at least once a day, probably more like several times a day.
In this particular conversation, Sabrina was relaying to me her father’s take on the NECN Dreamies. Her father, Phil, is retired, in his mid-60s and lives on Boston’s North Shore with his wife of 40 + years; in short, he is indicative of our base, our firm’s largest demographic, that of course being the Baby Boomers (who incidentally are *the* most expansive demographic, with 72 million strong, and strangely a largely ignored consumer.)
Our project was featured with two other finalists. The first two were gorgeous, heirloom, to-die-for homes. One was located in Newport, and the other an enormous and ornate estate in Dover, New Hampshire. Each boasted an impressive square-footage of living space, and each contained custom millwork and exquisite craftsmanship throughout. One of the homes in particular took four years to accomplish.
Then, last, but not least our home was featured. Our project, a seaside cottage is barely 1000 sq feet. The time to accomplish the gut renovation? 13 weeks flat. The home, our first to showcase in full, our Design for Life ™ theory throughout, was created so a widowed woman, living alone, could live fully and independently in her own home. This meant, among other things, installing a curbless shower, an induction cook-top that shuts off on its own, energy-efficient LED track lighting through out that leads the occupant to either the bathroom or an exit, and finally, built-in washer/dryer set that is conveniently located three steps from the master bed (sheets in need of laundering can be pulled from the bed, stuffed into the washer, and then plopped onto the counter after they’re dry in four easy motions).
Phil couldn’t help but notice; “The comparison of the other homes to Andie’s was striking. While the first two homes were eye candy, almost fine-art-like with their grandeur and composure, the last home featured, was something you watched and thought, I could have that.”
Phil went on to say, “the home, it’s like a gift that pays it forward again and again.”
Design for Life ™ homes are often built for those in their second half of their life. However, the design and technology we incorporate into our projects, such as the touch-less faucets with auto-set on the temp, to prevent scalding, can be flipped to suit the other end of the age spectrum brilliantly: no more worrying about whether your child is going to burn himself, or leave the water on.
“I love the idea”. Phil continued, “The initial investment pays for itself in spades in the form independence, autonomy and peace-of-mind. Children, with parents in their 60s, 70s 80s and beyond can rest easy knowing the home their folks live in is, quite literally, caring for them. And the parents enjoying it? Well, they get to pay it forward. Rather than a lifetime of savings being sucked dry from a nursing home (which can run anywhere from 3K to 10K a month), the home becomes more than an heirloom, a comfortable and accommodating living space that children and grandchildren can enjoy for years to come”.
“It’s something I could really see doing, an investment to myself and wife, but something I would feel great about passing down to my Grandchildren.”
Authored by Andie Day and Sabrina Velandry.
