Condos remove some home challenges for disabled

 

Sparta neighborhood features living areas designed for wheelchairs

 

BY KATHY BUSH THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

 

                SPARTA - For a wheelchair-using individual, many standard home features are a hassle and can be a barrier. Standard kitchen cupboards and counters often are too high to reach. An oven door opening downward can be an impediment. Carpeting can slow movement. And standard showers can be downright difficult.

        Scott Anderle recognizes those challenges.

          Anderle, president and owner of Specialized Home Design Inc., of Sparta; and business partner Rick Dunneback, a contractor and builder, are constructing a neighborhood of five specialized homes on Gardner Street called Independence Condo­miniums.

       "Each of these homes is a custom home depending on the (owner's) abilities," Anderle said.

       "There will be different concepts that run through all the houses."

       The homes, being built as site condominiums to cost $190,000 to $250,000, each will have their own yard and no steps going into or within the home, and sliding doors will not have track lips.

       Door knobs, light switches and thermostats will be at elbow level. Doors, hallways and rooms will be large enough to easily traverse in a wheelchair.

       Floor coverings will be linoleum or ceramic to allow easy movement with a walker or wheelchair. Master bedrooms will feature potential barrier­free sit-down showers large enough to also accommodate a caregiver.

       Anderle, who has degrees from Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University and Michigan State University, was a physical therapist for 18 years. He has sold his physical therapy business, which in­cluded Northern Physical Therapy Center of Sparta.         

SEE CONDOS, C2

 

CONDOS RETROFITTING HOMES COSTS MORE CONTINUED FROM C1

 

       He consults with insurance companies to help determine home modifications needed for people suffering catastrophic accidents resulting in spinal or brain injuries or the like.

       For people with a degenerative disease, such as multiple sclerosis, Anderle helps connect them with organizations who can help with finances.

       It is less expensive to in­clude wider hallways when building than to retrofit a home for someone who must use a wheelchair due to an accident, illness or aging.

          "It's not an easy concept to sell to the general public," said Judy Barnes, executive vice president and CEO of the Home and Building Associa­tion of Greater Grand Rapids. 

          "A lot of people don't want to think of themselves as either getting older or having physical difficulties in the future.

       "This type of home is also allowing you to have all kinds of people into your home, someone in a wheelchair. We've found if it's not promoted as a lifetime design but as an open design, people tend to be more receptive."

       Putting in 36-inch wide doorways with levers instead of the standard 32-inch door with knobs costs about $100 more in a new home, depend­ing on the number of doors, Anderle said.

       Retrofitting a bathroom to accommodate a wheelchair and caregivers can cost about $5,000, Dunneback said. Mean­while, putting a wheelchair­-accessible bathroom into a new ­home starts about $700 more than a standard bath, depend­ing on features.

       Anderle currently is work­ing on a "smart house" with a client who is paralyzed from the neck down because of an automobile accident.

          The client wants to auto­mate functions in his home through voice commands to do things such as open the garage door and operate the thermo­stat, Anderle said.  E-mail: localnews@grpress.com