Stylized Senior Living

[ Eventide Fargo ]

Story by Tracy Nicholson
Interior photography by Dan Francis Photography
Patio photography by Jeremy Albright
Exterior photography by Dennis Krull, 5foot20 Design Lounge

In perfect harmony with the next generation, Eventide Fargo's Senior Living communities are redefining retirement. Expanding within independent living, long-term care, transitional and rehabilitation care, they've unveiled a fresh concept in a hospitality-style setting. Teaming up to execute the concept, Eventide worked with Kim Matteson of Design Resources Group as their primary architect, and Ami Baxter for Interior Design, with a specialty focus on hospitality. See inside the new style of modern senior living, complete with a pub, cafe, wellness center, salon, courtyard, stylish common areas and amenity-driven apartments.  ​

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​Eventide's Senior Living Communities 

Senior care facilities have long been associated with words like cold, sterile and institutional; the furthest place the next generation of elders wanted to reside. With a team in tune with their community's needs, Eventide has been busy - spending the past few years building new, while also implementing additions and remodels in their existing locations. This month, we took a tour of Eventide Fargo's Senior Living Community, hosted by Carrie Carney, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, and Mary O'Brien, Director of Senior Living - just two of the many team members determined to change the style of senior living. 

On the east side of the building, as the main entrance, Design Resources Group designed a dramatic foyer with architectural wood beams and a sleek front desk. A few feet away, guests can gather in an open-concept, modern cafe to grab a snack, beverage or ice cream. On the opposite side of the foyer, Baxter has designed a beautiful common area with a two-sided fireplace and lounge areas, integrating clean lines and textures with warmer neutral tones.  

Quote from architect 

"Eventide's Owner, Jon Riewer, and President of Operations, Melissa Heesch are changing the way senior living operates and living up to true hospitality, in and throughout their healthcare system," said Baxter. "Teaming up with Eventide was a natural fit, as my passion for hospitality design has continued to develop working with them on a variety of their current sites and having a passion for designing spaces that balance both inviting and eye-entertaining. For example, does the eye flow through the room and yet still able to catch the focal point? In the design of the main lobby waiting area, the black marble fireplace was intended to be the artwork."

Comforts of Home
​

"It's a beautiful community - it definitely feels more like a hotel. We have a pub here, a lovely great room, a beautiful courtyard, wellness center, cafe, a chapel, and a lot of beautiful common areas," said Carney. "Moving to a senior community can be a great, personalized lifestyle, with the ease of having everything taken care of – housekeeping, meals, entertainment and health care. The apartments are modern and the residents have really done a great job decorating and making it their own."

"With an uptick of Baby Boomers, I think people are going to start coming to senior living places earlier in their lives - they know the things that they're gaining in making the move, rather than losing." 

• Mary O'Brien, Eventide's Director of Senior Living

Happy Hour 

An unexpected amenity, Eventide Fargo's pub is host to an array of gatherings and features personal lockers for residents to stash their favorite spirits. Interior designer, Ami Baxter, chose warm, modern finishes with an antiqued, newspaper-style wall covering, regional relic art, high back booths and sleek leather club chairs. 

"This is one of my favorite spaces throughout Eventide's campus. With a blend of rich wood-tones, masculine leathers and eclectic wallcoverings, this space embraces the Fargo athletic and art community in one space," said interior designer, Ami Baxter. "There's no confusion of focal point when guests are greeted with bison horns, Fargo-isms and a plethora of #allthingsfargo! I recruited many artists, along with my patient father to execute this wall of homage. We installed, then sat for hours smiling at the wall and talking with residents every-time we added more. A beautiful and forever memory for my career lies in that room...and also for every Fargo resident who steps foot in that space."

"We have happy hours here in our pub, events in the courtyard, concerts on the patio, book clubs and we also do social outings like Red River boat tours and going to Redhawks games," said Carney. "Residents can go to the hair and nail salon on-site, be part of book and walking clubs, quilting, and even help with planting flowers and watering plants."

Finding Comfort in Common Space

Eventide Fargo has at least one beautifully-designed, larger common space on each of the community's four floors. According to Carney, this is part of the modern concept to provide an extension of the resident's living spaces, but also a place visitors and family can enjoy. Walking throughout the building, Baxter's design extends to a scattering of smaller lounges for more intimate spaces, along with locally sourced art and photography that's been transferred to metal canvases. 

"I primarily focused on all aspects Interior Design, implementing all furnishings, artwork and installations, and color story for the interior vibe," said Baxter. "For the hard finishes, I teamed up with Kim Matteson and Design Resources Group to choose carpet, tiles, luxury vinyl tile and wall colors."

"Eventide Fargo encompasses a grounding color palette creating a backdrop for architectural details, local artisan's artwork, and fresh, modern furnishing styles," explained Baxter. "The earthy colors on floors and walls opened the possibility of black, white, or colors throughout the artwork. We were able to feature a diverse platform of artists, including metalwork by Scott Harris, white plaster castings by Vidger & Hagen, rich colors by Liz Wahlberg, photographs on metal by Grains Designs, vibrant paint techniques by Rando...and the list goes on."

Eventide Fargo's Chapel

Eventide Fargo is currently the only senior living community in the U.S. that has integrated speakers connected to the second floor with a viewing deck overlooking the chapel; providing another way for residents to participate in services. Other local churches are welcomed to hold services here and there is a chaplain on-site, so residents can be part of ongoing Bible studies.  

