Do you want to die in a bungalow?

I suppose one day I'll be dragged kicking and screaming away from my very large garden but as we've downsized from a large house to a very manageable bungalow single storey cottage, I protest loudly at suggestions of, 'don't you think the place is getting too much for you now, mum?'
We are now having help in the garden one afternoon a week which eats into our finances but my argument is it's no more expensive than a cleaner - which I don't need....yet!
Fortunately our bungalow has large rooms so we still have a feeling of space and most rooms are dual aspect so plenty of light.
Houses with all that maintenance? No thank you.

BezYou have put your finger on the nub if the issue. The problem in the UK is most accommodation built specifically for older people, be it flat, bungalow or care home is so small, in room size.

The number of poky little retirement flats/bungalows I have visited where someone with a walking frame finds it very difficult to get about indoors, not because the flat is over furnished but just because by the time you have got a settee, a couple of chairs and a small table to eat at in the living room there is no room to move around.

When we bought our house in France the seller, an elderly widow, moved into government funded sheltered housing in the village. We visited her there and the flat was more than twice the size of a McCarthy and Stone or similar bungalow in the UK, not more rooms just bigger rooms. Most people when they reach a stage where they need sheltered housing are spending most of their time at home. Why do we in the UK think that that means you want to be housed like a battery hen?

We will most certainly die in our bungalow. Having recently paid for the main window to be removed (in order to get the new sofa into our home), we do not intend going through the same palarva to take it out again.

Soop Mind you I feel like that about my house, DH had to reduce my beautiful Edwardian wardrobe to a flat pack to get it up the stairs into the bedroom, where it now looks very nice, that was 20 years ago, I do not think he is keen to do it again now he is not as fit as he was.

But to return to the subject, many bungalows are large and roomy and very comfortable to live in - at any age. My parents spent their retirement in a huge 2 bedroomed bungalow, DF had his desk and filing cabinet for all the administration he did for local community groups in the sun lounge and DM had her crafting table and materials in the spare bedroom, which was large enough for them to not to need to be moved or disturbed when she had visitors. The living space was large enough to host family parties of 15 or more. The dining area was big enough to squeeze 8 people round the table.

But of course their bungalow wasn't specifically built for older people, it was just an ordinary spec built bungalow. It is the size, or lack of it thought sufficient for accommodation built specifically for older people that has always bothered me, rooms too small to navigate with a walking frame and too small to have more than a couple of other people in the room with them. These tiny bungalows/flats push older people in them into more inactive and limited lives than increasing age and disability may already be causing them.

YES I DO! Never thought I would but I've fallen in love with a beautiful one which is 100 metres from the River Dordogne - I want it so badly I'm hyperventilating. I've imagined every minute of my day living in it; every family meal and supper party; every sunny afternoon in it's orchard; every autumn afternoon bagging up the leaves; every snowy dawn and starry night. Could you all vibe like mad for me so I can get it!!!

That sounds just so wonderful Specki. Sending strong witchy vibes now!

I'm just fed up with the government lumping all older people into one pigeon hole. We've all had differing lives and experiences resulting in very different needs. If a person can afford it and is fit enough why shouldn't they stay in a large home? It's only annoying when they retreat to one or two rooms and let the rest of the house go hang and the garden turn into a wildlife haven invading the neighbours with ground elder and then moan about the cost.

Personally, we found the bungalow on half an acre we'd lived in for 35 years, which had morphed into a large family chalet, was taking up too much time in maintenance and was completely impractical for just two. It only came into it's own two or three times a year when DD1 came home and we had a family gathering. We moved to a smaller 3 bed house with an easier to maintain garden in a market town so a car is no longer a necessity. A bungalow would have been nice (hips and knees) but otherwise this is perfect.

If/when the time comes there's a super housing with care complex up the road. Spacious rooms to allow wheelchair access, carers dedicated to the complex, restaurant, minibus - and you can keep pets provided you look after them yourself.

* henetha* my sister too lives in a Park Home and I love her place. The atmosphere is that of being on holiday but being cosy, warm and secure as well. Sending Good Moving Vibes specki hope your dreams come true. That is so true Flickety just because we are fetting older does not mean we become battery hens; well put.

Getting, not fetting.

NfkDumpling exactly, one sized does not suit all.