A Castle Built For Two

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The Spikers took out a 15-year mortgage and put down 20% on their $525,000, four-bedroom house, which had four times as much space as their last residence. Their home--which features a gourmet kitchen, family room with marble fireplace, a sun-room, three bathrooms and a three-car garage--has 3,500 sq. ft. and an additional 3,500-sq.-ft. unfinished basement. Karen points out that her master-bedroom closet--measuring 8 ft. by 12 ft.-- is the size of her bedroom in one of her former homes.

Other boomers are grabbing low-interest home-equity loans while they last to renovate and create the home they have always wanted, without having to change addresses. Barbara and Donald Fumo of River Forest, Ill., took advantage of a 4.2% home-equity loan and began construction in July on a 524-sq.-ft. family room that will be completed by Thanksgiving. At a cost of $148,000, the addition to the 2,500-sq.-ft. house will feature a wet bar, a fireplace with a plasma television above it, large windows and a 14-ft. ceiling. It was just the added space they needed to let them stay put in their beloved 86-year-old, uniquely designed California bungalow--style house. Now they have the space they need to entertain friends and family, and more than enough room for visits by their children, ages 34 and 30--and eventually the grandkids too. "This will be our little haven for relaxing and entertaining. What a treat at this time in our lives," says Barbara, 60, an elementary-school assistant principal in Chicago. And treating yourself is what it's all about.

But building a home isn't just something you do for yourself. It's also something you eventually leave behind. "We wanted to know that we would have a strong, rock-solid home that would outlast us and live on for many years after us," Patricia Baker says. "We feel like this will be our legacy after we're gone."