Photos Keith Beauchamp and Paul O' Mara

People’s goals, dreams, and priorities often change as they mature. In early adulthood there’s the harried scurry involving higher education, starting careers, getting married, and having children. Early middle age brings on that unenviable tension of a life lived between two generations: launching children into the adult world and caring for parents.

The approach of one’s mature years, however, brings many benefits, not the least of which is a new freedom that is a pleasant surprise to many. Not only are Americans living longer than they ever have, but they are also active longer than ever before (presently, the fastest-growing age group in the U.S. is the population 85 and older).

As people graduate into the 55+ demographic, their focus shifts from the urgent to the significant, making longstanding friendships and family bonds become more essential to their daily lives. The Village at Maplewood is designed specifically to make these years peaceful and pleasant, allowing residents the luxury of enjoying the things that matter to them most.

All the perks, none of the headaches

Rome’s leading builder Jeff Brooks, and the master landscape designer Ed Watters, combined their considerable experience and talents to create The Village at Maplewood, an upscale gated community situated on 38 lovely acres. There are beautiful cottages, stylish condominiums, and garden homes. (More to come on the garden homes! Keep reading!)

Situated only a mile and a half from historic downtown Rome, Georgia, The Village provides easy access to shopping, restaurants, theaters, coffee shops, as well as public parks where outdoor festivals, fairs, and concerts are held. And the amenities at The Village are many: a beautifully appointed clubhouse, a large indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a library, a craft room, tennis courts, and walking trails.

The Village offers everything the residents could want without troubling them with the things they moved there to escape, tasks like mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, watering the garden, and trimming the hedges. All the manicured grounds at The Village are meticulously maintained by professional groundskeepers. Limited exterior maintenance is taken care of as well. And because it’s a gated community, residents can enjoy security and peace of mind when they leave home; they can just lock up and go.

The Quads at The Village

For those interested in moving to The Village at Maplewood, here is their chance. There are two garden homes available for sale. These garden homes are called The Quads at The Village. They are newly constructed single-level (zero step entry) homes, both one-bedroom/one-bath. They each have a one-car garage with entry to the kitchen, 9’ ceilings, and crown molding throughout.

The kitchens include GE stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, white cabinets with soft-close drawers, and subway tile backsplash. For easy cleaning, all the living areas feature engineered hardwood floors. The bedrooms have high-quality carpet and walk-in closets. The bathrooms are tiled and have white cabinets, granite countertops, soft-close drawers, and walk-in showers. The homes include a stackable washer/dryer, a tankless hot water heater, and pull-down stairs to a floored storage area above the garage. There is a one-year home warranty from the builder.

Like the rest of The Village at Maplewood, The Quads provide amenity-filled, maintenance-free living in a safe, gated community just minutes from downtown. A reasonable monthly HOA fee includes landscaping and grounds maintenance, exterior pest control, insurance on common elements, limited exterior maintenance (roofs, gutters, exterior painting), water, sewer, and trash pick-up. However, being an active 55+ community, The Village does not provide health care, food services or cleaning services.

For those still interested in The Quads after the last two units are sold, there will be another opportunity to join the community at The Village in the future. Construction on additional units (around eight) will begin after the sale of the final two.

Satisfied customers

There are many stories of residents who absolutely love their homes at The Village. Take the Hunters for example. After Virginia Hunter retired from her job as a special education teacher in Young Harris, Georgia, she and her husband, Guy, began to wonder if they should move to Rome to be closer to family members.

As empty nesters, they were anxious to simplify their lives by downsizing (“No one wants all that stuff!” Virginia says). As a sort of test, they put their pontoon boat up for sale. It sold immediately. So, they tried again, this time putting their house on the market to see what would happen. When it sold in only two weeks, the Hunters saw it as a sign. Virginia says, “God was telling us to move to Rome. So we did!”

The Hunters shopped around a little, but soon settled on The Village at Maplewood. They had a three-bedroom custom cottage built. “It’s just perfect for us,” Virginia says. “It has all the room we need.” Then she adds with a laugh, “And we’re not in each other’s way.” She also likes that she feels safe when they’re out walking the dog and chatting with the neighbors.

A big plus for the Hunters is how active many of the community’s residents are. There’s always something to do. Virginia says there’s water aerobics, Friday socials with appetizers and drinks, a book club, a bridge club, and monthly catered dinners. And there’s an active pickleball group that plays weekly. When a friend and neighbor at The Village said, “If someone offered me a fortune, I wouldn’t move away from here,” Virginia had to agree.