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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 19THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 201818 The Township of Guelph/Eramosa congratulates The New Tanner on its 20th Anniversary As an important, local newspaper in our Township, your well-written articles help to cover significant news and events for our residents. We wish you another successful 20 years as a news source in Guelph/Eramosa! By: Harry Rudolfs Janette Ledwith has just renovated a big, century-old house in downtown Rockwood that she wants to share with like-minded people. It's a concept called co- living or co-housing and it's a different way of ap- proaching one's "golden years". Ledwith got the idea for her Oak Hill Co- Living project af ter attending a meeting three years ago with some other women in a simi- lar situation. She realized that her house and its lo- cation would be perfect for a co-living initiative. Major renovations and a large addition would have to be done, but Led- with saw the potential of an elegant living space that would allow seniors to live independently while sharing resour- ces, expenses and some meals. Put simply, the idea is that she would sell five sixths of her house to five other people. They would each buy a share in Oak Hill Home and that share could eventually be sold when the co-owner has to move on. "We were thinking this would be ideal for women who are often left alone with a big house," s a id Ledwi th . "Bu t we won't discriminate against men. Our main consideration was to keep it affordable." Needless to say, the renovations have been extensive and taken one year to complete. The new wing has four large bed-sitting rooms which include an ensuite bathroom and a self- contained gas fire place that work independently if the lights go out. "We have our share of power failures in Rockwood." Two self-contained suites were also added to the second floor in the old part of the origin- al house. But the focal point of the home is the enormous kitchen on the main floor with two sets of sinks and stoves and a very large refrigerator. "We thought of having little cooking appliances in the rooms but where's the community in that? We want to share at least one meal per week. It was also important to have one kitchen because we are considered a sin- gle family dwelling." Every th ing i n t he house has been rebuilt to code or beyond. "We let the mayor know what we were doing early on and he liked the idea." She's also received great help with the legal issues from other groups that have tried co-housing. Ledwith cited the cases of the "Golden Girls" in Port Perry, Ont., who have established in law the principle that non-re- lated people can legally share title to a single- family unit. Ledwith realizes that there will be challenges in dividing up the bills and the chores. "Every- thing will be done by consensus." Legal agree- ments and mechanisms have to be in p lace should someone want to cash out, for instance. She's also looking for partners that are in- dependent, as Ledwith, herself, is a spry octo- genarian. "We're not a care home, but one good thing about liv- ing in community is that people can check in on each other." The remarkable thing is how quickly the Oak Hills project has come about, literally three years from concept to f ru i t ion . Ledwith i s ready to move back in-- she had to vacate during construction--and she has another woman who is also ready to do so. She's currently inter- viewing prospect ive partners."Build it and they will come was our approach. We built this so it would last a long time and it will serve a lot of people." Co-Living--Rockwood woman brings a new retirement model to town Janette Ledwith standing in the renovated kitchen of her Oak Hill Co-Living