SANTA ROSA, CALIF. — It is move-in day at Varenna at Fountaingrove, and Tess Manion looks up from a stack of paperwork with a glint in her eye. "Have you seen the wine cave?" she asks in a thick New England accent, before admitting that, not being from California, she's more partial to Scotch than sauvignon blanc.
But that's OK. Because Manion, 80, and her new-neighbor-turned-fast-friend Evelyn Radunich (an octogenarian who likes vodka tonics) can go to the bar instead. Or they can sip cocktails from their own broad balconies overlooking graceful grounds planted in zinfandel.
Manion and her new pal are not your average retirees, and Varenna is far from your average retirement community. The Mediterranean-themed complex collects an entrance fee of up to $1.3 million, along with monthly charges that can peak at nearly $5,500, depending on the unit.
Varenna, which opened its doors in mid-May, is the latest in a new breed of luxury retirement villages, putting the gold in some Americans' golden years and providing at least one bright spot in an otherwise bleak real estate picture.
The women's neighbors include a one-time teacher from Arizona with two sons. One son is a former television anchorman; the other is a high-tech entrepreneur who sold his company to a telecom giant and is paying her way. And then there's the widow of a California congressman-turned-federal judge.
For a fee, these affluent elders can have dogs walked and cars detailed, new apartments decorated and boxes unpacked. They can get a daily wake-up call and store their wine collections in climate-controlled comfort.
They can shop for groceries in a chauffeured Cadillac. Views are expansive, ceilings high and apartments spacious -- the biggest, nearly 3,000 square feet, with a gourmet kitchen, two master suites, an office and a den.
"For someone coming from 5,000 to 8,000 square feet, this is downsizing," said Allison Cervantez, Varenna's vice president of marketing. "They'll pay the extra to keep the dining set they've had for 50 years, or their grandmother's armoire."
This is late-life living large, and it raises at least one serious question: If you can afford to live in Varenna, or Classic Residence by Hyatt in Palo Alto, or Peachtree Hills Place in Atlanta, or Fox Hill in Bethesda, Md., or the Clare at Water Tower in Chicago, you can afford to stay in your own home forever. So why move?
