What makes a home truly last?
When our clients tell us they're designing their “forever home,” they're rarely thinking about accessibility. They're thinking about the life they want to live there: dinner parties, grandchildren, dogs, gardens, morning coffee, and views. But if it's really going to be their forever home, we as architects also have to think about the version of that life that comes later.
In Boulder, that question is becoming increasingly relevant. Boulder County projects that its population of residents aged 80 and older will increase by roughly 220% between 2022 and 2050, growing from fewer than 11,000 people to nearly 35,000. Meanwhile, Frasier, one of Boulder's established senior living communities, reports a waiting list of more than 800 prospective residents.
Those numbers point to an obvious need for more senior housing. But they also raise another architectural question: How can we design more homes that people never need to leave?
For many of our clients, the goal isn't to build a "retirement home." They want a beautiful, sustainable, highly personal home that works wonderfully today—and can continue working for them 10, 20 or 30 years from now. That is the idea behind aging in place and universal design.
Universal design is commonly defined as designing environments so they can be used by as many people as possible, regardless of age or ability. That may sound technical, but in practice, it often just feels like good, coherent architecture.
The best universal-design decisions simply make the house easier and more comfortable to use. A wider doorway feels generous, a curbless shower feels luxurious, lever handles are easier to use when your hands are full, and a zero-step entry is convenient whether you're carrying groceries, pushing a stroller, or using a mobility aid. A well-lit hallway is beautiful, comfortable—and safer. A primary bedroom on the main floor can be convenient when children are young, comfortable for visiting parents later, and essential if stairs eventually become difficult.
Good aging-in-place design does not need to make a home feel clinical, institutional or compromised. Quite the opposite: many universal design principles also make a home more spacious, intuitive and comfortable for everyone.
The best version of this approach is almost invisible. Accessibility isn't something we add to a beautiful house later; it is part of the architecture from the beginning - woven into the proportions, circulation, and the way the house connects to the site.
One of the most useful ways to think about a forever home is to look for the small points of friction built into everyday life.
How many steps separate the car from the kitchen?
Do you need to climb stairs to reach your bedroom?
Is there a threshold between the living room and patio?
Can two people comfortably pass in a hallway?
Could someone with a temporary injury use the bathroom?
Can a guest using a walker get through the front door?
Will changing a light bulb require a ladder?
Can you reach the most frequently used kitchen storage without bending, stretching or kneeling?
Universal design is fundamentally about reducing the bits of unnecessary effort that accumulate in a house. The earlier those questions enter the architectural process, the easier it is to solve them elegantly.
Accessibility begins long before you reach the bathroom.
For a new home, one of the most consequential aging-in-place decisions may be how the building sits on the land.
A beautiful zero-step front door is of limited value if reaching it requires climbing a steep exterior walk. Similarly, a one-level floor plan may still be difficult to navigate if the garage sits a full story below the kitchen.
We encountered exactly this issue while designing Skycatcher, a custom home for a retired couple rebuilding after the Marshall Fire. The previous house placed the garage in the basement. In the new design, we reshaped the site and brought the garage onto the main level so the owners could move directly from their car into the primary living floor. The plan then organized everyday life around that level.
In this case, aging in place wasn't solved with a particular doorway or bathroom detail. It was solved by looking at the way the entire house sits on the site and asking how the owners would actually move through their day—from the car, into the house and through the spaces they use most.
Site grading, driveway slope, snow and ice exposure, parking location, drainage, exterior lighting and the route between the car and front door all matter. In Colorado, they may matter just as much as what happens inside the house.
A forever home does not necessarily have to be a one-story house.
But it is wise to consider whether daily life can eventually happen on one level.
Ideally, that level includes the kitchen, living room, primary bedroom, full bathroom, laundry, an accessible entrance and meaningful access to an outdoor space.
Upstairs rooms can still accommodate children, guests, studios and offices. Basements can still contain recreation rooms, gyms and storage. The important distinction is that using those additional floors does not have to be mandatory.
At Lemonade Vista, for example, the owners intentionally located their primary suite on the main floor as part of the home's aging-in-place strategy.
At Basecamp, created for a couple beginning their next chapter in retirement, aging in place was part of the design brief alongside art, wildlife, natural light and a deep connection to the landscape.
These homes demonstrate an important point: planning for the future does not require giving up architectural drama, mountain views or beautiful spaces.
A "zero-barrier" home is not defined by one dramatic feature. Often, it is the accumulation of small decisions.
Floor transitions can be flush rather than raised.
Exterior doors can be designed with minimal thresholds.
Showers can be curbless.
Patios can align with interior floor levels.
Doorways and corridors can be slightly more generous than the minimum.
A few extra inches of width give spaces a little more breathing room. They're useful when you're carrying a piece of furniture through a doorway or walking down the hall with someone beside you, and they become even more valuable if mobility ever becomes difficult.
Make the Bathroom Future-Ready Before You Need It
Bathrooms are one of the most important places to think ahead.
A large curbless shower can feel like a spa today while also allowing easier access later. Wall framing can include blocking for future grab bars even if the bars aren't installed initially. A handheld shower on an adjustable rail works well for children, washing a dog, cleaning the shower and seated bathing.
