A Castle Built For Two

By Laura Koss-Feder

When Patricia and Kim Baker began thinking about building a new home for just the two of them, they were thinking big--very big. For 13 years they had been ensconced in a 3,500-sq.-ft. contemporary-style home--which was plenty of room until they brought in their expanding businesses. Soon the rooms felt crowded and confined.

Patricia, 48, had always longed for a large house and an expansive plot of land, and Kim was a NASCAR driver and race-car builder who needed an oversize garage for his projects. So when they reaped a windfall after selling their home in 2004, they decided to build their ideal home. The new residence is home to Patricia's p.r. agency and Kim's race-car-building business. It's also a place where family and friends can visit and take a gander at the extensive trove of antiques and collectibles the couple have acquired over the years. They refer to their home, unabashedly, as the "New American Castle"--moat not included.

The castle theme grew out of their penchant for medieval architecture, cultivated during trips abroad and tours of stone fortresses in the U.S. and Europe. For years, Kim had also nurtured a passion for Renaissance Revival--style antiques from the 1800s and collected items such as a 1900s grandfather clock and a 17th century suit of armor. In December 2002 the twosome set out to build their own castle in Middlefield, Mass., a quiet, rural community in the Berkshire Mountains that has a few well-hidden, elegant homes. Kim, 49, helped design the structure and is serving as general contractor for the 11,000-sq.-ft., three-story Scottish-style castle made of gray, rough-cut stone and situated on 75 acres.

The Bakers needed only four bedrooms, but the house has many features befitting a king and queen, such as a large media room, a wine cellar, a sun-room and a 12-car garage for Kim's projects. The estimated cost of the castle is about three times the $1.5 million the couple got for their previous home, in Southwick, Mass. They paid cash with money from the sale of their last property as well as stock. "Our generation is about potential and living out your desires, and that's just what we are doing," says Patricia.

Suburbanites have grown accustomed to the sight of McMansions--enormous homes built by the superrich and griped about by the rest of us. But mostly, those monster houses are filled with growing families. Many older Americans see retirement as a ticket out of the hassles of homeownership when they downsize.

But that's changing. Empty nesters increasingly view the housing market--even with a recent hike in federal interest rates--as a safe bet. For them, the term boomer might as well refer to housing boomers, who are building their own personal retirement homes instead of parking the cash in the stock market. "These people have the desire--and the money--to trade in the house that they lived in for 30 or 40 years and move into a home that has all the bells and whistles they've ever imagined," says Leslie Marks, executive director of the National Association of Home Builders. In the past five years alone, the number of home buyers 50 and over making purchases of $500,000 or more has doubled, estimates Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp., which is based in Parsippany, N.J., and has 3,200 offices domestically. Says Troy Campa, principal of Newberry Campa Architects LLC in Houston: "Just a few years ago, we didn't really see anyone in this age group buying large custom homes. Now that number is about 30% of our business, and it's going up at least 10% every year."

Take Fritz Opel, 61, who is happily enjoying retirement with his wife Jeri, 52, and his stepson Jordan, 13. Opel's 35-year-old twin sons had long ago flown the coop, but downsizing was not in the cards. After retiring from his marketing-executive job, Opel wanted to enjoy the high life. So in 2003 he plunked down $1.7 million to build his dream home in San Diego, complete with a pool and three-tier waterfall, a wine cellar for a 600-bottle collection, a four-car garage, a 500-sq.-ft. kitchen and five bathrooms--all just a mile from the ocean. Opel used the money from his previous home along with a $500,000 mortgage to pay for the new structure--a wise investment, in his mind. "I feel like I'm on vacation when I'm in my house," Fritz says. "This was our last big hurrah."

Not everyone is building a home from scratch. Some would rather spiff up an existing residence. Karen Spiker, 58, a Louisville, Ky., art-gallery consultant, undertook a renovation in a home she plans to stay in for a while. Even though her two children, ages 34 and 23, are out of the house, she had a pent-up desire for a spacious home. She and husband Phillip, 56, a pilot, had moved eight times over their 26-year marriage, while he served in the U.S. Air Force. That meant living in military housing or renting or owning small homes nearby. After Phillip retired as a colonel in 2000, the empty nesters decided it was finally time to have the home they really wanted. When Phillip's new employer at the time--United Parcel Service--moved him to Louisville, the couple found a nine-month-old one-story house that had all the features and charm they had ever wanted. It was located in an upscale suburban neighborhood that was the perfect place for them to settle down in and spend their golden years.

"We raised our children, worked hard, and my husband served his country seven days a week, 365 days a year for almost 30 years," Karen says. "We deserve to own something big and beautiful in a community where we could put down roots, since we didn't have roots anywhere."

The Spikers took out a 15-year mortgage and put down 20% on their $525,000, four-bedroom house, which had four times as much space as their last residence. Their home--which features a gourmet kitchen, family room with marble fireplace, a sun-room, three bathrooms and a three-car garage--has 3,500 sq. ft. and an additional 3,500-sq.-ft. unfinished basement. Karen points out that her master-bedroom closet--measuring 8 ft. by 12 ft.-- is the size of her bedroom in one of her former homes.

Other boomers are grabbing low-interest home-equity loans while they last to renovate and create the home they have always wanted, without having to change addresses. Barbara and Donald Fumo of River Forest, Ill., took advantage of a 4.2% home-equity loan and began construction in July on a 524-sq.-ft. family room that will be completed by Thanksgiving. At a cost of $148,000, the addition to the 2,500-sq.-ft. house will feature a wet bar, a fireplace with a plasma television above it, large windows and a 14-ft. ceiling. It was just the added space they needed to let them stay put in their beloved 86-year-old, uniquely designed California bungalow--style house. Now they have the space they need to entertain friends and family, and more than enough room for visits by their children, ages 34 and 30--and eventually the grandkids too. "This will be our little haven for relaxing and entertaining. What a treat at this time in our lives," says Barbara, 60, an elementary-school assistant principal in Chicago. And treating yourself is what it's all about.

But building a home isn't just something you do for yourself. It's also something you eventually leave behind. "We wanted to know that we would have a strong, rock-solid home that would outlast us and live on for many years after us," Patricia Baker says. "We feel like this will be our legacy after we're gone."