The Shingled Cottage for Active Adults mirrors the real life of its architect, Bill Kreager. As an empty-nester couple, he and his wife can appreciate that market’s housing and lifestyle needs; as an architect, Kreager is attracted to the challenge of innovative design on small lots, specifically putting a master suite on the ground level on a 45-foot wide parcel. To accommodate today’s active adult market, Kreager designed the home’s private courtyard first and then fashioned other rooms around it, resulting in privacy and accessibility. “The retirement market wants openness, but with definition between rooms,” he says. Other must-haves include ample storage, an attached garage with his and her work areas and an accessory dwelling above, a “command center” for home management chores, secondary bedrooms upstairs for occasional visitors, and charming custom-home touches such as window seats, a telephone niche and a high wall for book storage and concealed electronics. “It has the special feel of an historic home, like nothing you’ve ever been in before,” says Kreager