For many people, going home for the holidays involves a long cross-country trek interrupted by tiring waits at crowded airports. But for others, the gathering of the clan means nothing more strenuous than carrying the presents across the street or around the block.
Today`s mixed-use housing developments are making it easy for family members with widely varying housing needs and incomes, but with a strong desire to maintain close family ties, to live near one another.
Every two weeks, Jennifer Canzoneri, Laura Manoti and Susan Thompson meet for lunch at one another`s homes. The three sisters don`t have far to go. Jennifer and Joe Canzoneri and their children-Ashley, 5, and Jena, 1 1/2-live in the Carlisle, a garden home duplex in Cambridge West, a Cambridge Homes subdivision in north subruban Mundelein.
Laura and Ralph Manoti and Susan and Richard Thompson and their son Ben, 4, all live in Cambridge Country, an adjoining Cambridge community.
The Manotis live in the Cheshire, a large three-bedroom single-family home and the Thompsons moved just three month ago into the Dunton, also a three-bedroom single-family home.
”We`re always dropping in on each other for coffee. And we`re definitely much closer now that we live near each other than we were when we were growing up,” said Laura. ”Jennifer and Susie know they can drop their kids with me when they want to go shopping, and I know they`re around when I need them.”
Laura and Ralph bought their first Cambridge home five years ago when they moved to Cambridge West. At a barbecue a short time later, they introduced Jennifer to a neighbor, Joe Canzoneri, who lived in the next duplex with his daughter, Ashley.
”I didn`t intend to be a matchmaker, but that`s the way it turned out,” said Laura with a laugh.
After Jennifer and Joe were married and living in Joe`s duplex, the two sisters became immediate neighbors. Then two years ago, Laura and Ralph moved less than a mile away to Cambridge Country.
”Jennifer and I not only remained jut as close but we also persuaded our sister, Susie, and her husband to buy a house in Cambridge Country,” said Laura.
Since the Thompsons were living in a rather isolated area in Cary, they weren`t a hard sell. ”There weren`t many kids for Ben to play with and I had to make a real effort to see Laura and Jennifer,” said Susan. ”Good neighbors are important, but it`s even better if they happen to be your sisters.”
Their mother is very pleased with the arrangement. ”Mom lives in Glenview and is thinking seriously of buying a home near us,” said Jennifer. ”But even now she`s happy knowing we`re so close to each other.”
This is the first holiday all the sisters will be living near each other and they have a number of family activities planned, including baking Christmas cookies using a recipe handed down from their grandmother.
”We have something for everyone, from a young couple purchasing their first home to their parents who want to be close to their grandchildren and also simplify their lives with a smaller home,” said Christopher Shaxted, vice president of sales and marketing for Cambridge Homes.
”Close to a third of our sales are the result of referrals, and many of these are made by relatives who are happy with their Cambridge homes and want to encourage other family members to make the same choice.”
The idea of members of a tightly knit family being available to help one another was the most important reason people gave when asked why they chose to live near their family.
For example, for the past 17 years three brothers-in-law and their families have shared a three-flat near Wrigley Field. But next June Manuel and Peotima Quitlong; Jose Ramos and his teenage daughter, Joelna; and Aquino and Regina Trasga will move into three adjoining homes on a quiet cul-de-sac in Laurel Ridge, a Lexington Homes development in Aurora.
Now that their children are grown, why don`t they go their separate ways? Manual Quitlong responds with another question. ”We helped each other when the kids were young, so why should we break up the family now?” he asks. ”We like each other. We`ve supported one another in our youth. And we may need to help each other again now that we`re getting older. And you can`t do that if you`re living miles apart.”
The Quitlongs and Trasgas each chose the three-bedroom, single-family Sommerville model, while Jose Ramos and his daughter chose the split-level, three-bedroom Jefferson, which will be between the two Sommerville models.
”We`ve talked about building one gigantic deck that will span all three homes and make it really convenient for visiting back and forth,” Quitlong said with a laugh.
