Lifestyles

George Hogg has come a long way from a ranch in Montana to life in an apartment with a 5-square-foot garden space in Richland.

Donn Neal left the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia for "another kind of beauty" he and his wife found Downtown.

Collette Wilson and her husband are moving to a smaller home in Collier because of the needs of people they are taking care of.

They all are experiencing the highs and lows of residential downsizing. It is a move that can mean leaving a home that has been part of your life for decades. It can be caused by a variety of factors: age, health, disenchantment with household chores, taxes and changing responsibilities.

This is a major change for many people. An AARP study reports 77 percent of respondents thought it was likely they would stay in their home for the rest of their lives.

People of all ages downsize, but the elderly are so often involved that a group of household organizers formed a National Association of Senior Move Managers in 2002.

The group's president, Peg Guild of Raleigh, N.C., says the networking association has 87 members nationwide, jumping from 50 last year,

Whoever it involves, the move includes gaining some things, giving up others and experiencing a bit of angst.

"It was a moment of not feeling too good," says Ed Renn, who moved with his wife from what he calls "a pretty big home" in Jeannette, Westmoreland County, to the Redstone Highlands retirement facility in Greensburg.

And it always involves some headaches. There are belongings to get rid off. There are houses to sell. There are neighborhoods -- and friends -- to leave.

"There is a trade-off in everything," says Neal, who moved from Virginia to the Gateway Towers about a year ago. "We gave up space for location and a place with wonderful cultural activities."

It is part of a new lifestyle.

"When I wanted to go outside, I didn't used to have to take an elevator," Renn says.

Dealing with the idea

Downsizing takes place for a variety of reasons.

• Renn, 76, and Hogg, 86, both came to the realization that maintaining a home was getting to be a difficult task and went, with their wives, to retirement apartment complexes, Redstone Highlands and St. Barnabas Retirement Village.

• Ron and Betty Prosser, who are "around 70," as he says, are tired of housework, too. They also want lower taxes and are moving from their Lower Burrell, Westmoreland County, home to a nearby condo.

• Collette Wilson, 60, and her husband, Stan, 67, are moving from their home in Scott to a patio home in Collier because the one-floor design will make it easier to care for his aging parents.

• Annette Blum lost her husband and decided to move from their home of 37 years to an apartment in the same neighborhood, which she asked not to identify.

• Neal and his wife, Peggy, who are "just past 65," decided they wanted to spend their retirement years in an urban setting rather than the green of the Shenandoah Valley. They moved Downtown.

Often, the move is the subject of a long period of consideration. Renn, for example, says he and his wife, Jane, had started to consider the need to move about five years ago, and he began "looking around at Redstone Highlands." They moved in March.

Hogg and his wife, Betsy, came to their conclusion only about a year before their move in March, and then began the juggling act of getting on a waiting list for an apartment while trying to organize the sale of their home.

Renn's home sold faster that he anticipated. He made up his mind to move in September, put the house up for sale in December and found a buyer in January.

"Between January and March, it was just a little chaotic," he says.

Hogg, meanwhile, had to wait through a slow sale of his Ross home, and the Prossers are still waiting for a buyer..

The big issues

If home sales aren't difficult enough, getting rid of belongings always causes some frustration -- and sorrow.

That's the case even when a person is totally convinced about "giving up space for location," as Donn Neal says.

He says there are many books he wishes he had kept and admits he misses some of the artwork for which he has too little wall space.

"But I found good homes for them, and I don't feel I threw them away," he says.

Renn and Hogg relied greatly on their children to take their belongings.

"It was tough emotionally," Renn says. "There were a lot of things I didn't want to part with."

For instance, he says, he had a number of heavy tools he enjoyed using. They all went to various children, but he was sad to see them go.

