I suppose that I am one of those individual’s that just can’t decide what they want to be when they grow up having mastered various skills in education, home construction, computer technology and small business management I inevitably sought to merge all of these facets into one exceedingly challenging project; The Ultimate Accessible Home.

 

If you’ve been reading this site then you understand that for me accessibility is not a job, it’s personal and because of this our solutions are as individual as each of the client’s that we work for. The Ultimate Accessible Home is even more personal since I am constructing it for my daughter, Katie.

 

Construction of this home began many years ago in my mind. I knew that I wanted Katie to live as independently as possible; given her limitations in both mobility and speech I had to set goals and define solutions based upon her needs as determined by her disability, interests, recreational pursuits, spirituality, employment and many other factors that influenced her life not just today but perhaps 50 years into the future. I realized that I had one shot at doing this correctly with the resources and time that is currently available to me.

 

Identifying Katie’s needs was strait forward. I simply designed a chart and listed her requirements based on a realistic lifestyle as afforded by our financial resources, my abilities as a home builder, master carpenter and computer network engineer and her wish list.

 

Paramount to the creation of an accessible home is developing an understanding of community. Community is much more than physical structure; it is the people and amenities of a location. Katie’s home would only serve her well if the community in which it was built had the resources and amenities to support her needs. It became vital that we locate a neighborhood or community that could fulfill all of Katie’s dreams of independence and happiness. I examined the issues of safety, crime, employment, demographics, medical facilities, transportation, local and state government, social services, recreational opportunity based upon Katie’s interests, educational opportunity, spiritual opportunity, cultural opportunity, restaurants, theatre, local cost of living, community attitude toward disabled individuals, police, fire and emergency medical services, banking, shopping and location of grocery stores and fast food as well as weather and climate, proximity to established supports and family and friends among other areas.

 

I listed each amenity according to its level of importance; several of these were absolutes such as security and medical facilities while others such as restaurants were somewhat less important. I then began to research communities that appeared to offer a substantial number of these amenities. In the end we decided to relocate to a more desirable area and looked at nearly fifty communities from Maine to Florida and westward to Tennessee over a period of several years.

 

We settled on a semi-private, gated community called Treasure Lake in Dubois, Pennsylvania. While we had visited many very nice private communities, none fit our needs like the Treasure Lake community. In short, Treasure Lake is the best kept secret in affordable, resort style community living while being only five to ten minutes from malls, a hospital that is ranked as one of the 100 best in the U.S., low cost of living and abundant opportunities in employment, recreation, education and social services. We had found for Katie a community that is safe and supportive for a home that she could call her own.

 

Having settled on a community it was time to begin planning Katie’s home. For an individual with a disability a home needs to be much more than a simple dwelling. It must become an environment for living. The home must fulfill the interests of its owner lest they become homebound and extremely bored and unhappy. It goes without saying that a single level home is best to be modified into an accessible home. It is also said that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Such was the case in finding just the right lot on which to build just the right home in just the right community! We found that we had to be flexible if we were to purchase a level lakefront lot. Our plans for the perfect home had to be shelved and it was back to the drawing board after our purchase of a 2000 sq/ft split level home with a walk-out lower level facing the lake. Upon renovation I knew that this home could resemble Katie’s dream home and be made 100% accessible.

 

The idea behind Katie’s home is that it will reflect her personality and interests. Katie describes herself as an outdoor person so the idea is to bring the outdoors; indoors through the use of natural mediums such as slate flooring, atriums, stone, natural wood and water features. She collects automobile memorabilia and enjoys NASCAR so the garage will become her area for her collectables. Sports and movies are a big part of Katie’s life. The home will have a theater system in the great room. Heated patios and driveway will allow Katie to go outdoors in all seasons in her powerchair. A platform lift will provide access to both levels of the home. Accessible kitchen and bathroom will allow Katie to prepare meals and bath herself. An accessible dock will be both safe and allow Katie to fish on her own.

 

What sets her home apart aside from its stunning lakefront architecture is its voice recognition, home automation system. Katie will be able to control all aspects of her home through a key fob, keypad, telephone, voice communication device or verbally.

 

From environmental controls to video conferencing to mood lighting or operation of her breakfast machine that will cook her two fried eggs, toast and a hot beverage on command Katie’s home promises to be the ultimate accessible house and serve as a model of what is possible in the creation of an accessible living environment.