Divine Dining

On a tour of the dining hall, residents are greeted with daily menus, architectural ceilings, large windows, and plenty of natural light. To evoke qualities more typically found in restaurants or hotel dining experiences, Baxter integrated acrylic bamboo panels, textured wall coverings, sleek tile backsplashes on the breakfast bar, and bold pops of color with floral canvases by local artist, Rando. 

"The interior designer, Ami Baxter, really led the charge on the look and feel of the interior and finishes," said O'Brien. "The residents and visitors love the neutral tones, but also the artwork and everything that ties the space together. This is a place where people can thrive with everything they need, and still have their own space."

"The design team was guided by the innovative concepts that Jon and Melissa requested for the facilities and it’s wonderful to see what an impact design has on how people are living there. This was an amazing project to be involved with, and to be pushing the limits on what people’s perceptions are for senior living." 

• Kimberly Matteson, AIA, NCARB - Principal Architect, Design Resources Group | PACES Lodging Corporation

Independent Apartment Living 

Eventide Fargo has four floors including 76 apartments with varying floor plans and access to an on-grade parking garage. Each unit has its own laundry with additional storage/mudroom, full kitchen, walk-in closets, a communal storage area and many utilities already included with the rent. Residents can also reserve the on-site guest suite for visiting family - an apartment offering a kitchenette, breakfast service and use of the wellness center. Apartment dwellers here get to live care-free with routine apartment maintenance, meal plans, housekeeping, and transportation provided at their request. 

Personalizing Senior Style: Dorothy Bergem

To get a glimpse inside modern senior living, we visited the apartment of Dorothy Bergem, a three-year resident of Eventide Fargo. To help personalize her home's design and choose new furnishings, she worked with designers Julie Alin and Steve Johnson, through SCHEELS Home & Hardware. The two got creative, framing sentimental photos from her family's farm in Western North Dakota, pulling together her past and present for a soothing sanctuary she loves coming home to. "I usually don't cry, but it was tears of joy - I was so impressed with what they did," said Bergem. 

Her second bedroom can accommodate overnight visits from family, but most often serves as her office, designed with her favorite photos, wooden plaques, and custom-created wire art, combining her dad and husband's ranching brands. Her late husband was able to reside just a brief walk away in long-term care until he passed away two years ago. 

"Her tears of joy at the final reveal warmed our hearts and reinforced that we had nailed it! We tried to help Dorothy create a homey atmosphere in a much smaller place than she had been accustomed to. We expanded her living room with more furniture to allow for family visits and added new art to what she already had, hanging it in the perfect spots to pull each of the spaces together," said Johnson. "Her colors are light and airy, helping the space really open up."

"The cabinetry color varies on every floor from light to dark; it's nice that the residents have those options in aesthetic features, just like if anyone was going to customize their home," said O'Brien. "We have a lot of residents who request to have a small chest freezer or even a wine fridge; we also allow people to hang things on their walls with nails - if it's something that can make it feel more like home, we say, 'Of course!'." 

Making the Move: Amenities + Apartments

"With an uptick of Baby Boomers, I think people are going to start coming to senior living places earlier in their lives - they know the things that they're gaining in making the move, rather than losing," said O'Brien. "Right now, the average age is 86, but we do have residents in their early 70s and some in their late 90s." 

Eventide offers an age-in-place range of services designed to help older adults thrive within a community. Today, they have 15 locations between Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo, Devils Lake and Jamestown; some offer secured memory care units, while others, like Eventide Fargo, offers independent living with more basic memory care. 

"I would say at least 40 percent of the individuals living in the apartments have some sort of cognitive impairment or decline, but that's natural aging," explained O'Brien. "We don't recommend memory care until it's the best route for the safety of our residents, or if they are exit seeking. If that happens, we get together with the family and come up with a plan. Memory care is not always the next step, it could be long term care. We have wonderful processes where we can still have residents live under one roof with memory issues, but they don't necessarily have to go to memory care." ​

Age in Place 

"It's hard for people in this stage of their life to think about moving, but once people are here, they often say that they wish they would have made the move sooner," said Carney. "Here they get to really enjoy life and not worry about things like snow removal and mowing the lawn. We also have a wellness program where we not only focus on physical health, but mental, emotional, spiritual and occupational - it's a faceted program along with an extensive activity and social calendar. We truly try to touch on each point for overall health so residents can continue to thrive and enjoy life." 

Eventide also offers in-house speech, physical and occupational therapy, transitional care, home care and hospice services. For couples who require vastly different levels of care, they can often reside within the same community - with one living in the apartments and the other in the care center. 

"Many of the residents still drive; they visit their cabins, attend activities in the community, or take part in outside clubs - but if the time comes where they need extra assistance from nursing or with medication management, we're there to help," said O'Brien. "We're one of the few places that offer a continuum of care so that you can move in, completely independent, not needing any type of services, then add services as you need them." 

Find the Finishes:

• Architect - Kim Matteson, Design Resources Group
• Interior Design - Ami Baxter Design
• Bergem's apartment design - Julie Alin, Steve Johnson, SCHEELS Home & Hardware 

For more information, contact: 

Eventide 

• Mary O'Brien | Director of Senior Living 
• 218.291.2200 
• mary.obrien@eventide.org

Eventide Corporate Office - Moorhead

• Carrie Carney | Vice President of Marketing & Communications
• 218.291.2206
• carrie.carney@eventide.org

_____________________________________________

Ami Baxter Design 

• 701.866.3321
• amibaxter.com 

Design Resources Group | A division of PACES Lodging Corporation

• Kimberly Matteson, AIA, NCARB
• 701.499.3940
• propertyresourcesgroup.com

SCHEELS Home & Hardware 

• 701.232.8903
• scheelsdesign.com

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