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Sunnymere

925 6th Avenue, Aurora, IL 60505

(800) 558-0653

Verified Partner

4.0

(26 reviews)

Starting Price

$2,279

Care Offered: Assisted Living and Independent Living

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About Sunnymere in Aurora, Illinois

Sunnymere is a non-profit organization which strives to provide gracious living accommodations for senior citizens. Based on the belief that human dignity is paramount, facilities are provided at moderate, subsidized prices and accommodations are maintained at a level responsive to the changing needs of the community. The seed was planted in 1895 with a gift of a house and lot from Harriet Colby. The Old Ladies' Home of Aurora was established. Another Auroran, Clara Bowron bequeathed her entire estate to establish the Bowron Home. Realizing the necessity of a larger home for a growing community, the Old Ladies' Home and the Bowron Home combined resources to build Sunnymere on the land given by Jessie Farnsworth. The name Sunnymere was selected as a memorial to her, and the first residents moved in on July 16, 1939. Sunnymere has undergone many changes since those early years. Today, Sunnymere is a licensed sheltered care home for seniors 65 years and older. Sunnymere has always provided residential care for Independent seniors. In 1998, due to a recognized need for assisted living services at a reasonable cost, Sunnymere began providing assisted living.To learn more about this providers license and review other available state reports, please visit: Illinois Department of Public Health - Health Care Regulation

Map of Sunnymere

Services and Amenities of Sunnymere in Aurora, Illinois

Dining

  • Communal Dining
  • Guest Meals

Guests

  • Guest Parking
  • Overnight Guests

Inside Amenities

  • Entertainment Venues
  • Cable/Satellite TV in Common Area

Outside Amenities

  • Garden

Transportation & Shopping

  • General Transportation Services

Parking Options

  • Parking Lot

Fitness & Wellness Programs

  • Fitness & wellness facilities/equipment
  • Salon Services

Health Services

  • Medication Reminders

Languages

  • English spoken

Room Amenities

  • Wifi/Internet In Unit
  • Cable/Satellite In Unit

Financing & Payment Options

  • All Inclusive Rent
  • Rent And Care Fees

Games Hobbies & Recreation

  • Arts & Crafts Activities/Programs
  • Literary Activities/Programs
  • Educational Activities/Programs
  • Facilitated Field Trips/Outings
  • Tabletop & Other Games/Programs
  • Horticultural Activities

Housekeeping & Maintenance

  • Housekeeping Services
  • Laundry Services
  • Linen Services

On-Site Services

  • Religious Services

Specialized Staff

  • Nurse on Staff (Part time)

Pets

  • No Pets

Additional Amenity Information

  • Housing: Private Rooms and 2 Room Suite
  • Special Comment: Sunnymere continues to be one of the most beautiful and special senior residences in the Fox Valley area. Come visit us and we'll show you why we say, "Why visit a Bed & Breakfast, when you can be living in one!"
  • State Licenses: 0014084

Costs for Sunnymere in Aurora, Illinois

Assisted Living

$4,545

Starting Price

Independent Living

$2,279

Starting Price

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Reviews of Sunnymere in Aurora, Illinois

4.0

(26 reviews)

  • Facility

    4.2

  • Staff

    4.6

  • Food

    5.0

  • Activities

    5.0

  • Value

    5.0

Leslie

5

October 11, 2024

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was clean. People were friendly. The rooms looked nice enough. It's not a five-star resort, but it looks very comfortable. The meals looked like they were good and they had a lot of activities. It looked like a place that my dad could maybe fit in and make some new friends. It's an older place. There might be some people who would say that it's not fancy enough or whatever, but it's homey looking. Everybody was friendly. I think it was Judy that was showing me around. Seemed like she knew what was going on. They went out of their way to make sure that they could give me a room that I felt my dad could be happy with. The grounds are beautiful. They have a new community room for activities and things, and that was really nice. Affordability was definitely the main concern for me, and I don't feel like I would be cutting corners putting my dad there just because it was the most affordable.

Tonya

5

July 30, 2023

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was a nice place, and it looked very homey. The inside looked like it had been updated, and it was very nice. I enjoyed it very much. It just felt very comfortable. Outside was amazing. The property sits on a golf course, and it's at the end of the block, so it doesn't have a lot of traffic. The staff member who assisted me with the tour was very friendly, very knowledgeable, and very positive about the place. The room that I saw was exceptional. It was very clean and very roomy. It was just appropriate for a senior. The dining area was pretty run of the mill for a senior living environment. It was fine and very social. At the time that I was there the residents were playing bingo, and they all seemed happy.

