LITTLETON, MA. – “Before moving here, I lived in a neighborhood of strangers. Now I live in a community of friends who care.” says senior Wayne Bryant, a writer and resident of Hager Homestead in Littleton, Mass.
This pioneering 55+ community, the first senior cohousing project in New England, was launched in 2016 by its cofounders who later coalesced a core group to build a neighborhood where they could remain in charge of their own lives while aging in community.
“Hager Homestead is a new take on a traditional village, where residents know and care about each other,” says Victoria Thatcher, a retired publications editor who cofounded the project with her husband Mayhew Seavey, an electrical engineering consultant. Residents living in 26 comfortable one- and two-bedroom homes value their private lives but are also united around mutual care, community service, and a common house for shared meals and activities.
Two core components distinguishing a cohousing community from a condo association are inclusiveness and collaboration. Homes are clustered together to encourage connection and enable residents to watch out for each other. Financially the community runs as an HOA like a condominium with condo documents and monthly fees paid per household. However, different from traditional HOAs, all members are involved in decision-making and are engaged in community work based on their unique interests, abilities and time.
According to homeowner Catherine Brooks, a 64-year-old hospitality and mind-body health professional, “Living in community and staying engaged in this way expands our own lives as we become actively involved in making life better for each other. Making collective decisions loosens our control on life in a good way that goes against the norm of being set in our ways as we age.”
The community also offers lots of opportunities for social connection. Along with the Common House, the 15-acre property includes 12 acres of meadow conservation land and walking trails, community gardens, and a barn for woodworking and storing supplies. The bucolic setting abuts a town campus housing the library, new senior center, and town hall with nearby farms and the commuter rail a short drive away.
A key reason that the cohousing concept is gaining popularity across the U. S.: In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a national epidemic and warned “lacking social connections carries health risks.”
WGBH Boston Public Radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan devoted a recent show to the topic of loneliness and spoke with Hager Homestead resident Brenda Cooper who, with her husband Tom, joined the community in its pre-construction phase in 2018.
They were looking for connection and community as they prepared to downsize and sell the family home they had lived in for 43 years. “Once the children left and friends dispersed, living in a single-family home in the suburbs became an isolating experience,” says Brenda. “Now everyday offers a variety of opportunities to engage with friends.”
Karen Wagner, age 71, a Montessori preschool teacher, who moved to Hager from Arlington, Mass., smiles when asked about her new life: “Whether you need a screwdriver or a sprig of cilantro, chances are one of your neighbors will come to the rescue. Or maybe you just baked a banana bread and need someone to sit down to enjoy it with.”
And Mike Boss, a 70 year-old retired biotech executive says, “The difference from our last home is that hardly a day goes by without some sort of connection with my neighbors, which means I need to build in extra time if I’m leaving the house for an appointment because I want to stop and chat on my way to the car!”
Hager Homestead has one unit left to sell: a two-bedroom walkout on the meadow-side of the property, and residents are eager to meet new neighbors ready to live and age well in community.
To arrange a tour and/or for more information, contact Catherine Brooks at hagerhomestead@gmail.com