Berkeley Parents Recommendations for Housing, Neighborhoods, & Moving
Rossmoor Senior Housing in Walnut Creek
This page is brought to you by the Berkeley Parents Network
Back to Senior Housing
December 2001
We have been looking into senior housing and the different types
available.
The Rossmoor housing in Walnut Creek sounds like it gears towards
various age groups and levels of care, one buys their own housing/condo and it
has it's own facilities such as buses within the housing complex, lots of
activities, etc. Does anyone have any experience/opinions (good or bad)
about Rossmoor? This facility seems different than the usual.
Hana
My mother lives in Rossmoor and loves it. She is an active 64 year old
(she still works in the financial district every day!) and bought a
co-op several years ago. She completely gutted it and remodeled to suit
her needs and taste. While she does not take advantage of many of the
activities, many of her friends do. We have played golf there several
times and it's great. She takes my son swimming and he has a great
time. She travels quite a lot so the fact that she can literally lock
her door and leave for weeks at a time is great for her. It would not
be a good place if you require assistance with your day to day care and
or activities. It is definitely geared toward self-sufficient seniors,
there are no meals provided. Hope this helps.
Kristi
My in-laws live in Rossmoor in the Waterford which is a four story condo
complex. You own your condo and pay a monthly fee which provides weekly
maid service, one meal daily (lunch or dinner in the dinning room),
insurance etc. Folks who move to the Waterford are typically looking
for more services (dinning room, maid service on site, etc). You must
be able bodied to move in and it has no nursing home facilities. You
still have access to all of the other amenities in Rossmoor, bus, pools,
golf, community centers, etc...My in-laws like the Waterford because it
meets their needs- they no longer want to cook every meal, the dinning
room provides a daily social outlet, they own there own unit, they use
the other facilities as wanted. We go out with my 3 year old and swim,
feed the ducks, take walks, eat in the dinning room. My husband and
in-laws met with a realtor from Rossmoor Realty and looked at everything
- private homes, town houses and the Waterford condos. The Waterford
was the best choice for them.
Mary
My grandfather and his wife lived in Rossmoor and really
loved it. There are hiking trails, clubs for all manners
of interests, free shuttle buses to the supermarket and
BART, and a lot of interesting folks living there. My
grandfather swam laps every day in one of their pools,
Edda was in the folkdancing and hiking clubs, and they
had friends who were retired psychiatrists, psychologists,
anaesthesiologists, artists, episcopal priests... Edda
continued to commute to work on BART as a paralegal in
Oakland for many years, and volunteered to deliver meals
for shut-ins. They took BART into San Francisco for their
season subscriptions to the symphony and ACT, and to Oakland
for the ballet. All the maintenance of their place was
taken care of. They were crazy about the place until
the days they died. When their friends grew too old or
ill to care for themselves, there was assisted living
right outside the gates... Walnut Creek has a terrific
arts complex. My mother often regrets that she sold
their coop; she wishes she could winter there.
Christine
The opinions and statements expressed on this page
are those of parents who belong to the
UC Berkeley Parents Network and
should not be taken as a position of or endorsement by the
University of California, Berkeley.