Michael Brower can access just about everything in his home.
Accessible home with elevator and contemporary style listed for $699,000 in Red Wing
Across the nation, only 5% of homes have a ramp. Here’s a look inside a fully accessible house in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 23, 2024 at 2:30PM
The basement? He’s there in a few seconds via the elevator. Spotted an interesting bird in the backyard? He can hop in his car and be on a trail through the woods in minutes. Making his way from the deck to the front of the house? There are low-threshold walkways to guide him straight there.
As a wheelchair user, the 58-year-old struggled in other homes, where uneven flooring between doorways or tight hallways made it tough to get around. So having the opportunity to build his own home with his wife, Rebecca Keller, was a real treat, Brower said.
“In all the other places we lived in, accessibility was not an obvious thing ... for us,” he said. “When we started building this home, we decided all floors needed to be accessible.”
After more than a decade living in their beloved two-bedroom, three-bath house in Red Wing, the couple is putting it on the market so they can move closer to the Mayo Clinic, where Keller works. The 2,714-square-foot house is optimal for those looking to age in place, Keller said. Plus, it’s on 8 acres of mixed woodland and restored prairie.
“We’re going to 100% miss living here,” Keller said. “We want to find the family that can use the features of this home and love it as much as we have.”
Full access
The multilevel, fully wheelchair-accessible home is a true rarity. Across the nation, few homes have a ramp — much less an accessible elevator.
According to the 2019 American Housing Survey, 5% of all homes reported having a ramp, and just 1% reported having a chairlift, stairlift or platform lift.
Builders need to start serving those with accessibility needs better, Keller said.
“We’ve got an aging population and people are forced into a nursing home because they can’t get into the house or they can’t get into the bedroom or bathtub,” she said. “Builders aren’t tapping into this market.”
Keller, who has used her home’s stairs most of the time she has lived there, recently had to use the elevator after a back injury.
“It’s a lifesaver for me,” she said. “You can be a healthy person and have an accident and need accessibility features.”
A major perk of the home is the accessibility features look seamless and modern, not industrial or hospital-like, Keller said.
Besides the elevator, other accessibility features include low- to no-threshold flooring through doorways including the front entrance and between the basement door and patio. The hallways are extra wide, allowing Brower to use his wheelchair with ease. Countertop seating in the kitchen is set lower for easy access. Plus, there’s a backup generator, so there’s no fear of being stuck in the elevator during an electrical outage.
In the upstairs bathroom, there’s a large walk-in shower with a built-in bench nearby, plus a spacious walk-in closet.
“It takes a lot of focus and time to get all the nuances that people with disabilities would need,” Brower said. “When I was designing my house, I had to think about all the accessibility components — like we had to make room for wheelchairs to turn, which is a 5-foot radius,” he said.
House on the prairie
Despite all the thoughtful indoor features, the best part of the home is the outside, Keller said.
Extensive accessible paths around the house allow Brower to access the generator and air-conditioning unit when needed. A trail through the backyard and woods is wide enough for a car, allowing him to chase wildlife with his camera.
“It gave me the opportunity to go on the trail and sit back in my car and take pictures of birds and anything else I could see,” he said.
Past the backyard, the couple restored several acres of prairie, taking out all the invasive plants that were growing on their lot. Now there’s an abundance of wildlife that likely includes over 100 species of birds (the couple kept a tally, but eventually lost count) and lots of butterflies. There are also possums, raccoons and the couple’s favorite neighbor: a little fox they’ve spotted catching small prey.
“We wanted to restore it to what it would have looked like 100 years ago before it was farmed,” Keller said. “It’s low maintenance and it’s pretty to look at.”
Julia Bohmbach (952-239-7511, juliabohmbach@edinarealty.com) has the $699,000 listing.
Correction: A previous version of this story's headline incorrectly stated the home's listing price. It is $699,000.
Architect Michael Hara wanted to carry on a legacy from his father and grandfather by also building his own house. It went on to win a design honor from the American Institute of Architects Minnesota.