George and Betsy Hogg similarly relied on their four children, and they had a sale at the house. Eventually, they got rid of 75 percent of their belongings, they say. Most importantly, they went into the move with a well-organized plan. Hogg, a retired naval engineer, drew a diagram of their St. Barnabas apartment and mapped out where items would go, so they could determine what wouldn't fit.

Most downsizers say reducing their belongings to a smaller space is a true test, but Collette Wilson adds it is mostly a question of coming to grips with reality. The Wilsons are moving to a patio home in the new Neville Manor development.

"In our house here, we have a family room and a living room," she says. "There we will have one living room, so we only need one couch."

She says that each Monday after Easter she and Stan divest themselves of items that have fallen into disuse. That makes it easier to give items away.

"I'm terrible," she says. "I don't want it all. Let's be real, how many bowls do you need?"

Offering a little help

Patty Kreamer, of Green Tree, is a professional organizer. Her career is centered on giving advice on cleaning up homes full of meaningless items.

"Downsizing really forces the issue," says the founder of Kreamer Connects. "There just is no place to put the stuff."

While what she describes as a growing market provides only about three to five clients a year, it is 60 percent of the trade for Vickie Dellaquila, of McCandless, and her company, Organization Rules Inc.

Sally Burton, an interior designer from Delmont, says clients she has worked with in the past have sought her advice when downsizing. The owner of Burton Spring Crest Interior says she has found herself dealing with about 10 downsizers a year for the past 10 years.

It also has led Paul Regan, of Aspinwall, to make his firm, The Organizer, a full-time occupation. He says downsizers make up the bulk of his clientele,

This growing business has caused the increase in the membership of the National Association of Senior Move Managers, says Guild, the group's president. It also is causing that group to organize even further.

Although she is not sure when it will happen, Guild says the association soon will establish a permanent headquarters, in Chicago, rather than being located simply in the home of the president.

These experts all agree the toughest part of the job is guiding downsizers into realizing they have to deal with different space limitations.

"Sometimes family gets involved and that helps," she says, "but many people don't have anybody to help."

Blum was in that situation, she admits, and says she doesn't think she "could have done it" without the help of Dellaquila.

Burton says family involvement can be a huge key. The easiest step toward property dispersal, she adds, is "figuring out what you want your children to have."

Dellaquila says she tries to act as a "project manager," steering clients to make a floor diagram so they can figure out the move. That creates a logical approach, but still doesn't erase emotion.

"If you have been in your home 50 years, you have more than just things," she says. "I try to help seniors let go of memories."

Hints from helpers

Home organizers offer hints on downsizing.

• "Be comfortable with making a series of big decisions and know where things can go, both in your new home and to groups that can take things." -- Patty Kreamer, Green Tree, owner of Kreamer Connects.

• "Realize that you have to let go of a lot of memories." -- Vickie Dellaquila, McCandless, owner of Organization Rules Inc.

• "Consider things like expenses. Your house is paid for and now you probably will be paying rent." -- Sally Burton, Delmont, owner of Burton Spring Crest Interior.

• "Be ready to face the big test emotionally and physically. When you part with it, it goes away." -- Paul Regan, Aspinwall, owner of The Organizer.

By the numbers

"These Four Walls," an AARP housing survey done in 2003, revealed a desire to stay in place as age encroaches, but also a realization of needs.

The survey charted responses from 2,001 people 45 and older.

• 77 percent said it is "very" or "somewhat" likely they will stay in their own homes for the rest of their lives.

• 42 percent said they strongly disagree with the idea of relying on help from their children taking care of them, while 33 percent said they would be able to rely on family and friends.

• 51 percent believe, however, it is "likely" or "very likely" they will have to make changes to make their homes liveable.

• 73 percent would like a bathroom on the main level, and 70 percent want their bedroom to be there.

• 88 percent rated safe neighborhoods as a very important feature; 76 percent thought hospitals were very important.

• 78 percent lived in single-family detached homes.

• 33 percent have given "a great deal" of thought to the type of home they would live in as they age.

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