Go for it. Life is too short not to have what you want. But remember to make it so you can have what you need as you age.

We fortunately have a house that is on one level and have had a ramp put in to the back door. I'd still like an ensuite bathroom but don't know how to do that cheap enough.

Remember that building a new house is stressful though and prepare for lots of delays and disappointments.

Good luck with it all.

Sue.

Marty,

Don and I built a Universal Design home from scatch with a floor plan I designed myself when we were both over 60. (First time for us, too.) We haven't been sorry for one minute. We do hire the snowplower and lawncare service you mentioned and that's been great. I agree with Sue, go for it!

You should go to our Medical Equipment and Disabilities Aids forum and look for the house building topics. There's a really good topic there that was started by Dora that gives a lot of the Universal Design elements that I'd strongly suggest you encorporate in your house. They won't make you house 'look' any different but they sure make life easier for walkers and wheelchairs, should you ever need them....things like 3 ft doorways instead of 2 1/2. They say you should aways build for what your disability will be in 20 years, not for what you are right now. We don't even have a ramp...it's done in our cement work and no one can tell that our house is wheelchair accessible.

Jean

Marty,

I agree with what Jean has said. Actually there are designs for Universal Design homes. Have a look at them. It may give you some ideas. Remember we're all getting older.

We looked into building also. Looked at several locations where cost of living, taxes, etc are lower. Neither of us could quite imagine living in a place where a large city is not easily accessible. And the costs of lots in our neck of the woods (NW Chicago suburbs) is astronomical.

So maybe staying in Indiana is a good idea. Some neighbors of ours moved to Indiana a few years ago. She said the costs were so much lower that she could cut back on her work hours and spend more time with their daughter, who was 1 at the time. She said she was actually closer to her job, and her husband worked in the loop, so metra was about the same. Where you are in Indiana is close enough to Chicago? Of course if you get hungry for a large place you could always visit your kids and drive from there. Isn't Wheaton a really conservative place?

We decided to just add on to our home, which is very common in our neighborhood. We found an architect who knows a lot about Universal Design. You might look for a contractor who does.

Also we are looking into lower taxes for senior citizens. My sister is 66. Illinois has such a program, but we don't know exactly how it works or how much you save. Check out Indiana law.

Jean,

I could not find Dora's post at universal designs could you leave a link for it?

As you know, life is short, so put on your party pants & do it if all the math jives

GOOD LUCK

June :Clap-Hands:

Tom

You probably just forgot to expand the date range at the bottom of the forum. If you don't do that, you only see posts for the last month. Dora's post with 12 replies (one long one from me) is at: http://www.strokeboard.net/index.php?showt...niversal+design

Jean