Senior Living
The Rev. Jim McCormick’s retirement journey took him and his wife, Patricia, from Roswell to North Georgia’s Big Canoe community and back this year to metro Atlanta.
McCormick, 76, chatted about how the Orchards of Brannon Oak Farm, an active adult neighborhood in Cumming by the Orchards Group, appealed to them.
Q: What prompted your move?
A: I retired for the second time. I retired in 1998 [after serving as a United Methodist pastor], and we moved to Roswell to be near our children. We were happy retired people for five years. Then I was invited to Big Canoe to be interim chaplain for three months. That lasted for six years. I was pastor of the Big Canoe Chapel.
Q: Why did you head back to metro Atlanta?
A: The main reason is to get near our daughter, who lives in Alpharetta, and our son, who lives in Atlanta. It’s also good as we get older to be near grocery stores and restaurants and hospitals and doctors.
Q: Did you mull over the decision for a while?
A: We’ve been thinking about it for a while. We weren’t ready to go into an assisted living area, but in this community, we’ve very close to people, and all the exterior maintenance is provided (as part of the homeowners association fee), so that was a big plus. We visited a number of older adult communities, and when we first drove in here, it just felt good.
Q: How did the community feel good?
A: Everything is very well designed, neat and well kept. Everybody you pass, they wave. It seemed to be a very welcoming kind of community but also very classy. We were very pleased that, like Big Canoe, the community has a kind of image it wants to maintain, so there are community standards that every unit is expected to live up to.
Q: What type of space did the floor plan [the Charleston] offer?
A: We can live all on one floor. We do have one room upstairs, which we’re using as a multipurpose room. We’re using it as a media room, computer room, and my wife is an artist, so she has her art studio up there as well.
Q: Did you modify the floor plan?
A: On the ground floor, we have a nice sunroom and great room. In the model, they also had a small den. We didn’t think that two people needed three different places to sit and read. So instead of the den, we had them put a wall where the doors were. We incorporated that into the master bedroom to make a larger master bedroom, and put a 14-by-12 closet in for me. My wife now has two closets and I have one, but it’s a very nice closet.
Q: How do you envision being able to age in the home?
A: It’s all prepared for future needs. All the doors are wide enough for walkers and wheelchairs. Even the stairway goes directly up. It doesn’t go around any corners. If we wanted to add a movable chair to get upstairs, we could do that.
Q: Was there anything you had to sacrifice?
A: At Big Canoe, within the community we had tennis courts and a golf course, but here, one of the good things about the nature of this community is we have several people who play tennis. We get together several times a week to play. There’s a nice tennis complex not far from here. One member of the community arranges golf once a week at a variety of public courses. Although it seems that I gave up something, we are finding other ways to compensate, and it’s working very well.
At a glance
Jim and Patricia McCormick’s new home in the Orchards of Brannon Oak Farm has three bedrooms, three baths and about 1,950 square feet. They moved in during March. Homes in the Forsyth County community are priced from the $240,000s-$360,000s.
About the Author
