The look of home is becoming a powerful trend for designing settings we usually don’t associate with home, such as long-term care facilities. Designer Fred Hershey, FASID, CID is the owner of Burlingame Interiors, headquartered in the Albany, NY, area. His work can be found from Florida to Nantucket.

The challenge for Fred and his associate, Nancy Wilson Stevens, was to create a truly residential, homey feel for the Gerald Levine Center for Memory Care at the Loudonville Home. At each end of the facility is a living room, surrounded by eight private bedrooms. One, shown here, features an arts-and-crafts bungalow style; the other is Colonial.
“The operable word for design at the Loudonville Home is HOME,” Fred said. “The owners were anxious to have a homelike feel in all areas of this health care facility, just like one’s living room at home. On top of that, we had special considerations for people with issues such as Alzheimer’s Disease,” he said.

That’s why visitors will find strong visual definition and areas that are obviously connected. Selection of visual elements, furniture and architecture helps guests remember where they are. There are other subtle considerations, too, which cross over to residential design. Fred explains that “Most residents are women, likely no taller than 5-feet-eight-inches, who have lived in a home with ceilings no higher than 8 feet. That’s an important consideration, to bring the scale of the rooms to a familiar, intimate size. The room needs to be open, so guests can be observed, yet homey. The columns which hold up the arts and crafts border appear to bring the ceiling to a familiar scale.” Throughout the house, carpet is used to create continuous, easy-to-follow pathways and to define areas. The living room area rug is a carpet that’s bordered and inset to minimize trip hazards.

These days, Fred explains, assisted living operators do not want the look of a nursing home. “Most feel they are in the hospitality business, not health care. Combine that with the fact that today’s seniors are more vibrant, and the demand is definitely there for flexible residential design. For the operators, it’s a great marketing tool, and family members feel better about their decisions,” Fred said.