Henry and Kathy Nothnagel can’t say their friends didn’t warn them.
With their kids out on their own, after 20 years in Kenilworth, the Nothnagels decided to downsize, moving into a townhouse in Northbrook. But they soon realized they had gone too far–and we’re not talking geographically.
“We did what people warned us against doing: we downsized too much for our taste,” said Henry Nothnagel.
So instead of trying to scratch out elbow room, the couple, in their early 60s, built an approximately 4,000-square-foot home in Glenview.
“It’s probably a little bit larger than what we would have liked, but that’s fine,” he said.
In fact, while the popular belief might be that most people 60 and over would prefer to simplify their lives and settle into a smaller home, from what he’s seen, a number are doing just the opposite, said architect Emilio Miniscalco.
“Where you’d think people would start to downsize, they’re building bigger homes. If they have a large family, they want a large home,” said Miniscalco, president of Miniscalco Architects Ltd. in St. Charles.
To help make their new house feel more like home, the Nothnagels selected a number of high-end amenities, including solid oak floors and quartz countertops in the kitchen. They also added an entertainment center and a granite fireplace.
While many home buyers enjoy the luxury of granite for fireplaces and elsewhere, Frank Perry, owner of Chicago-based Residential Interiors Inc., said that others are finding that concrete and stainless steel make sensible alternatives for certain options.
When it came to amenities, Henry Nothnagel said he and his wife didn’t break the bank, noting that upgrades represented only about 7 percent of the total cost of their home.
However, he said they “took a lot of time picking things out and visited a design center several times.”
Seemingly with an eye on the future, more older luxury-home owners are picking out elevators, said Tom Tylutki, regional president of Kimball Hill Homes in Rolling Meadows.
“We’re getting active buyers, but they are more mature and look to a residence to sustain them for a number of years. They figure an elevator might be a good alternative when they get to the point they don’t want to go up three flights of stairs,” he said.
Stephen Lane, owner of Lane Custom Homes, also in St. Charles, said elevators, which can range from $15,000 to around $35,000, have their ups and downs among some older buyers.
“There’s a lot of psychology where I think they feel if they have an elevator, they’ve crossed the threshold into where they don’t want to go,” he said.
Some buyers are eager to have a first-floor master bedroom suite, he said.
“We’re seeing a bigger trend toward people in their late 50s or so, buying a house where they’re going to be for 10 or 15 years,” he said. “It’s a learning curve for people. I think a lot of them do what their neighbors do.”
Former Northbrook residents John and Mary Breen built a villa with a first-floor master suite, which also includes a whirlpool tub, partly as a concession to age.
“While we are very active now, as we get older, it will eliminate a lot of stairs,” said John Breen, 64. “We figured this is going to be our last home so we were looking down the road. We knew this home was going to be something forever–so why not eliminate lots of stairs?”
When it comes to a whirlpool, the Breens have plenty of company among older and younger luxury buyers alike, said Frank Perry, owner Chicago-based Residential Interiors Inc.
“Older people are getting more into whirlpools because of back pain and arthritis. But younger people like them as well,” he said.
Breen and his 60-year-old wife also liked the idea of moving to something smaller.
“We probably were looking for a villa-type townhouse. We had come from a big home and didn’t need all the rooms,” said Breen.
In fact, their new home, about 2,700 square feet and located in Northfield, “is equal to or slightly larger in square footage than our home was,” he said.
Their new home also includes wood floors throughout the first floor because “of their attractiveness and ease of maintenance,” he added.
They also chose granite countertops, top-of-the-line appliances and cherry woodwork in a large, combined kitchen-family room.
Topping off that room is a fireplace with a travertine surround and gas logs, which are relatively maintenance-free, Breen said.
“The kitchen-family room is a gathering area for us and for family and friends,” he added.
Many older buyers seek high-end appliances for the kitchen, but not all of them will use them.
“A lot of people today eat out, but some buy expensive stainless steel packages with almost commercial-grade cooking equipment and say they’ll use it, but whether they do, I don’t know. It might just be fashionable to have,” Tylutki noted.
In fact, John Schwartz, who lives in a condominium on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago with his wife Dianne, said when they moved into their approximately 2,100-square-foot unit about four years ago, their contractor questioned whether they might follow that pattern.
“We have sort of an Italian sleek-style kitchen,” said Schwartz, 66, adding that he and his wife use it regularly.
He said friends tell them their unit “looks like an Italian villa, with a lot of French to it.”
Their home theater includes a 42-inch plasma television with surround sound.
“Everything can be tuned in from a DVD and routed throughout the apartment,” he said, adding that the unit includes multiple speakers.
Perry said luxury buyers also are plugging into, among other things, Sub-Zero refrigerators with doors that are completely integrated into the kitchen cabinetry, as well as wine coolers and instant hot- and cold-water faucets.
“People either want undercounter wine coolers in smaller residences or they create wine cellars in the closet or basement,” he said.
Additionally, he said, secondary undercounter refrigerators have become “very popular in the last few years. They are for people who like to entertain a lot and want auxiliary places to put food.”
The Breens consider an Open Space Conservancy, a wetland area just outside their back door, as important as anything inside their home.
“We have a grassland and tree conservancy just off our backdoor and patio, and we can see a wide variety of birds, hawks, coyotes, deer and rabbits,” he said. “It’s a natural, four-season panoramic view in our own back yard that will never be built upon.”
