The Perfect One Story Retirement House - Living Comfortable & Safe!

I believe the retirement crisis will get even worse. Many struggle to save due to low wages, rising prices, and exorbitant rents. With homeownership becoming unattainable for middle-class Americans, they may not have a home to rely on for retirement either.

I am in my early 60s and retired at 53. Lots of people gave me pushback because they had difficulty grasping the concept of not working if you don’t have to. I looked at my life as stages. I earned everything I have now through a lot of hard work, but I owe it to myself to “stop and smell the roses” in my final stage of life. In my case I left the country after I retired and live in Latin America. It allowed me to get away from all the negative things happening in America while appreciating my new environment. I have yet to meet anyone who regrets retirement.

I would take the electronic fireplace out completely! Makes no sense.

I am 79 and I agree with the people that panned the interior design. This is what a house looks like for seniors designed with no senior input.

Home looks great from the outside. Fireplace looks terrible in that location. Concrete floors are beautiful. Love the screened in porch. The layout/shape of the dining area and living room is awkward. It would look much more cohesive if the front of the house extended out another four to five feet so the living area could actually accommodate the fireplace and still have room for a couch and chair.

The fireplace looks like it was an afterthought. Switched with the two windows would have made more sense.

Beautiful outside. That fireplace is in a weird place.

Retired homebuilder here. I can't imagine walking out the front door, around the portico to sit for my morning coffee surrounded by wall. Better an exit off the kitchen. As for the location of the fireplace - yikes!!

People have already commented that cement floors are hard on joints. I will add that they can be slippery and very unforgiving if someone fall down on them. I do appreciate that they are heated. I think luxury vinyl floors would be a budget option.

Who was the rocket scientist who thought a fire place up close to the kitchen makes sense 😅

Trying not to offend, but what were you thinking when you put the fireplace there?

So I finally showed this to my wife and the big glaring issue that should be entirely obvious is that there is no storage space AND no work space. No one will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner in that kitchen, because there is no space, next to the stove, to put a large pan when you take it out of the oven. And NO, you won't be turning around to place it on the island. That kitchen was designed by a man to be used in an Airbnb. You stash frozen dinners in the fridge to take out and stick into the microwave. There isn't any pantry for food storage. I was also told that older women hate those stacked washer/dryers because of the difficulty of reaching up into the top unit. Apparently reaching up is hard on the arms. The other issue is the difficult access to the bedrooms. My last house had the closets protruding into the bedrooms and it is a real pain. You don't want to have to take a wheelchair into those bedrooms.

Was going to say the fireplace is in a stupid place. And it’s interesting to have a gas fireplace while showing firewood neatly stacked outside for “ambiance”. But then I realized the entire public living space..living, kitchen, dining..is jacked. What a ridiculous layout. This tiny house is so cute from the outside and such a disappointment on the inside.

I love the floor plan. About 90% of my business is with seniors. Although the floors look beautiful, I would never put concrete in a home for seniors.

I really like the siding! I don't care for the floor plan.There is too much wasted space. I would have the 2 windows and the fireplace swap places to make living room more usable and better for furniture layout. Never put mini splits above the head of the bed; no one wants cool air blowing on them. Not enough closet storage areas. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, that screened in back porch would be my gold! Having coffee out there each morning while listening to and watching the birds, perhaps wandering deer, rabbits, foxes, etc... or for late evening respite... so relaxing and enjoyable. Lucky parents!

It's a beautiful cottage but there are two things I would do differently to future proof it for long term aging. I would have put a wet floor bathroom in where a commode chair could be wheeled right into the shower if mobility becomes an issue. And I would not use concrete for the flooring because it is very unforgiving to old bones, both walking on it or if they have a fall. I have to agree with others that the sitting area is very awkwardly laid out for furniture placement. I absolutely love the screened in porch. I think that is where I'd probably spend all my time.

Your shower does definitely have a threshold. For thinking ahead on the pour that could have been eliminated. My house does not have shower thresholds. Thanks John E

Beautiful! I would take fireplace out and island put. Place some cabinets on left side of kitchen and have small table and chairs in middle of kitchen.

Love the floors! I think I wold have put a corner fireplace in the little corner nook and freed up the long wall, but that's just me and it sounds like you involved them in the planning and for a retirement home it needs to be what THEY want! It's wonderful of you to do this for your in-laws. God bless!