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Home built with `universal design’ makes life easier for many
Bethany Clough/McClatchey Newspapers
Thursday, September 20, 2007

FRESNO, Calif. — The house with the stone exterior on Eugenia Avenue looks like any other house in this quiet neighborhood.

But it isn’t.


Jeff Eben, deputy mayor of Fresno, Calif., left, admires the accessibility of the microwave oven above the standard oven with City Council member Cynthia Sterling as they tour Granville Homes’ “Alisio” model home featuring “Universal Design.” The design features a lower counter section, wider doorways, better access to appliances and sinks, making it user-friendly for persons with disabilities.

This home has wide hallways, lowered kitchen counters, thermostats reachable by people in wheelchairs and level doorways that a person using a walker can easily get through.

It’s a new style of home called universal design, meant to make houses accessible to everyone, whether they’re disabled, have young children or just want an easier time moving a couch through the front door.

This model is the first of its kind in Fresno, Calif., by a major subdivision builder — and something home buyers will see more of in coming years, said Michael Sigala, Fresno’s housing and community development manager.

Granville Homes built the model, which was debuted this month. The company worked with the city of Fresno Housing and Community Development Division and several organizations serving the disabled to design it.

“We hope that in the coming years, there will be opportunities to make these key features available to every home in our area,” said Darius Assemi, a principal of Granville Homes. “This home will act as a test.”


The “Alisio” model is a package that adds $1,500 to $2,000 to the price of a standard home.

The house is structured so that it can be easily modified later for specific needs.

For example, wooden reinforcements are hidden behind the walls in the bathroom. If grab bars need to be installed near the toilet to help someone with a disability, it can easily be done. Without the reinforcements, homeowners would have to spend thousands of dollars ripping out tile and drywall to install wooden beams that support weight put on the grab bars, Assemi said.

Other features include:

-- A kitchen sink with knee space underneath for wheelchair users.

-- Door handles with levers instead of knobs.

-- Hallways that are 6 inches wider than the minimum standard.

-- Interior doorways that are 2 inches wider than most doorways.

-- A front doorway without steps.

-- A lowered counter with no cupboards underneath.

During a tour of the house, Mary Kasson, 86, of Fresno steered her electric scooter up to the kitchen’s lowered counter. She turned her seat so her legs fit easily into the open space underneath it.

It would be a much easier place to fix dinner here than in the rental where she lives, she said.

“It’s very hard to live in a house where you can’t reach things,” she said. “You get frustrated.”

Such a counter could also be used by children who play or help mom cook, without having to balance on a high bar stool, said Marilyn Jost, deputy chairwoman of Fresno’s Americans with Disabilities Act advisory council.

“Universal design is for everyone, not just the wheelchair user,” she said.

Fresno Deputy Mayor Jeff Eben said one of the best things about such design is that it “looks cool.”

Eben has used a wheelchair since a water-skiing accident at age 16.

“This is forward thinking,” he said. “What you don’t want is a hospital zone or a construction zone with wooden ramps all over the place.”

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/...e-easier-many/