As more residents retire and as aging “Bloomerangs” return to the town they love, homes for the duration are what they want.
BY ELISABETH ANDREWS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY KENDALL REEVES
Bloomington is widely known as an excellent place to retire — AARP, Forbes, Money Magazine, the Rand McNally publishing company, and even Golf Digest have listed Bloomington among their top retirement destinations. And while our town boasts stellar assisted-living communities, most of us, according to a 2012 AARP report, would prefer to stay in our current homes as we age.
In this story, we feature the homes of three couples who have planned ahead to make the goal of aging in place achievable. One house is the creation of two Kansas architecture professors who moved to Bloomington to retire. Another belongs to two former Indiana University professionals who built a home for their future. The third is the longtime residence of a couple who have worked in the Bloomington community for decades. In each case, the occupants describe a mutual exchange with their dwellings: they care for their homes so that, as time goes by, their homes will help to care for them.
