Sonoma County Blog

a sonoma.net real estate site

  • Map Search
  • Browse by City

Senior Communities in Sonoma County

Many people haven’t taken the time to investigate the 55+ age communities in Sonoma County. Singles and couples moving into their empty nest phase or early retirement might want to consider the opportunities that can be found in the varied senior communities in Santa Rosa, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Sonoma, and especially Oakmont.

  • Limiting market participants to one age group reduces price pressure.
  • Because only about 25% of Sonoma County’s residents are over age 55, the number of people competing to purchase these properties is smaller than for a home that anyone can buy. For buyers in today’s market, this situation has led to some excellent home values.

  • Scattered market is very diverse.
  • Santa Rosa and Petaluma have senior condos, but the rest of Sonoma county’s housing for seniors is standard single family residences. Similarly, the prices for these properties range from just below $200,000 to the upper $700,000 level. With such a wide pricing gap, it’s clear these are not all cookie cutter properties identical to one another.

  • Vitality of senior communities.
  • There are definitely some quiet folks in their 80’s and 90’s living in senior housing. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. What may not be immediately obvious is that many active workers, gym rats, high speed walkers, and daily swimmers also are qualified to live in these communities…and they do.

Wikiup Greens is a typical example of a small senior community. This development in the Larkfield/Wikiup area features single story, tile roofed buildings each of which contains four condo units. Each unit is two or three bedrooms and they average around 1,200 square feet. There are ten buildings with a total of 38 units. On the seven acres they occupy there are also four parking structures and a clubhouse and pool. For local golfers who play the Wikiup Golf Course, these are the units you circle around as you play the course. Several units here are in escrow, but one is available for just under $200,000.

On the other end of the activity scale is Oakmont, a special case of senior housing. Their community offer everything from stand alone homes to assisted living. If you’re looking for a home where you won’t run out of activites…and friends, Oakmont is filled with things to do and might be a great choice for you or someone you know who is planning retirement living.

Sonoma County Senior Housing Communities
Senior Listings in Sonoma County Cities
In between the low key residential-only nature of a Wikiup Greens and the comprehensive nature of Oakmont, there are dozens of senior communities to consider. Here’s a chart showing the distribution of the active listings by city. It’s clear that Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Cloverdale, and Healdsburg are your best bets when looking at this type of housing.

Posted in: Cloverdale Real Estate, Condos, Healdsburg Real Estate, Real Estate, Santa Rosa Real Estate, Senior Housing, Sonoma Real Estate, Uncategorized

Wikiup Greens in Santa Rosa

My wife and I moved into Wikiup Greens a little over two years ago. We had never thought about a 55+ senior community to live in. I guess a combination of “just not thinking about it” plus our happiness where we were living kept it off the radar for us. Still, folks age, and our knees started to object to the 40 steps we climbed up and down every day to get to our redwood tree house. Okay, it wasn’t a tree house, but the steps took us well up a hill where we were eye to eye with the squirrels and jays. One day the steps got to be too much and we started looking for something safer and more practical.

Wikiup Greens in Santa Rosa is surrounded on three sides by Wikiup Golf Course. The golf course isn’t ours, but we get the benefit of the greenery, the fresh air, and the wildlife.  We’re close to Old Redwood Highway and Highway 101 so it’s an easy commute or bus ride to downtown Santa Rosa. Kaiser has multiple medical facilities just a few miles away and there are other important senior services within easy driving distance. There are only 38 units in this 7 acre complex, so there is plenty of elbow room.

The single story, tile-roofed  buildings typically have four units, although a few of the buildings just have three. There’s a mix of two and three bedroom units, mainly between 1,100 and 1,400 square feet. The designs are similar with compact and well planned layouts. Because of our location on a modest hill and the single story designs, many of the units have excellent views. Our unit happens to have a very nice south east exposure and great sunsets as well. Others look over the golf course and Mark West Creek which borders it.

Wikiup Greens is governed by an HOA that seems to have done an excellent job over the years. We have accumulated enough reserve funds that projects like last year’s painting and the staggered re-roofing jobs for the carports are within the budget and accounted for in the long term reserve study. I know from my experience that not every homeowner’s association has prepared so efficiently, so I’m grateful to the Wikiup Green’s HOA  and everyone who has served on the board in the past.

Another key selling point for me has been the rebuilding of the swimming pool. The association had fallen behind on our updates to pool safety, particularly the need to have two drains to prevent people from being trapped on the bottom. We rebuilt the whole pool last year to make it safer and upgrade all the equipment.  There was also a major upgrade to the solar heating system.  Our clubhouse and pool area is now ready for another summer of Sonoma County bliss.

As under-60 members of a 55+ community we are among the younger residents, but new folks moving in have edged us out as “youngest”. What we do have in common with everyone here is an enjoyment of a quiet lifestyle that includes gardening, swimming, occasional pot lucks and barbecues. Most of the residents here are retired, but quite a few of us still work.  Lots of people have children and grandchildren that visit, but it’s an overall quiet place. We love it here. If you’re looking for a sensible place to settle down, you might want to consider Wikup Greens

Wikiup Greens Real Estate

Posted in: Condos, Places, Real Estate, Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa Real Estate

Property Search

Advanced Search Map Search

Transaction Guide

  • Real Estate Paperwork
  • Home Buying Milestones
  • Contingencies

Home Buyer’s Guide

  • Prequalifying
  • Joy of Dreaming
  • Buyers Agent
  • Sonoma Real Estate Search
  • Understanding Credit
  • Down Payments
  • Home Buying Milestones
  • Contingencies
  • Closing Costs, etc.

Recent Posts

  • Housing: Start Small
  • Average Sonoma Home Prices
  • Luxury Homes in Sonoma County

Dave Roberts reviews

Sonoma.net Sites

  • Alexander Valley Land
  • Dry Creek Valley Land
  • Russian River Land
  • Sebastopol Country
  • Sonoma Valley Land
  • Sonoma.net
  • Sonoma-listings

Dave Roberts - Artisan Sotheby's International Realty
Don't forget to check the "not currently recommended" results.

© 2023 · sonoma.net

Dave Roberts, California BRE# 01394923