Not Home Alone

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Still, being a pioneer has its growing pains. The ElderSpirit group ran out of money when it unexpectedly had to pay $250,000 to construct a retaining wall on the property. Residents are looking for funds to complete the interior of the common house and four adjoining apartments. In the meantime, they try to keep team spirit going with communal meals about twice a month. One was recently held at the town's senior center, and residents have picnicked on the nearby Virginia Creeper Trail. At other times, there are informal meals in one another's kitchens.

Silver Sage is still in the planning stage. The Boulder community's 16 homes will range in size from 800 to 2,000 sq. ft. and cost from $100,000 to $695,000. All the porches will open onto a courtyard with an amphitheater. Architecturally, says Durrett, "it is embracing. You can almost draw a pair of arms and say, 'We're all in this place together, and we're going to solve common problems together.'"

Annie Russell, 66, who is divorced and works for the company developing Silver Sage, moved into a nearby intergenerational-cohousing project three years ago. "I love the shared meals, the camaraderie in the kitchen when we're chopping vegetables--and the children," says Russell. "My son isn't married, and I don't have grandchildren. Two more babies were born this year, and they get passed around the common house." But Russell has already put money down on a unit in Silver Sage because she feels she will have more in common with its residents than with her current neighbors, many of whom are young families "wondering where to find the next baby sitter and getting dinner on the table." At Silver Sage, by contrast, there are monthly meetings at which members discuss aging issues. "People are going to get sick and die, and we want to have a plan about how we as a community are going to embrace and support that," says Russell. In the process, they'll also be pioneering a new way for the elderly to live.