At Stratford House, a renovation celebration | Business

The new owner of Stratford House promised to invest $3.5 million to expand services and upgrade the senior living facility when it changed hands in July 2016 — and on Tuesday, the top-to-bottom renovations at Commonwealth Senior Living at Stratford House were unveiled.

The grand, old building — built in 1884 and added on to several times over during its life as a women’s college and senior living center — has fresh paint, new carpet, furniture and décor. And many rooms have been repurposed to make moving around to various activities easier for the residents while adding more amenities. Even residents’ apartments were renovated.

The combination of independent living and assisted living apartments means residents in independent living apartments who need to move into quarters where intensive care is offered only move a short distance and are still in familiar surroundings.

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Resident Ed Smith joined Richard Brewer, CEO of the Commonwealth Senior Living facilities across Virginia, staff and local officials for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the renovated facility on Tuesday.

Smith said he likes living at Commonwealth Senior Living at Stratford House and chatted about his life as a pharmacist and living in Danville for 57 years — and his years in the service during World War II.

He served as a medic and landed in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.

“We landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day at 7 a.m. ... right after the Bedford Boys landed at 6:30 a.m.,” Smith said.

The Bedford Boys were a group of young men from the small town of Bedford, who all were in the same Army unit and landed at Omaha Beach at the same time.

“Nineteen of them were killed in the first 15 minutes,” Smith said.

In 2012, Smith was recognized by the French government for his service in World War II and was awarded the French Medal of Honor.

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The goal behind the renovations was to make it less traumatic for seniors to make the move from their long-time homes to the facility, as well as living there, more enjoyable, explained Brewer.

“Nobody wants to move — and once they do make the difficult decision to move, they don’t want to move again,” he said.

Danville Mayor John Gilstrap said he is impressed with some of the changes in the facility, including the farm-to-table dining, which supports Virginia farmers; a new program called “Travel the World” in which participants explore a different county’s culture each month; and “Commonwealth Cares,” which offers financial support to associates experiencing a crisis.

On Nov. 1 another level of care will be available: a new memory care wing, which will serve residents with dementia and other cognitive ailments.

There will be 18 apartments in that unit, with room for up to 24 residents, explained Mary Klatt, sales and marketing director. Six of the apartments will be companion suites, with room for a spouse or other roommate.

The largest quarters are for independent living residents and range in size from studios to two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments. All have complete kitchen and laundry hookups, though residents can opt to use the laundry room on their floor, or even arrange to have someone do the laundry for them.

They can even enjoy “happy hour” in a small bar that serves alcoholic beverages.

There are 31 independent living apartments spread out on three floors, Klatt said.

The assisted living apartments are slightly smaller and have kitchenettes since the residents eat their meals in dining rooms. There is a round-the-clock nurse on each floor and a medical technician handles getting the residents their medications.

The 40 assisted living apartments fill two floors of the facility.

All residents can eat in any of the dining rooms, where snacks and drinks are available all day.

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Most of the renovations are done, though the original Stratford House building is still going through renovations that will move the library, gym, salon/barber shop and an activity room complete with kitchenette to that part of the site.

Many offices and activity areas were moved during the renovations, Klatt said.

“We wanted the building to be simple but elegant, and user-friendly,” Klatt said, adding that residents were asked about what they would like to see improved or added before renovations began.

“Some of them were things they planned on changing, but those changes were made,” Klatt said.

Brewer said he expects the total spent on renovations to reach $4 million to $5 million before they are done.

The Danville site is Commonwealth Senior Living’s 23rd such center in Virginia.

“This is one of my favorites we’ve ever done,” Brewer said. “I love this job and I love what we do.”