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Community Corner

16 New Villas to Be Built at McLean

McLean will host a model villa grand opening brunch on Sunday, May 1.

Sixteen new villas will complement the existing 48 apartments and 27 cottages on the McLean campus, located at 75 Great Pond Road, and the public is invited to attend a model villa grand opening brunch May 1 to experience and tour the new community. 

Freddi Hoffmann, vice president of marketing, sales and new business development at McLean, said they broke ground in November for the new housing. So far, Hoffmann said, McLean has pre-booked six villas, with the seventh being the model. Last week, the first residents moved onto Holly Farm Lane, with others arriving in early June. 

Canton residents Joan and Jack Benham will be moving into their new villa in June, and expressed their excitement to join the McLean community. 

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“We’ve been dreaming of it all winter,” Joan said, who was one of the first five to book a villa. 

When someone signs up or "books" a villa, Hoffmann said it takes roughly three weeks to break ground. 

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McLean’s village community is complete with cottages, apartments and now villas, which are part of the new McLean village continuing care retirement community. 

Hoffmann said McLean found that people wanted an updated cottage-style home with more space.

“We’ve worked with focus groups for several years to design these,” Hoffmann said of the villas. 

From front porches to front hall entranceways, the villas reflect the input of the focus groups. And, they are also suited for the senior population, with designs such as handicap accessible bathrooms and a level front entryway with no steps. 

The villas offers two options — a basic cottage with 1,405 square feet plus a garage, or a built-out one with 1,600 plus square feet and a garage. Each of the villas also includes an open floor plan for the living room, dining room and kitchen areas; two bedrooms; a one-car garage and appliances. There are freestanding or duplex homes offered. Upgrades are also available and include such items as a gas fireplace, hardwood floors in the great room, or an eat-in kitchen, among others. 

“The first residents in can personalize it,” Hoffmann said, and choose from a variety of options to make their villa home. 

Even before a person or couple chooses a unit, Hoffmann said there are resources available to assist perspective residents with concerns such as downsizing. Hoffmann said McLean works with families throughout the entire process to help with the transition. 

The village is an entry fee community, she said. McLean owns and maintains the properties. A monthly fee covers various services such as cleaning and maintenance, a social membership to the Hop Meadow Country Club next to McLean, a monthly dining plan, and access to on-site physicians, among others.  

The brunch will take place on Sunday, May 1, at noon at the Hop Meadow Country Club, 85 Firetown Road. Concierge vans will transport visitors from the brunch to the model villa. Visitors will tour the villa, complete with furnishings from Furniture Emporium, The Spirited Hand and Kaoud Oriental Rugs in Canton, as well as Arts Exclusive Gallery in Simsbury. 

To register call 860-658-3744. More information on the new villas is available on the McLean website

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