When Mary Barley left her Chester home of 21 years and moved into her new apartment in West Chester, she says it allowed her to be closer to her husband who is at the VA Medical Center in Coatesville.
She also likes the convenience of her new digs.
"It's good to be living in an area where you can walk to the post office, walk to the store, to the park even, so it's a very good location," said Mary Barley.
Barley is a resident of the new Mary Taylor House in West Chester, which held its grand opening on Wednesday.
The 60 unit green apartment building is an independent living facility for seniors whose income is between $8,000 and $30,000 a year.
It is a joint venture between Pennrose Properties and the non-profit Hickman Friends Senior Community of West Chester that first opened its doors in 1891.
"This is part of our master plan to expand our services to have greater outreach to a population in need of affordable services," explained John Schwab, CEO of Hickman.
"The building actually was built as lead silver rated building, which means that the energy efficiency components of the building are very high," explained Mark Dambly of Pennrose Properties.
Residents are finding their combined monthly gas and electric bills coming in at between $55 and $70 dollars.
"As a senior citizen living on a budget, you have to take what you can get," said Joan Pennell.
"I am blessed to have found this place," said Barley.
Ground was broken for the Mary Taylor House one year ago. Not only is it completely finished, it is almost completely occupied.
