The public is invited to tour a state-of- the-art, universally designed and sustainable home, to benefit the Handy family of Glen Burnie, MD. The family’s daughter, Sarah, now 10, suffered a severe stroke when she was 6 months old, leaving her profoundly disabled.
To renovate the Handy home to give Sarah full access, Finding a New Normal (FANN), a local nonprofit dedicated to helping families who have a disabled member, is hosting a fundraising House and Garden Open House of the Slattery home in Lutherville, MD on Sun., June 25 from 3-6 p.m.
The home was built following a tragic accident that took the life of FANN founder Ed Slattery’s wife and left his 17-year-old son Matthew permanently disabled. It incorporates both traditional and innovative accessible elements in a stunning contemporary home that also includes many green features, such as water-permeable paving, a green roof, and raised gardens to allow Matthew to garden from his wheelchair. It also has become home of the owner’s sister, Jamie, who has cerebral palsy.
Because of the innovative design features of the home, Matthew, who initially could only move one finger, can do dishes and laundry because he has sinks and machines that are accessible. He can control the electronics in the house and his room from his iPad and he walks on the treadmill in his Endless Pool. FANN hopes that the home will inspire designers, architects and builders to take accessible design to a new level.
Mr. Slattery knows what having access can mean to the disabled child and the rest of the family. “Jamie’s CP never prevented us from doing anything,” Ed says. “My parents taught me, by their example, that Jamie could achieve much more than society would have given her credit for simply because my parents made everything accessible to her.”
Cost to renovate the Handy home to allow Sarah to have full access to the house, including making it easier for her to enter the kitchen, bathroom and downstairs bedrooms of her sisters, is estimated at $100,000. To date, FANN has raised $35,000 toward its goal. While admission to the open house is free, attendees are asked to make a contribution to FANN toward the renovations of the Handy’s home.
Where: 307 Lochview Terrace, Lutherville MD, 21093
When: June 25, 2016
Time: 3 – 6 pm.
About FANN, Inc.
FANN, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit formed in 2014, was established to help families with disabled children to modify their homes and make them more accessible for their children.
307 Lochview Terrace Fact Sheet
Owner: Ed Slattery
Year Built: 2014
Square Footage: 4,000
Architect: Alter Urban, Baltimore, MD
Builder: JPaul Builders, Stephenson, MD
Accessible features: mechanically assisted lifted to the tower, electronic, 48 inch pocket doors, zero clearance thresholds, cement floor with inlaid carpet, 12 inch base boards, 9 inch cabinet kick plates, electronically retractable cabinets, fully accessible bathrooms throughout, adjustable height cooktop, induction oven, drop down microwave door, rounded wall corners, raised electrical plates and lowered light switches, swing away door hinge, land grading within ADA slope standards, accessible garden boxes, use of colors, lighting and textures throughout, Endless pool, therapy table, and much more.
Green features: permeable driveway, 10 kwh of solar panels, 2,000 square feet of green roof, double studded exterior walls, geo thermal heating/cooling, radiant heat floors, passive solar design, and much more.
Press about the house can be found at: Dwell magazine http://www.dwell.com/houses-we-love/article/impressively-accessible-home-has-tower-can-be-reached-wheelchair
