For Seniors, the Comforts of Home
Andrus House Lets Residents Enjoy Neighborhood Life

By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 19, 2008

The wide-open rooms! The lighting! The endless hardwood floors!

The brick house on a leafy lot at 2635 18th St. NE is enough to leave almost any home buyer breathless.

But the unique features of the house, the ones that have universal appeal, are hidden to most people.

Called Andrus House, it is an example of how to create a place for senior citizens to age gracefully and safely in a home setting.

The remodeling of an old house that was owned for years by the D.C. government was completed this month. It will remain empty for a few weeks, during its open-house tours, until six senior citizens of mixed abilities and incomes move in this summer.

The floors are made of seamless hardwood and the doorways are wide, making it easy to go from room to room with a walker, cane or wheelchair. Strategic lighting and spotlights help those with weak eyesight. The outlets are high, and the light switches are low.

"Ninety percent of the people over 60 say they want to stay in their homes. . . . They don't want to be separated from society," said Mimi Castaldi, director of the District's AARP chapter. "This is a model to show it can be done."

The Andrus House is open for public tours to give residents, family members, builders and architects ideas on how to help the aging stay in their homes so they can remain part of the fabric of their neighborhood.

The house was created using the principles of universal design. An outgrowth of barrier-free houses, universal-style homes are as stylish as traditional ones but incorporate features that make living easier, such as extra floor space, good lighting, non-slip floors and levered door handles.

With big and often expensive design changes such as roll-in showers and concrete ramps, and small flourishes such as decorative handles that look more like fancy towel racks than senior-center rails, Andrus House is a showplace for small tips, such as angling mirrors downward so that people in wheelchairs see more than their foreheads, and big ideas, such as knocking out walls to make roomy spaces that are easier to move through.

The kitchen is the centerpiece. The granite countertops are positioned at several levels, making food preparation easier from a wheelchair or a standing position. The bases of the sink and stovetop are designed so that a wheelchair can easily roll underneath.

The dishwasher and stove are raised, so deep-knee bends are not necessary for daily tasks. Deep cabinets have roll-out shelves. The space between the base of cabinets and the floors, the toe kick, is more generous than in standard kitchens.

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.