For little Julie Clements, who is almost 2, a trip to her grandparents is no farther than a hop and a skip to the end of the block.
She and her parents, Ron and Linda Clements, live in the large four-bedroom Loch Lomond model in Centex Homes` Falkirk development in northwest suburban Cary. And her grandparents, Richard and Margaret Clements, live in the Cheviot, a three-bedroom ranch just 11 houses away.
”We had a good arrangement living in a three-flat with Ron and Linda . . .” said Margaret Clements. ”But when they decided to build a house at Falkirk, we thought it might not be a bad idea to start thinking about a smaller place for ourselves that would be less work.”
When Ron and Linda brought the elder Clements out to Falkirk, their enthusiasm for this mixed-use community was contagious. ”They liked the area so much that they bought a model of the Cheviot that was already built on our block,” said Linda.
Because they purchased a model, Richard and Margaret were able to move into their new home before work had even begun on the home their son and daughter-in-law had selected. So they were on the spot and ready to lend a hand when the young couple moved in last fall.
When Lil and Fred Horstman decided it was time for them to downsize, their daughter, Kara, who is Realtor, began to scout locations in the northwest suburbs.
”I really just stumbled across Bartlett on the Greens in Bartlett,” she said. ”They`re not golfers, although they enjoy the view of the course. What really sold them was the first-floor master bedroom in the three-bedroom Doral.”
When Kara married Jonathan Busch a year later, it seemed only natural to choose a home at Bartlett on the Greens close to her parents. The young couple selected the Green Briar, a three-bedroom single-family home just a block away.
”We all work and really don`t see that much of each other during the week, but it`s nice to know they`re just around the corner,” said Kara.
”We have two beagles that my parents love. When we`re away for any length of time, the dogs go to their `second home` instead of to a kennel.”
Living close to their children offers many older parents a sense of security knowing that someone who cares about them will be able to respond quickly in case of an emergency.
When Robert and Margaret McMennamin moved from a sprawling house in Deerfield to a townhome at the Fountains of Deerfield 18 months ago, their daughter Madeleine Felix and her 14-year-old twins, Julie and Christian, made the same move to another townhome just half a block away.
And the Fountains, a community of 73 townhomes developed by Flodstrom Construction Co., had a floor plan to suit both their lifestyles.
”We chose a three-bedroom unit with the master bedroom on the first floor,” said Mary McMennamin. ”But stairs aren`t a problem for Madeleine and the children, so all three of their bedrooms are on the second floor.
The closeness of the two homes makes for a pleasant give-and-take arrangement. As a single parent, Madeleine Felix is pleased with a support system that benefits her children as well as her parents.
”The kids can run errands for my parents and do other small chores, and in return they get so much more,” she said. ”They`re very close to their grandparents and know much more about their family history than they would if they just saw each other sporadically.
”My folks have a Ping-Pong table the kids love to use and they also enjoy playing cribbage with my dad. We share occasional meals and watch movies together, but we`re also very respectful of each other`s space. Living in the same community has been an ideal arrangement for us.”
Robert and Marian Mayo agree that it`s reassuring to have an adult child nearby ”just in case” but that privacy is equally important. ”Families should be close, but not so close that they trip over each other coming and going,” Marian said.
Like Lil and Fred Horstman, the Mayos were attracted to the three-bedroom Doral at Bartlett on the Greens because of the first-floor master bedroom.
Their townhome was recently completed and construction will begin in the spring on their daughter Margaret`s townhome, the two-bedroom Newport.
”For years we`ve talked about buying homes on the same street, but how often do two suitable homes on the same block come on the market at the same time?” asks Margaret Mayo, an elementary school teacher in Elgin.
Margaret has lived in the same home for 17 years and had been thinking of upgrading for some time. Her parents` decision to build at Bartlett on the Greens helped her decide that now was the right time.
”A new development is really ideal for this type of living arrangement because we can each choose our own model and place it on a lot that can be as near or as far from our family as we want it to be,” she said. ”In our case, I`m just a few houses away from my parents. I`ll be able to sit on my deck and wave at them.”
