For Seniors, the Comforts of Home

Levers replace the doorknobs that bedevil arthritic hands.

These features require a builder, contractor or handy family member. The city gave $400,000, and local businesses donated time and products. University of Maryland architecture students, mentored by architect Michael Graves, who uses a wheelchair, helped with the design.

But some design decisions can be made at a store, said Grier Mendel, communications director for AARP D.C.

"The double-sided refrigerator, rather than a freezer-on-top model, is more accessible," Mendel said.

The washing machine and dryer are front-loading and on pedestals. The house also has a talking microwave for the visually impaired, which greets users with a cheery "I'm ready to cook" before repeating the time and temperature at each step. (There is also a talking scale, which is not loved by all.)

An automated chairlift gets users to the second floor. From there, residents can see the neighboring school playground and hear the children, making them feel integrated into the neighborhood rather than segregated into senior housing.

"Seniors are the anchors of communities," said James McSpadden, director of Christian Communities Group Homes, which manages Andrus House. "Time and again, they are the watchdogs; they are critical to the stability of a neighborhood, especially in the District, which is so transient."

The most important features of the house are those it shares with the people who want to live in it: It is older, original and unique to the District, McSpadden said.

"Something that's great about this project is it's a perfect model, in a sense, not because it is true universal design. But it's a model for a District home," he said.

A newer suburban home can more easily be made into a perfect universal design home. But in the District, where older residents have brick rowhouses, narrow doorways, steep staircases and multiple levels, it's not easy to envision universal design, he said.

When AARP began to convert the vacant brick house next to the Washington Center for Aging Services in Northeast into a model home this spring, construction workers had to plow through brick walls hidden behind sheet rock and varying levels of flooring. "We wanted to make something that doesn't scream 'disability,' " McSpadden said.

This is not the first such house in the District. The founder of AARP, Ethel Percy Andrus, had a universal design home built in 1961, in conjunction with the first White House conference on aging that year, Castaldi said. Even President Dwight D. Eisenhower saw a model of the home, called the House of Freedom, which no longer exists in its downtown spot near 17th and M streets NW.

The contemporary home, called the Andrus House in honor of the AARP founder, will be open for public tours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday. To reserve a tour time, call 202-434-7715.