Thoughtful lighting reduces shadows and glare. Slip-resistant materials can be beautiful natural stone or sophisticated tile. Shower controls can be positioned where the water can be turned on without standing directly beneath it.
The key is planning.
Installing blocking while a wall is open is simple. Widening a doorway, moving plumbing or rebuilding a shower after a house is finished is not.
A forever home should build in options for the future—things that are inexpensive and invisible to include now, but highly valuable if they are ever needed.
Accessibility discussions often focus almost entirely on wheelchairs, which can miss a large part of how our lives change over time.
Vision changes. Hearing changes. Balance changes. Hand strength changes. Our ability to distinguish surfaces in low light can change. For some people, memory and spatial orientation may eventually change as well.
That makes architectural decisions such as layered lighting, glare control, natural daylight, acoustic comfort and visual contrast increasingly important.
A stair should be easy to see.
A hallway should be evenly illuminated.
Controls should be intuitive.
Rooms should have recognizable destinations rather than confusing circulation.
Good acoustics can make conversation easier.
Natural light can help reinforce the passage of the day.
These are not "senior" features. They are qualities we value in good architecture at every age.
One of the smartest strategies in aging-in-place home design is to prepare the structure for possibilities without installing equipment you may never need.
In a multi-story home, designing stacked closets can potentially reserve space for a future residential elevator.
Walls can be reinforced for future handrails or grab bars.
A flexible office with an adjacent bathroom might someday become a bedroom for a family member, caregiver, or guest.
Electrical infrastructure can anticipate future automation, motorized shades, improved task lighting or other accessibility upgrades.
Storage can favor drawers and pull-outs over deep cabinets.
Frequently used objects can live between knee and shoulder height instead of requiring constant crouching or reaching.
While we can’t predict precisely how life will change, careful consideration and planning can help avoid designing yourself into a corner.
One of our favorite concepts related to universal design is visitability.
A commonly used definition focuses on three simple ideas: at least one zero-step entrance, sufficiently wide interior passage, and access to a bathroom for someone using a wheelchair.
But the philosophy is larger than those requirements. Your forever home is not just about you - it’s about the people you want to welcome into it. Parents get older, friends have surgeries, someone shows up with a stroller, or a guest may use a wheelchair. Designing for those possibilities means creating a house where more people can participate comfortably in everyday life.
There is another part of aging in place that is discussed far less often: the house itself needs to remain manageable.
A home may have wide doors and a curbless shower, but if it is drafty, expensive to heat, difficult to maintain or uncomfortable during extreme weather, it may still become difficult to live in over time.
That is why we believe the conversation around forever homes naturally overlaps with sustainable design.
A high-performance building envelope improves thermal comfort.
Good indoor air quality supports health.
Efficient mechanical systems reduce operating costs.
Thoughtful daylighting improves both quality of life and energy use.
Durable materials reduce maintenance.
Solar power and battery backup can increase resilience and safety during outages.
Water-efficient landscaping can reduce both maintenance and resource use.
At Rodwin Architecture & Skycastle Construction, sustainability has always been about more than adding solar panels. It is about designing homes that remain healthy, comfortable, durable, and responsible over the long term.
People frequently search for terms such as ADA accessible home design, but there is an important distinction.
The Americans with Disabilities Act primarily regulates public accommodations, commercial facilities and certain government facilities. A private single-family residence used exclusively as a home generally is not governed by ADA Title III.
That does not mean the ADA's accessibility standards are irrelevant. Dimensions and concepts developed for accessible design can be very useful references. However, for a custom private residence, universal design is usually the broader and more appropriate philosophy.
ADA standards ask whether a specific accessibility requirement has been satisfied.
Universal design asks a bigger question:
How can this environment work beautifully for the greatest range of people?
Preferably long before you think you need it.
If you're already undertaking a major renovation, that is an ideal opportunity to consider accessibility upgrades while walls, floors, plumbing and electrical systems are being changed.
If you're designing a new custom home, the opportunity is even greater. Site planning, floor levels, door widths, circulation, bathrooms and structural provisions can all be considered holistically from the beginning. We often hear clients describe a new custom residence as their last home or their forever home. To us, that doesn't mean designing a house around old age. It means designing a house around a full and fulfilling life.
The best aging-in-place home is not one that attempts to predict every future limitation.
It is a home with room to adapt.
It welcomes you without steps.
It lets you live comfortably on one level if you choose.
It gives you space to move.
It makes ordinary tasks a little easier.
It welcomes friends and family with different abilities.
It remains comfortable in winter, cool in summer, healthy to breathe in and reasonable to maintain.
And, most importantly, none of those qualities need to come at the expense of great architecture.
If anything, they are the building blocks of great architecture.
A forever home should be beautiful enough that you never want to leave, thoughtfully designed enough that you never have to.
Considering a new custom home or major renovation in Boulder or the surrounding Colorado Front Range? Rodwin Architecture & Skycastle Construction can help you explore universal design, aging-in-place strategies, sustainable design and long-term planning from the earliest stages of your project.