Barbara

5

February 10, 2023

I visited this facility

We went to visit Sunnymere, it was very homey and felt like home. The other residents that were there let us view their rooms to see how their furniture fit in, and they were very welcoming, and they explained that they werre happy there. We saw that some of them with the 1-room had their bed, recliner, dresser, and their TV, a nice-sized closet, and there were bathrooms across the hallway that were shared. It was very clean, there was a shower room. So a lot of these residents had a 1-room and they shared the bathrooms. Then they go down the hallway for their meals and that gives them an activity. The staff who gave us the tour answered our questions and took us around the whole place. It was very nice, we had a warm, fuzzy feeling when we looked at Sunnymere. We didn't try any of their food but we saw the residents eating. The difference between this place and the other one we toured was the other allows them to smoke in the parking lot, while at Sunnymere you can smoke outside but not right at the door. They had a back patio and you could smoke back there. My sister and I like this place for the homey feeling and the happiness that the residents felt.

Darlene

5

October 6, 2022

I visited this facility

Sunnymere seems like a nice home for older seniors (those that need more assistance), so I knew that place wasn't for me. They keep it nice and clean though. The dining area and the sitting area were pretty nice and everybody was friendly. They change sheets and do the laundry once a week. It just needs more lighting. It's a little dark when you come into the foyer part. If I was going that route, I would have preferred a suite. The suite, to me, looked more well-lit than the one-bedroom unit they had because it was on the fourth floor and it was lit up from the outside. So, I care more about that. The gentleman that gave us a tour was not the person who normally does the tours. He was nice and he tried his best, but he was just going a little fast. He showed me a multi-room that had a TV. There was also a library, a sitting area, an enclosed porch, and another adjoining enclosed room where you just sit and relax. They were beautiful. He showed us the outside walkway around the building, too, where they had flowers planted.

Joann

5

November 14, 2021

I visited this facility

Sunnymere is very nice, it's the one my daughter is leaning towards, and I'm leaning towards it in a lot of areas too. It's very close to my home. In some ways, it's smaller. They have fewer residents, and my sister doesn't like the big, busy, lots of people around ideas, so, I think she would go for the idea that it's smaller. They do have a couple of floors, so there's stairs or elevator to get where you're going. It's an older place, but that's part of its charm, too, that's part of its history. For somebody that likes the old things, the antique things. The rooms are adequate. It's not as fancy, it's very plain, but I think it's very adequate. The staff is good here, they were calling residents by name. I did see more of the activities. I was there on a Friday, and they were having a happy hour. I talked with several of the residents, and they were all very pleased with where they were living, and the things that were going on. The one that I was looking at had the advantage of a 2-room suite. The one thing I didn't like about it is that all of their units were single, and then two units would share a bathroom and toilet area. They do have some suites where it's two rooms, and I thought that would suit my sister better. She's got her own toilet, and she doesn't have to share with somebody, but the toilet area is the communication between the two rooms; there's not a separate doorway to get into the other room so that I didn't like, but it's workable. With them, you don't have a private shower in the room. So that was another down, but the apartment that I'm looking at for my sister there is just across the hall from the shower room, so she wouldn't have to go far. The staff, I saw them did what they were there to be doing, and they did well. As far as I can tell with the care that the people were getting, everybody seemed satisfied. Nobody was saying, "Oh, don't bring your sister here, or she wouldn't like it." Everybody seemed happy.

Renee

4

October 12, 2021

I visited this facility

We enjoyed the tour at Sunnymere. It was very homey. Even the residents that we interacted with were enjoying their time there. The facility was clean. The staff members were very knowledgeable, very upfront information. It was an old manor, and you can tell that it was an old home, but it did not even smell like a nursing facility. There were only two staff members that we interacted with, very open to the questions, and we got good information on that. I felt my personal opinion in for her; the facility would be claustrophobic. Until we got into the newer dining activity room because that area was open. And I didn't realize I was claustrophobic until I stepped into that room.

Sherry

4

July 25, 2021

I visited this facility

My parents are moving into Sunnymere, and I was very happy with it. The people working there are very nice and smiling, informative, and caring. The building was kinda old, but it was well kept up. The rooms were a little small, however, I can live with that. I like the activities with them every day, they're always able to go into the general activity room. They have two coordinators, one that gives the exercise to do, and another one that goes around to assist them when needed, and they have a lot of different activities as far as playing games and so forth, and just so many different things that I was very impressed with.

