Embrace Your Destiny: Watch the Steps

Last Resort is at the top of the hill

What were we thinking? The first house we built at Cape Island, North Topsail Beach was too tall, too big and too hard. It turned out to be a good lesson for building our next house back on the farm in Mills River.

The beach house we called Suntracker, had three tall levels. I loved the whimsical look. It was white with lavender trim and a red metal roof. I loved the magnificent views of water all around. I didn’t love the generous deck because it was always either too hot or too windy to enjoy eating or sitting out there.

Eating outside on the deck was tricky, an adventure. We had to shift the table from place to place to find a spot not too hot or too windy. We tried entertaining on the deck. For example, one beautiful spring day when we had company, we planned to eat lunch on the deck. Lunch was on the table when the breeze picked up. We forgot that at the beach, around 12:00 noon, everyday, the wind picked up. By the time we sat down to eat, the wind was so strong it literally blew salad out of the bowls and chips off the plates. We ended up moving indoors.

Low-rise Steps going into Last Resort

We had space in abundance. The Garden Level was for parking, exercise, and working. The second level was living and entertaining, and the third level was our bedroom and office. Up and down, up and down. It was good exercise but grew tiresome. The elevator was okay for hauling heavy stuff up but too slow for everyday use. Sometimes we would go up and down all three levels maybe five or more times a day. We never considered how the heat and humidity would effect my Multiple Sclerosis symptoms.

We learned from living in Suntracker and used that knowledge in building The Last Resort in Mills River.  We put all our living space on the main level. Natural aging with regular joint and muscle aches and pains seems to call for limiting steps. Our builder insisted that we incorporate handicap accessible features as well. Thank you Sam Riddle!

 

I like the look and functionality of a two level house. We use the second floor on our terms. The doorways, hallway and stairway are wide enough to accommodate a wheel chair, if needed. I haven’t needed one yet. We have handrails on all stairs and grab bars in abundance. The few steps coming into the house are few in number and low rise making them easier to go up and down. I really appreciated those easy steps early in recovery from my fractured pelvis. With a spot from Donnie and using my walker for support, I could go up and down as needed to get to the garage.

Our hot yoga studio

The Pandemic came and we were sequestered inside more than usual. I said Donnie, “Can we make the guest bathroom upstairs into a hot yoga studio? We need to keep doing hot yoga. I think two mats will fit and with the shower on, maybe it will get a little hot.”

He surprised me saying, “We can. We should be able to get an Infrared light too. I’ll look for that on Amazon.” In no time, we were all set for doing hot yoga in that bathroom.  We added a few kettle bell weights to our collection, bought a bosu, dusted off the exercise ball and now we have a workable gym upstairs. Even the staircase has become a tool for some of my exercises. I tie stretch bands around the newels to do rows and other upper body exercises, and I use the steps for several leg strengthening exercises. I have found ways to modify most of the weight training lessons my trainer provided me.When company comes, we move the Infrared light and mats to the downstairs office. Upstairs is for company and grandchildren!

One exercise I do on the steps

We are happy with the lessons we learned from Suntracker. The Last Resort is not too hard or too big. We used hardwood flooring instead of hard travertine stone. Standing on hardwood is easier on the legs than standing on stone for long periods of time. That has made a big difference for me, especially in the kitchen. Our goal was to make everything needed for everyday living on the main level.. The office, quilting room is multipurpose. This gives us flexibility of space needed when entertaining.