Gabriola Garden Homes

The Gabriola Garden Homes provide an opportunity for seniors to continue living on the island without the up keep of a home & yard,a condominium style of living and a real sense of family.

It was a wonderful home for our Great Aunt Gudrun, who moved to the island at 90 years of age. She was so glad to have called this home, and wondered why she had waited so long to make the move!

Yesterday, we wanted to go and visit our old time neighbor who moved into the Garden Homes shortly after it opened in August of 2000. Hilda was one of the first occupants in this seniors housing project which has 24 units and some great common rooms.

We wanted to find out what some of the residents liked best about the Garden Homes, "there is still lots to keep you busy here, with soup lunches from Suzy’s, Saturday night movies, a workshop, garden areas and even an exercise group that meets three times a week." At 90 years old, Hilda sees her neighbours as family, they celebrate together, grieve together and support each other.

The building is wheel chair accessible and has a generator to keep a few lights on and the fridges plugged in if there is a power outage. The complex is situated on almost 10 acres, surrounded with trees, ponds, trails and beautiful gardens.

They have companionship here and a lot of laughs, the only catch is that one of you needs to be 60 to live here (that means I have 27 years to go).