Lorrie

5

July 8, 2021

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was great. The lady I was supposed to see wasn't there, and the other lady that helped me didn't know I was coming. She was very nice, caring, informative, and was still able to accommodate me. All of the questions I had were answered in a booklet that they gave me. The single was about an average size. It had a sink with a mirror where you could wash up and a bathroom with a toilet (that was shared between two rooms). It was clean and easily accessible. They had a baby grand piano, and there were two young ladies that were watching the residents as they ate (while keeping a safe distance away without being an intrusion to the them). They were very nice. One of them said that she'd been there for seven years and the other one was there for four years. I like the fact that they have an experienced staff, and I appreciated that. They also had some two room suites. You bring your own furniture and decorate it however you want. The room that they showed me would be vacant, and somehow they would totally redo the room and put in new carpet. They make it new for the residents when they move in. They had a beautiful outside area with a screened in porch. There weren't a lot of activities that my mom would really do, like the happy hour because my mom doesn't drink, and bingo which I don't think my mom would play. They do offer different activities. Their chef is the guy that used to be the cook over at Bill's Diner too. The thing that I really liked the most was that the lady that I talked to told me that she would like to meet my mom before we make a decision, to make sure that my mom would be able to move in. The only drawback of that place was it's multi-level. They had elevators, but I prefer one level. Then if they had COVID restrictions, you could go around and see them through the window.

Ruth

4

January 23, 2020

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was very nice and clean, but it was more like a nursing home. The rooms weren't big. They put two bedrooms together to make it like a suite, so you could have a sofa in one room and your bed in the other. They had a stool and a sink to wash your hands and go to the bathroom, but you would have to go down into a main shower to take a shower. I only saw one shower stall in there. The residents seemed to be having a good time. They were having wine and hors d'oeuvres when we were there. The property was beautiful, and it backed up to a golf course. The staff was very nice. The dining area was nice, and they had a little bar setup. Everybody was very friendly and accommodating. We saw people with needs and some people hopping in their car and going shopping. They offered a full package with all your meals, laundry, and dining. They had movies, activities, and housekeeping.

Heather

3

October 11, 2019

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was a little bit too small in their accommodations, and the food wasn't as varied as some of the other locations. The staff was very nice. The suites were like two rooms that had been put together. The dining area wasn't as bright and airy as the other places, and they didn't have as many areas to sit and have activities in.

Joan

4

March 26, 2018

I visited this facility

I was impressed with Sunnymere. It was very nice and clean, and the people were very gracious. Our only objection was you had to share a bath and the showers were down the hall. The person during the tour was very nice. She did everything she could to make us feel that it was a good place. I have nothing absolutely bad to say about it. The whole experience was very good. The dining area was very nice. We had a lunch with them that was fine.

Anonymous

3

November 13, 2017

I visited this facility

We went to Sunnymere and it's dark in there. The manager and the head nurse are really the only ones that I met and I really liked them. They're very nice people, but it just made me very sad when I was walking around in there. It's really old, and they were just getting Wi-Fi, and it wasn't even installed yet. I was there on two different occasions within two weeks and when I first went there they said it was being installed. Two weeks later, it was still being installed. They're kind of behind the times there. I do not like that the shower is in the hallway and I do not like that the residents have to share a toilet. Two rooms have to share a toilet and the doors don't lock. If somebody's in there, the only way to know that is to knock. If somebody can't hear well because they're elderly, you just end up walking in. There was a staff member leaning up against the wall looking like she was going to throw up and did not hide it when I was being given the tour, which kind of disturbed me a little bit. I know that they're kind of short-staffed, so maybe they didn't have an option to send her home, but she just looked terrible. The grounds were very nice, but the rooms were so small and there's barely any closet space. The menu looked OK. They were having an exercise class while I was walking through and it didn't look like a very vigorous exercise class. These people are elderly, so you really can't do much with them, but advertising exercise classes was not something that they should be doing because it's not really vigorous enough.

Provider Response

Sunnymere's motto is "The right place for the right person at the right time." While Sunnymere appreciates all feedback from our guests, it would appear that after visiting Sunnymere this anonymous person, found that Sunnymere was not right for their loved one. I hope they were able to find a facility to their liking.

Picky_RN

4

November 6, 2017

I am a friend or relative of a current/past resident

I'm picky (I'm a nurse) and I have to say, Sunnymere is great. The DON was kind, helpful, and very patient. My Mom moved in pretty quickly, and she really loved the homey atmosphere. Everyone was kind to her there. The food smelled good too. The facility has a lovely dining room, reading area and terrace. The building backs up to Phillips Park Golf Course. We ended up having to move my Mom due to her increasing confusion associated with dementia. Nice place. Quiet. Golf course grounds. Professional DON.

Mike

3

October 15, 2017

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was nice, but it wasn't as nice compared to the other place I saw. It's smaller and the prices were lower. One of the things that kind of got me was that it didn't seem as brightly lit. It seemed a little dreary to me. The staff member highlighted everything that she could highlight and did a really good job. The staff and the people there said the food was the best thing about the place. They were eating lunch the day I was there and everyone said the food was the best. They were playing a card game. They didn't have quite as many activities during the day. The lady explained things and it made sense the way they had it laid out.

