A Castle Built For Two

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But that's changing. Empty nesters increasingly view the housing market--even with a recent hike in federal interest rates--as a safe bet. For them, the term boomer might as well refer to housing boomers, who are building their own personal retirement homes instead of parking the cash in the stock market. "These people have the desire--and the money--to trade in the house that they lived in for 30 or 40 years and move into a home that has all the bells and whistles they've ever imagined," says Leslie Marks, executive director of the National Association of Home Builders. In the past five years alone, the number of home buyers 50 and over making purchases of $500,000 or more has doubled, estimates Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp., which is based in Parsippany, N.J., and has 3,200 offices domestically. Says Troy Campa, principal of Newberry Campa Architects LLC in Houston: "Just a few years ago, we didn't really see anyone in this age group buying large custom homes. Now that number is about 30% of our business, and it's going up at least 10% every year."

Take Fritz Opel, 61, who is happily enjoying retirement with his wife Jeri, 52, and his stepson Jordan, 13. Opel's 35-year-old twin sons had long ago flown the coop, but downsizing was not in the cards. After retiring from his marketing-executive job, Opel wanted to enjoy the high life. So in 2003 he plunked down $1.7 million to build his dream home in San Diego, complete with a pool and three-tier waterfall, a wine cellar for a 600-bottle collection, a four-car garage, a 500-sq.-ft. kitchen and five bathrooms--all just a mile from the ocean. Opel used the money from his previous home along with a $500,000 mortgage to pay for the new structure--a wise investment, in his mind. "I feel like I'm on vacation when I'm in my house," Fritz says. "This was our last big hurrah."

Not everyone is building a home from scratch. Some would rather spiff up an existing residence. Karen Spiker, 58, a Louisville, Ky., art-gallery consultant, undertook a renovation in a home she plans to stay in for a while. Even though her two children, ages 34 and 23, are out of the house, she had a pent-up desire for a spacious home. She and husband Phillip, 56, a pilot, had moved eight times over their 26-year marriage, while he served in the U.S. Air Force. That meant living in military housing or renting or owning small homes nearby. After Phillip retired as a colonel in 2000, the empty nesters decided it was finally time to have the home they really wanted. When Phillip's new employer at the time--United Parcel Service--moved him to Louisville, the couple found a nine-month-old one-story house that had all the features and charm they had ever wanted. It was located in an upscale suburban neighborhood that was the perfect place for them to settle down in and spend their golden years.

"We raised our children, worked hard, and my husband served his country seven days a week, 365 days a year for almost 30 years," Karen says. "We deserve to own something big and beautiful in a community where we could put down roots, since we didn't have roots anywhere."