Haute-Vienne: the “village” for seniors where life is good

A year ago, Isabelle and David Chantereau imagined a village reserved for seniors in Saint-Maurice-Les-Brousses, in Haute-Vienne. A place to break the loneliness and cope with the dependency imposed by age. A secure concept with services that doesn't seem like it.

10 a.m., Friday, May 2, Domaine du Lavoir in Saint-Maurice-les-Brousses (87). The village square, which also serves as a bowling alley, is empty for the moment and the lanterns are extinguished when the sun comes out in full light. The rose garden is still asleep and the benches along its banks await their visitors.

Guy, 92, leaves his cottage, cheerfully slung over his shoulder, shopping bag under his arm, and invites himself to the communal garden table for a morning coffee. He chats with David, the site manager. Guy is waiting for Isabelle, David's wife, also a manager, who will accompany him to the small village supermarket 1.5 kilometers away. Perhaps Jeanine, the neighbor, will join him when others have just placed their orders.

The small senior village is emerging from its torpor, the doors are opening, and gray hairs are appearing. Valérie, the estate's sole employee, is checking to see if Serge has received his GP visit as planned.

It's been a year since Domaine du Lavoir opened its doors, welcoming seven residents into six apartments. Here, being a senior is a prerequisite, whether you're healthy or dependent (1). We're not talking about a nursing home or a senior residence, but rather a village... on a family scale.

In the beginning, there is a couple in their forties: David and Isabelle Chantereau. The former is a business owner in real estate development, accumulating 70 hours per week, 100,000 kilometers per year, with a rather fulfilled outlook on his job. The latter, a healthcare executive in the hospital public service, including 20 years in nursing homes, is increasingly struggling with the lack of human resources and the resulting mistreatment of both staff and those in their care. She dreams of a different future for these seniors who are driven out of their homes by loneliness or the onset of dependency.

We wanted to build a resolutely human and intimate project, with a holiday atmosphere, with vegetation, stone and wood.

"At that time, my father fell ill. I was hit hard by the reality of the hospital journey... until his death a few months later," says David, who decided to follow his wife in her quest for better care for the elderly. "We wanted to build a resolutely human and intimate project, with a holiday atmosphere, with vegetation, stone, wood... the idea of ​​a secure village with services, small houses, and common areas was born."

The first stones and framework were laid in January 2024, and the Chantereau couple had to part with all their savings, as the banks deemed the gamble too risky. In June, the Domaine du Lavoir—a few kilometers from Limoges—welcomed its first "villagers." And it was immediately full...

Here, the cottages house two 45 m² apartments, each with a living room and open kitchen, a 13 m² bedroom, and a large, accessible yet welcoming bathroom, far from the clinical sanitization of a hospital bathroom. Not to mention the 100 m² garden and terrace, for each apartment. Here, we rent for 1,750 euros per month, utilities included...

What services? Isabelle manages care coordination with general practitioners, nursing practices, and home care associations. David handles administrative support. When the all-important tax return looms, causing heart palpitations in fragile hearts, David is there to help fill in the blanks.

Also included in the services is the small watch worn by each villager on the estate, in other words, the teleassistance system that alerts you if you fall or feel unwell. Guy's wife, Bernadette, fell on May 1st. It was her daughter, who lives a few kilometers away, who came by to help her up and check that it was just a minor injury.

"During the week, day and night, we, the managers, are the first to be notified. On weekends and public holidays, it's the families, and if they don't respond, we take over," adds David, who sums up the services offered as those of a traditional concierge service: picking up medication from the pharmacy, accompanying you to a medical appointment with a specialist in Limoges or a walk, getting a hearing aid repaired, doing small DIY jobs around the home, gardening, or anything else.

Finally, there are the activities. In the large common room: six tables with armchairs for the aces of Scrabble or Belote, or for family lunches, a pool table, a lounge area with TV where Jeanine and Thérèse like to watch their favorite show together, a kitchen equipped "just like at home" in which the villagers meet every Monday for a collective cooking where everyone gets involved.

When you're not singing along with Valérie, who's keeping time! Ties have also been established with the local daycare and school, for egg hunts and intergenerational Christmas tree decorations. Restaurant outings are offered at the Limoges hotel school's training restaurant.

Then there are the à la carte services, which are subject to a fee: hair services with a professional hairdresser who has her own fully equipped corner on the property, housekeeping, laundry, and beauty treatments. Not to mention meal delivery. True to their ambition to escape the overly aseptic surroundings of healthcare facilities, David and Isabelle didn't use a catering service provider, but a restaurant located in a neighboring town. Starter, main course, and dessert, all house-made with fresh, seasonal produce, for 10 euros.

And above all, there is what cannot be decreed but rather experienced. Isabelle and David wanted to make this estate a welcoming place where seniors no longer face the loneliness imposed by age, loss of mobility, or independence. So yes, leaving is sometimes painful when you have to let go of your forever home and the memories that go with it. But Bernadette, Guy, Jeanine, and Thérèse all testify: here, they find a secure social life and caring care. Families can breathe a sigh of relief...

Serge, a former butcher, had just arrived from a nursing home, and he no longer had much interest in anything. He put his hands back into the kitchen and goes to the estate's sports center in a wheelchair. Isabelle and David have also changed their lives. They don't earn the same salaries they did before, but find meaning in them and build them. Six additional housing units are emerging from the ground. They won't go beyond twenty. For everyone's well-being. This time, the banks are following suit...

(1) Only people suffering from cognitive illnesses cannot be accommodated at Domaine du Lavoir.

The Lavoir estate , 8 rue des Écoles, in Saint-Maurice-les-Brousses (87). Tel. 0 745 062 498.