As many homeowners gracefully age, their focus begins to turn from their current living situation to where they will live in the later years of their lives. For many, staying in their own homes is important. The ability to “age in place” and enjoy the comforts of their surroundings has many homeowners rethinking the current state of their homes and making modifications to accommodate life changes in the future so that they can live independently in their own home and community.

When a Town and Country couple purchased a teardown in 2005, they knew part of their rebuild would include an exquisite backyard landscape featuring a pool house for year-round entertaining. “We wanted a space where we could entertain outside of the home,” the homeowner explains. “Something intimate and cozy.”

When architect Nathan Dirnberger purchased a home in the city in 2003 for just $37,000, it was in desperate need of repair. The roof had leaks. The basement was half full of water because pipes had not been winterized. “It was pretty beat up,” Nathan says.

Over a span of seven years, Dirnberger took the neglected home and transformed it into a cool, contemporary urban dwelling. One of the biggest renovations was the rebuilding of the three-story home’s multilevel staircase.

When two Clayton homeowners broke ground on a major addition in the early 2000s, they left the original master bathroom untouched, repurposing it into a children’s Jack-and-Jill. But a decade later, as the room’s young occupants approached tween-hood, it was time to bring a dull, outdated space into the colorful 21st century.

Situated along a quiet tree-lined street in a quaint Central West End neighborhood is an exquisite historic home. A home the Slentz family fell in love with after moving to St. Louis from Montréal, Quebec. Familiar with a city environment conducive to walking to shops, restaurants and parks, the family immediately fell in love with the area.