San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
From theaters to salons to libraries, senior living facilities offer luxury
Health care is an important factor in selecting a senior living facility, but not the only one. From inhouse theaters and salons to spas with acupuncture, retirement communities are offering unique experiences to stand out.
PENINSULA
The Trousdale, a 124unit complex with assisted living and memory care in Burlingame, is owned by the Peninsula Health Care District. Is it clinical? Anything but.
Resident Anny Maran, 75, a retired executive assistant, likens the Trousdale to a “luxury hotel,” for good reason. The community — licensed to serve up to 140 adults ages 62 and older — is housed in a sixstory building that contains a wellness clinic, learning center, theater, salon, spa for acupuncture and massage, fitness center and three dining facilities ( a restaurant, private dining room and bistro).
Its smart living residences come with voice first technology ( to control lights and music or contact the front desk), a resident family app and smart TVs for entertainment and information about onsite activities.
A thirdfloor memory care neighborhood was designed for residents with cognitive changes. The amenities earned the community a “Recognition for Senior Living Design” from the American Institute of Architects in 2019.
Managed since 2019 by Eskaton, a nonprofit service provider for seniors, the community operates on private funds and month-to-month rentals. Rates range from $ 5,800 a month for a studio to $ 8,000 a month for a twobedroom unit.
Memory care units with companion suites start at $ 5,200 a month, while private studios for memory care run $ 6,900 a month and onebedrooms about $ 8,100 a month. ( The health care district also provides a below market rate program for those who meet specific financial need criteria.)
Despite pandemic-driven limits on group activities, there’s plenty of opportunity to socialize, something the widowed Maran missed while living alone in her San Mateo condominium before moving into the Trousdale 18 months ago.
“There’s a nice group of people here who you can have nice conversations and drinks with,” Maran said. “That makes it very nice.”
SAN FRANCISCO
Rhoda Goldman Plaza is a nonprofit community founded by UCSF Mount Zion Hospital and Jewish Family and Children's Services, but residents don’t need to be Jewish to live there.
Named for one of San Francisco’s most notable ( and now deceased) philanthropists, the Plaza offers 118 assisted living and 36 memory care apartments, two apartments for guests and another for an executive director who lives on site 4 ½ days a week.
Its residents, aged 65 and up, pay monthly fees starting at
$ 6,394 a month for housing, meals, linens, housekeeping, transportation to medical appointments, onsite classes and lectures, exercise, excursions ( in nonpandemic times) and more, plus a onetime community fee of $ 5,000.
Additional daily living services ( medication management, bathing) are included for memory care residents and are extra for assisted living residents. Some residents are Holocaust survivors who have been offered scholarships from a separate fund.
The complex in lower Pacific Heights, originally a threestory brick building dating to 1930, is attached to a sevenstory building built in 2000.
Along with apartments, it houses six libraries, an allday cafe, a dining room, a hair salon, a garden on a thirdfloor terrace and a memorycare floor.
What distinguishes it from other residences, said Candiece Milford, managing director of marketing, is the ratio of staff to residents — 144 fulltime employees and 20 parttime staff serving 140 residents.
And unlike other residences for older adults with layers of corporate control, the Plaza’s board of directors works directly with its executive director, allowing for “decisive and timely decisions when needed and transparency in communication which residents and their families deeply appreciate,” Milford said.
EAST BAY
Built on the site of the old Baywood Elementary School, Castro Valley’s Baywood Court Retirement Community is giving seniors a second childhood of sorts.
Founded in 1990 by the Eden Health District and privately funded, Baywood Court serves 385 residents in 170 independent living apartments: oneand twobedrooms with full kitchens, 49 assisted living apartments and 56 skilled nursing beds ( in private or semiprivate rooms). At least one household member must be 65 or older.
The threestory campus boasts lush landscaping, flower and vegetable gardens, a heated swimming pool, a hot tub and a gazebo. Other amenities include a library, convenience store, salon, game room, computer room and a room for films and entertainment.
Group dining and many activities are currently on hold, but recreation staffers lead exercise and provide entertainment to residents participating or viewing from their balconies or patios.
Monthly rent for a onebedroom, independent living apartment starts at $ 3,909 and includes two meals a day, weekly housekeeping and access to all amenities and activities. It’s an extra
$ 950 a month for a second household resident.
“I can’t imagine living at home in the pandemic — I would be so isolated,” said resident Joan Forrester, 79, a retired Castro Valley School District secretary who moved in last year. “People are exceptionally friendly here … it just makes you feel good.”