The Owensboro Magazine 2009

NEIGHBORS Luxury Living on the River By Joey Connelly t is hard to approach Fern Terra and not feel like you’ve come home. The moment you walk up the circle drive, past the King Poseidon fountain with its splashing mermaids and music, before you even enter the vestibule, you have an intense desire to take up residence. Fern Terra is an assisted-living facility that started as 16 apartments but has grown to include 20 more. “I believe in the concept of assisted living,” says Jack Simpson, owner and creator of Fern Terra and other assisted-living facilities in western Kentucky, including Fern Terrace, Davco, and homes in Mayfield, Murray and Bowling Green. Originally, there were two small apartment units on the Fern Terra property. Called Fern Terrace Suites, these buildings each included eight apartments, along with a common area with a dining room and lounge. Simpson realized the residents needed a better dining facility, and from there he not only connected the apartments but also added 20 more in what came to be named Fern Terra. Completed in May, 2007, Fern Terra is a three-story building that houses 10 apartments on each of the top two floors. The ground floor is service and entertainment. The features include a full-service beauty salon, a popular arts and crafts room, a library and a conference room where residents can meet with insurance representatives, attorneys or family in a more private atmosphere. There is also a chapel, but participation for services has grown so much that they have outgrown the chapel and now meet in the movie theater. Fern I Terra offers a full theater that in addition to now holding religious services also functions as a tornado-safe area. The theater shows both feature films and television shows. On the first floor, a state-of-the-art recreation room comes complete with recumbent bikes, a pool table, table tennis, board games, jigsaw puzzles and flat-screen televisions. The adjacent dining room features a beautiful bronze statue, one of three in the facility, that Simpson acquired from California. The dining room also houses a baby grand piano, and musicians — some soloists, some jazz bands — come in regularly to entertain the residents. The dining room offers a salad bar, fresh fruit and a restaurant atmosphere. Three meals are prepared each day, and the meals are available when the residents want them instead of stated, inflexible meal assignments. The residents can allow their lives to blend into the Fern Terra schedule, instead of the assisted-living schedules dictating their lives. A unique feature that one usually does not find in assisted-living communities is a liquor license. A lounge off the dining room allows residents and their guests to have a drink if they choose. Each Friday, Fern Terra offers a social hour, where residents may mingle and have drinks. The Greek motif is striking. The statue in the dining room, the fountain in the drive, the mural in the theater and all the artwork in the corridors and lobby are Grecian. Simpson explains that the Fern Terrace Suites are Mediterranean themed, so he extended that theme when he extended the buildings. The apartments of Fern Terra are impressive. The back apartments offer a spectacular and unique view of the Ohio River. Each twoor three-bedroom apartment has a nameplate on the door to increase kinship among residents. All apartments are 1,000 to 1,600 square feet, well above the national average for assisted-living residential spaces. The apartments also come equipped with individual and communal storage spaces. There is an emergency pull in every bathroom, and each resident wears an alert button on their person to contact the staff in case of an emergency. Because of the inclusive and interactive environment that Simpson has created at Fern Terra, the residents are almost family. In a very brief time, one witnesses a woman secretly passing 52 OWENSBORO 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Owensboro Magazine 2009

The Owensboro 2009 From our Chair Contents Buffalo Trace Brings History to Owensboro Environmental Education Blooms in the Garden Owensboro Arts and Cultural Events Making the Grade Building Opportunity In the Swim Economic Development through Placemaking Sister Cities brings International Benefits Embracing Innovation to spur Economic Development Creating a Pool of Skilled Workers Expanding Transportation Options One-Stop Business Licensing Robot Doctor Building a Locally-Based Food Economy Welcome to the Neighborhood Luxury Living on the River Moving In Trendy Excursions Evolves with the Times The Crème Brews Comfort Downtown Growing with the Community Family Business Boasts Longevity, Good Barbecue Entrepreneurial Spirit Comes Home Capturing the Broadway Market Ministering to Church Leaders Community at-a-Glance By the Numbers Dining & Catering Guide Advertiser Index

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