I don’t particularly “like” yard work – but it is great exercise. So I mow and weed and mulch instead of a gym. I would miss having at least a small yard, and access to the earth. No stacked condos for me (for a variety of reasons), but maybe a townhouse if there is a private back yard area.
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My dream yard would be one with lots of native plants, some walkways, maybe a raised bed or two, some potted flowers. No grass! A huge bone of contention w/my hub is his affinity for (to me) toxic lawn-enhancing chemicals. If we ended up with a different type of yard (no mowing, no chemicals, but space) I’d be really happy. He might sell the big tractor mower but that would be a nice downsizing step!
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We downsized June 2020. An older ranch that needed work. Less rooms than our previous 2 story colonial. But a wide ranch, so decent square footage. 3 miles from our previous house. We know we can “grow old” in this house, after watching our parents struggle with 2 story houses that weren’t forgiving to elderly issues. Found a great contractor that was starving for work during COVID. Feel like we lucked out.
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I co-run the Healthy Yards group in our town, so no pesticides allowed in my yard! (Except along the driveway where our neighbor’s knotweed keeps breaking through our driveway.) I keep telling my husband that he should get interested in gardening, but he’s sooo not interested! He mows our little bit of grass, trims the hedge and digs holes for me when I ask him to.
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My dad mowed the lawn at his house until he was 85. He used to joke that the neighbor was 10 years older than he was and he was still cutting his grass so my dad figured he had at least 10 more years to go. My parents moved to a house with a smaller yard when he was 70 it was a much smaller yard.
I work a ton of hours but I like the chance to get outside for a couple hours a week. I find it relaxes me. And work up a good sweat at the same time. And in terms of weather, most lawn services in my neighborhood can’t afford to wait every time it rains for the lawn to dry sufficiently. So they end up turfing up lawns several times a year. I can just skip that day.
I have a snowblower. Its tough to find plow services that clear sidewalks. Lots of dog walkers in the neighborhood. Plus a bus stop next door. I don’t have kids in the schools anymore but families in the neighborhood do. My kids didn’t stand in the snow waiting for buses (because I cleared it away) so kids today are the same. But often shovel the driveway. Particularly if its powder. Walk on a treadmill or elliptical each day I don’t otherwise exercise. Spending 30-45 minutes shoveling snow gets me outside which to me is preferred.
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Per lawn mowing, it has occurred to me that perhaps is I used one of many masks (cloth or paper) paired with Claritin might minimize the allergy challenge. When the kids were our mowers, just the smell on their clothing made hubby and I just SNEEZE continuously… once they flew the coop we hired a church friend fireman with mowing business. That was fine, but the new owners have been more expensive and less dependable.
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My FIL still mows his lawn at 93 years of age. If one of his two sons is out there doing it, he’ll grab a leaf blower or something to be out there helping them. He does this even in the heat of the day in summer. Cold and rain will keep him inside, but since he lives in VA, cold weather is temporary.
He also keeps a small garden and some fruit trees that he, alone, takes care of most of the time. He did allow my son to assist with pruning this year and he allowed all of us to spend a couple of days shaking pecans out of his tree and picking them up. However, not all pecans came off those days. Guess who bent over and picked up the ones before and after we were there.
I can only hope we’ll be able to do as much at 93 as he does. He’s the same one with heart issues (going back 30 years) and only one lung (since an infection in his youth).
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Interesting - my dad mowed his lawn into his early 80s. My brother eventually hired a landscaping service - but, in retrospect, doing it himself gave my dad something to do and feel good about. In later years, mowing the yard was broken up into four sessions with long rests in between.
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My aunt and uncle built a home as their retirement place. They put most everything they need on the first floor, and they left room for an elevator from the garage level to the second floor. That said, they have 13 steps to get to their front door, so when my aunt broke her leg (no elevator yet) it was not fun.
You did luck out! In my area, contractors are stretched to their limits by demand.
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We are currently on a house hunt though stalled for the winter months as in our area that is a VERY slow housing market. But each time we go through an open house think through the house and yard and picture “how would this work when we are 70?” “How would this house/yard work when we are 80?”
Of course you have no idea what 70 and 80 will bring…but if the yard is on an incline for example with no steps to get around the yard - is that going to be a problem in 10-15 years? If the laundry is in the basement and there seems no good laundry spot on a main floor is that a problem in 10 years?
I don’t think H is doing that forecasting. I think it’s important.
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Good points. Around here a compromise solution is detached patio home, with monthly dues covering green space mowing etc. Sometimes they are in an over-55 neighborhood.
We have friends that closed on a patio home last week. There is a large basement with shop, sewing room, storage, crawl space. But all essential rooms (3BR, 2 bath, kitchen, living room dining room) are on main floor. Just 2 steps up from garage, and it could be easily set up with ramp someday if needed.
There is high demand here for patio homes, so they can be pricey. But a solution with lots of space / privacy and also potential to enable more years in own home appeals to many empty nester retirees.
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@Colorado_mom I’ve never heard of a “patio home” before.
Around here we do have communities where you own the house but not the land. You pay a home owners association fee, and outdoor maintenance is included in that. I think many of the over 55 communities here have the maintenance for a fee…some you actually own the house and land.
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We live in coastal NC and “patio homes” are the main type of dwelling being built in large communities. We have a large retired population.
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But what does this mean! Does it mean that the home has a nice somewhat private patio area? I think that’s great if that is the case. And certainly very nice if you live in a temperate climate.
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I never heard of patio homes either. 
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Here is my definition from driving around here: one-story, built on slab (not many basement here in NC), sun-room or patio in the back, maybe a bonus room over the garage for the grandkids when they come, 2-3 bedrooms on the main floor, big master bath, nice kitchen, large open concept living area. Who knows where that name came from? The patio is on the level with the slab? It is one of those terms I never questioned until today.
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Thanks for the explanation! So it is basically a slab-built rambler.
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In the patio home community I know most about, home owner owns a very small plot of grass around patio home … can have small gardening areas around the foundation. The common space lawns that make for bigger backyard view/feeling from back slab patio are mowed by association. Fees vary.
I have read about a patio home community of side-by-side one story duplexes (with garage and basement). Same deal for common space but the higher fees cover things like new roof etc.
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We call that a ranch house.
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