Still juggling a career and homeowner chores?

Maris Grove, Erickson Living’s retirement community in Delaware County, Pa., offers distinct advantages to people who are employed or who have an extensive volunteer schedule.

Its professional, efficient, and courteous maintenance team is just a phone call away should something go wrong in a resident’s apartment home.

Extensive menus at six campus restaurants mean dining on chef-prepared meals instead of coming home and having to cook dinner.

And Maris Grove provides 24/7 security via its full-time security team who are also trained in medical first response.

More time together

“There’s something very special about being able to close the apartment door on Thursday evenings and go to the Jersey Shore, then come back Monday morning and open that same door to see everything in the same place and same shape,” says Pete Davisson.

Pete and his wife Janet, who moved from Media, Pa., to Maris Grove last fall, spend most weekends at the Shore.

A partner at commercial real estate firm Jackson Cross Partners, Pete works full time.

He’s based in the company’s Wilmington, Del., office, but he also has a home office that he shares with Janet. It’s in the Davissons’ second bedroom.

Moving to Maris Grove hasn’t altered Pete’s career life, but he’s thrilled to no longer have an attic, basement, and garage filled with stuff.

The Davissons have discovered another benefit to letting Maris Grove shoulder the responsibilities of home maintenance and grounds care. “Janet and I can enjoy life and each other that much more,” Pete says.

When he’s at work, more than 150 clubhouse activities and special-interest groups vie for Janet’s time as well as the on-site fitness and aquatics center.

And having 1,500-plus Maris Grove neighbors means that friendship and conversation are as close as a walk down the hallway.

Vibrant community

The Davissons chose Maris Grove because when they visited friends who lived there, they liked everything about it. They also favored its large size and rich array of activities.

“Other communities were too small,” Pete says.

He and Janet followed advice from his sister who works at a retirement community on the Main Line in Philadelphia.

“She said the right time to move is in your mid-70s,” says Pete. “So we did our homework, and the more we talked about it, the more it made sense to move to Maris Grove. We didn’t want to put it off.”

In 2017, when Maris Grove opened its newest neighborhood, Redwood Commons, and the Davissons found their ideal apartment home—an extra large, two-bedroom, two-bathroom Paxton floor style with a patio—they took the plunge.

Maris Grove is everything they’d hoped even though, every now and then, because he’s working, Pete misses out on a program he’d have liked to attend.

“But one day I’ll wake up and say I’m ready to retire,” he says. “Then I can get fully immersed in life at Maris Grove, and I won’t have to worry about having nothing to do.”