Aging in Place - A Very Modern, Contemporary Place - JA in the WSJ
/This article appears in its entirety in the Wall Street Journal.
Dan Evans, former governor of Washington and a former U.S. senator, and his wife, Nancy Evans, are in the middle of building a house—a small but ambitious modern design with lots of angles, a metal roof, and walls of glass.
The evans family cabin will feature a deck floating in the treetops and floor-to-ceiling glass to take in the view / rendering by ja
Mr. Evans is 95 years old. Mrs. Evans is 87.
“You have to do something at our very ancient ages,” jokes Mrs. Evans.
Architects across the country have noticed older clients are increasingly taking on new construction and major renovation projects. It is partly because there are more households led by people 65 or older, with a million added nationwide every year between 2014 to 2019, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Many of these new projects for older people are cutting edge, modern homes—something architects say makes sense.
“People say, ‘Why would you start a house if you’re not going to live in it that much longer?’ or ‘Don’t you want a traditional style since you’re older?’ ” says Mary Johnston of Seattle-based Johnston Architects.
She and her husband, Ray Johnston, designed the Evans house. But, she says, modern houses tend to have simple lines and open spaces, which make them easier to clean and less prone to clutter.
Materials like concrete and steel are lower maintenance than wood, which needs to be repainted and repaired more often. A modern house, with big windows and walls of sliding glass doors, can create a connection to the landscape more effectively than a traditional house.
The wellman-robinson home renovation was designed to frame jaw dropping views on all sides of the residence near winthrop washington / photo by ed sozinho
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“It’s really good for us at our age to have to move around,” says Ms. Wellman.
Sometimes fixing things is a good way to keep active, say Joan Wellman, 70, and Tom Robinson, 69. They recently moved full time to a home they completely renovated in Eastern Washington’s Methow Valley, where they cross country ski, hike and mountain bike several times a week. The house requires little maintenance but living in a rural environment has been more physically challenging. The couple joke that while other people buy an RV or a boat in retirement, they buy irrigation pipes.