CE Pro May 2023 - 10

Wellscapes
HEALTHFUL LIGHTING | AIR | WATER | SOUNDS | ECOSYSTEMS
Living In Place
Institute Idea Home
Rises from Ashes
Founder and president Louie Delaware's
design showplace takes shape in
Colorado following devastating fire.
By Jason Knott
WHEN THE Marshall Wildfire
roared down from the
foothills west of Louisville,
Colo., just before New Year's
2022, more than 1,000
homes were destroyed
- including that of Louie
Delaware, founder and president
of the Living In Place
Institute, an entity that promotes
accessible, healthy,
safe homes designed to
meet people's needs as
they age or confront other
challenges in life.
Now that home, one of
dozens that were destroyed
in a custom area called The
Enclave, is poised to come
back as a showplace for the
newest design features and
technologies that could give
residents those capabilities.
Construction on the
Living In Place Institute Idea
Home is expected to start
this spring, with completion
in 2024.
" The fire is an ongoing
tragedy that reverberates
today, " says Delaware, who
had founded the institute
in 2013. " For my family and
10 | CE Pro May 2023
me, it encouraged a resolve
to have something positive
emerge from that experience,
literally a phoenix
that rises from the ashes to
create good for the wider
population. "
The Idea Home will be
open to the public after
completion next year and
will be used for a series of
workshops and professional
events, before his family
moves back in, Delaware
adds. The Living In Place
Institute is making plans
for a similar Idea Home
in Rochester, N.Y., and is
recruiting homebuilders
to show the idea in their
own model homes for new
communities.
The organization certifies
professionals through training
programs to apply its
standards to new construction
and home remodels
via a 16-hour online course.
The first feature of that Idea
Home is that no steps will
be required to get into the
home, without any thresholds,
not just from the street
The Idea Home will be open to the public following completion
next year, with another planned for Rochester, N.Y.
level to the interior, but also
to bedrooms and baths.
" Over the past decade,
Denver has seen a wave of
ranch style homes arrive
for the market of age-55plus
buyers, but few of
them show anything close
to zero-step entries, and
multilevel designs are even
more challenged, " says Delaware.
" Garage entries to
mudroom entries and other
spaces on newer homes often
show five or more steps,
a test for anyone in the 25%
of our population that has a
physical challenge. "
The Idea Home will have
features for coping with a
wide range of those eventualities,
Delaware notes.
Electrical connections, appliances
and cabinetry will
be installed to be accessible
to people with challenges
reaching up or down. Lighting
will be designed to help
people who lose some vision
capabilities as they age,
or who face challenges with
glare associated with some
cognitive disorders. Safety
and smart home technology
will be evident everywhere
in the home.
Tim Coonce of Niwotbased
Porchfront Homes
has been selected as
builder. John Danielian of
Danielian Associates of
Irvine, Calif., is creating the
architectural design.
Delaware is also working
with two National Kitchen
and Bath Association
Certified Master Kitchen
and Bath Designers, Maria
Stapperfenne and Barbara
Barton, on the kitchen,
baths and other key areas of
the home, each a Certified
Living In Place Professional,
through Delaware's company
the Living In Place
Institute. According to
Delaware, Denver-based
integrator ListenUp will do
the smart home technology.
Delaware and his team
are at work on specifications
and are already partnering
with many vendors
on incorporating products
that have Living In Place
features.
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CE Pro May 2023

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