Living in an Epcon community

We have lived in our house for 15 months. Can we still call it new? The time has flown by. And there have been so many changes around us during that time.

A real community

This is my third townhome community, but it’s different from the other two. While the others provided lawn care and snow removal, there wasn’t any formal way for the residents to commune. Sure, we’d see our neighbors and occasionally someone would organize a get-together. But those were becoming few and far between. People didn’t move there for that.

An Epcon community is different. While they certainly emphasize the low-maintenance aspect of an Epcon home, they also provide amenities to foster a community atmosphere. We have a clubhouse, a pool, and a bocce ball court. We also have a propane fire pit, with four chairs, overlooking one of our ponds with a fountain. Others have pickleball courts.

I’ve been amazed at how many residents use the clubhouse for private events. It’s a beautiful place with a fireplace, TV, kitchen, and supplies. There have been graduation parties, showers, family reunions, etc. There’s also a workout room we can all use.

It’s up to the residents to organize the activities, and someone usually steps up to get things started. There’s no pressure to join in, so if that’s not your thing, it’s OK. But a lot of people choose this type of community because they are new to town and haven’t established a network of friends. Coming here provides instant access to like-minded people. I’ve been amazed at how quickly some people get to know everyone. I hadn’t even met my next-door neighbor when it seemed everyone already knew her!!

Activities I participate in

I’ve become involved in a few things that have allowed me to get to know my neighbors. Socializing isn’t part of my introvert personality, but there are ways for me to meet people while doing something together.

First, I joined our newly formed book club. I guess you could say I’m a charter member. It’s different from what I’m used to because there are three men in our club. For me, it makes it a little challenging to pick a book. And since the group formed in March, three books were chosen by two of the men. And I can’t say I’ve liked any of them!!

It seems like we struggle a bit with our book conversation but eventually topics turn to those that are community related. Then the conversation starts flowing. It’s natural to tend towards what we have in common. I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot about my neighbors this way, even as it relates to the books we’ve read.

Second, I offered to be part of the pool committee. This means I take a turn testing the water to make sure all is well. I actually signed up as a substitute, but we ended up taking times without anyone taking a consistent time. Except for Clyde.

There are four times a day we must do this. While the pool is private to our community, because of our numbers, it requires testing as if it were a public pool. This means it must be tested and results documented four times per day. Rather than pay the high fees to have our pool company do it, residents have volunteered to do it.

The first and last tests are more extensive than the middle two. Clyde signed up for those middle two slots for the entire summer!! So, the rest of us had to take the first and last. That means either 8:30 AM to open the pool for the day or 8:30 PM to close the pool.

Because this isn’t a group activity, you really don’t interact with anyone else. Unless, as happened with me, someone took my 8:30 AM time when she really had the 8:30 PM time!! Or at the beginning, when it was helpful to shadow someone before going solo. I started off taking more of the PM times but as the sun began setting earlier, I switched to AM.

Our pool is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but we were able to get two extra weeks this year. That means two more weeks of pool checks. But the weather has been fantastic, and we could have kept it open at least through September. It’s supposed to be 90 degrees today!!

Lastly, one of our residents offered to teach an aquasize class in our pool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I joined in and had the best time. I love being in the pool, especially if I get exercise too. And the group was so fun. This is where I’ve really gotten to know people.

There’s now a chair yoga class on Wednesdays and Fridays. I think I’ll give that a go as well. I can tell it isn’t a habit yet; I forgot all about it today. 😁

Other activities

I mentioned Clyde above with regards to the pool. But he is a ball of energy in all ways. He organizes bike rides, hikes, and golf outings. Plus, he’s a really nice guy.

Last Sunday, we had an end of summer get together. There was live music and lots of food. Tim was unable to go (he’s training for a half marathon) so I sat with some of the single ladies. I met someone who had just moved into her new home two days prior!! I hope she gets involved in some things, as I really liked her and would enjoy seeing her again.

There are game nights at the clubhouse too. We don’t participate in that, mostly because I’m not much into games and Tim’s probably less social than I am. But that’s OK for those that enjoy it.

My sister also lives in an Epcon community in another city. She and her husband were there for 2.5 years when he unexpectedly and suddenly had a heart attack and died. Her community has provided so much support for her. They organized two weeks of meals, snacks, drinks, whatever with a schedule. And many were there for his service. That’s a community.

The negatives

Of course, there have to be some things that aren’t so great. But a lot depends on your perspective.

People who don’t live here say things like:

• No basements
• Too expensive

I lived in a house for 17 years with no basement. Storms were never an issue. It was actually nice not to have to worry about all the hassles that can come with a basement. For storage, we have a larger garage where we can use shelves on both sides. It’s become our “basement”. But we also have several closets in the house that provide that space.

Because we have no basement, we also have zero entry. There are no stairs going into our garage, like our last house. We enter our front porch without going up or down stairs. We did add the bonus suite, which is upstairs, so we do have some stairs. This gives us an extra bedroom, bathroom, living area, and a large storage room. But if we need to, we can live on one floor.

No, it’s not cheap to buy an Epcon home. We’ve looked at them for years, wishing we could have one. We decided to bite the bullet, because we needed more space for our hobbies, which are important to us. You can make your home as expensive as you want because there are so many options to choose from. You can also make design changes if you want to remove a wall, add a window, or rearrange something.

I think we were the 13th house built and now 44 lots have been sold. This has been a banner year. And the more houses that go up, the more potential buyers can see what the community will become. With 48 lots available, we are almost at 50%. It’s interesting to see which lots are picked. See the site map below.

Most of these houses weren’t here when we moved in.

We are more than happy with our decision to move here. Our house is perfect for us, because we made it that way. And while many of our houses look the same from the outside, each is unique on the inside.

Check out Epcon!!