How A 78-Year-Old Renovated Her Home To Age In Place
Kathleen of age 78 imagined living in her three-story home until she grew old from the moment she purchased the residence in the 1970s. It has an optimal location with a walkable community and living neighborhood. The only problem was that with age, came reduced mobility. The house became increasingly difficult to navigate, expecially at night. With three sets of stairs, a bedroom on the third floor and the closest bathroom on the second, a renovation was needed.
According to Chatelaine, In 2019, Kathleen hired Rhonda Moscoe of Rhonda Moscoe Interior Design for a small project… Moscoe quickly saw that Kathleen’s living situation was untenable and that her client was having a hard time. “I said, ‘your bedroom’s on the main floor with this old bathroom, with an old kitchen, but you’re using your kitchen upstairs. Do you want to consider maybe bringing it together?”
Moscoe pitched Kathleen on consolidating three floors of living space into a fully accessible one-bedroom apartment on the main floor. The redesign would include garden access via new French doors off the kitchen. “As soon as I said that, she was sold,” says Moscoe. Kathleen concurs. ”Ever since I’ve owned this house, I’ve fantasized about having a door that goes out onto a little deck.”
