
When they were raising their four children, Billy and Erin Shipley had space for their family to grow: a two-story, five-bedroom house in Sugar Land, Texas, with a large yard and a pool. But as the children became adults and moved out, the second floor was deserted and maintaining the lawn and pool became a burden.
Like many members of Generation X facing an empty nest, the Shipleys decided to look for a home better suited to their needs where they could eventually live in retirement. They chose a three-bedroom, single-story house in Bridgeland, a planned community about 35 miles away. “I did not look at it as a temporary exercise,” said Erin Shipley, 46. “We could live here forever.”
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