Craig725

5

September 27, 2017

I am a friend or relative of a current/past resident

Sunnymere is like a warm, friendly, family home. The management and staff are dedicated to providing the residents with excellent, flexible, accommodating care. There is a great ratio of staff to residents to provide watchful, compassionate, personal attention. The food is delicious and Mom has a beautiful view of trees, birds, and flowers. Our family is very thankful to Sunnymere for the great care they give Mom. Rest assured you will be confident in trusting Sunnymere with your parent’s well being and happiness.

Lori305680

1

August 17, 2016

I visited this facility

I did not like Sunnymere from the minute I walked through the door. The people were very cold, weren’t helpful, and were not forthcoming with the information.

Provider Response

We are very sorry that you had this experience. It is possible that our office staff was not available when you stopped in. Due to our small, homelike environment, the remaining staff on-duty were likely to have been involved with resident care and unable to assist in showing you around at that time. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We do strive to be a caring, thoughtful community.

Judy725458

4

June 17, 2016

I visited this facility

Sunnymere was homey and nice. The staff was very nice. They had inside activities, like hands-on arts and crafts and physical activities.

BarbiDoll425474

4

June 16, 2016

I visited this facility

I liked this place very much - it was homey and inexpensive. However, we realized right away that this would not work for my father as he is wheelchair-bound. This facility, being an old home, was not built with wheelchairs in mind. The doorways are simply not wide enough. But if someone is mobile and/or using a walker, it would be a great place to live. Nice people and, as I said, feels like home & not an institution.

Darleen4

5

May 11, 2016

I am a friend or relative of a resident

Sunnymere was an excellent place with only 27 residents. The food was too starchy for me, but Mom loved it. I decorated her room, so she has the fanciest room there with an office setup and a computer. Ruth is a registered nurse that runs the place, and she is the most caring, most wonderful, educated, workaholic person you could ask for. Judy, the marketing person, together with their board, are all wonderful people. I was impressed with their activities and would like to support and help them. The staff is just as sweet and humble as can be, and their attitude is phenomenal.

Emily20

3

March 31, 2016

I visited this facility

We visited Sunnymere, which is a non-profit community. The staff seemed nice and dedicated. The community is nice and cost effective with good age diversity. The place looked good and had nice, old-fashioned feel. The only thing I didn’t particularly like about it, from what I saw, was that they don’t really have individual bathrooms in the rooms because it is an older place. The rooms were nice, though.

ChrisandTim

5

October 23, 2014

I am a friend or relative of resident

We visited several facilities for my mom before choosing Sunnymere, many of which exceeded a $4000 monthly cost. We also found that with the high hoity-toidy prices came more residents and fewer workers. At Sunnymere, the ratio of staff to residents is unbelievable, so many caring people who have at Sunnymere forever... ( a good testament to wonderful work environment and dedication to the elderly). My mom loves the quaint antique decor and the wonderful staff. As for me and my family, we are so happy and never worry about my mom's care. Renae, who in my opinion, is an amazing administrator, caring, energetic and beyond anyone that I could have hoped for. We thank God everyday for her.

visitoften

5

October 19, 2014

I am a friend or relative of resident

I visited a few other locations and liked them, until I saw Sunnymere. I love the setting with the views of the golf course, the "home" feeling and even the screen porches with wicker rockers. I was impressed by the staff, from director to the aides and was impressed by the ratio of staff to client. The food is wonderful, there are numerous daily activities and I trust the staff with my mother-in-law. That feeling of confidence is so important to my family. I visit a few times a week and have always been greeted with friendly smiles. My mother-in-law is happy and well taken care of here, which is my bottom line.

mydad'shappy

5

October 8, 2014

I am a friend or relative of resident

When the day to day chores of life became overwhelming for my Dad we found Sunnymere. Sunnymere is a lovely old Victorian home that sits at the edge of Phillips Park Golf Course serving good food. There is nothing institutional about Sunnymere. The staff is very respectful to all the residents and my Dad is receiving great care. When we were looking for a home for my Dad, several places looked like upscale hotels, but Sunnymere felt like a home, and at the end of the day you want your love one to feel at home. My Dad has been a happy resident of Sunnymere for a little over 2 years.

mleej

5

October 8, 2014

I am a friend or relative of resident

My mother moved into Sunnymere last year. My Aunt has lived there for 10 years, so we were familiar with the dedicated staff and quality of the facility. The grounds are beautiful with mature trees and a view of the Phillips Golf Course. My mother enjoys the view of the golf course and the flowers on Smith Boulevard on her daily walks. And, the food is great!

Love my soup

4

October 7, 2014

Other

My father was a resident and was shown love and respect by all the staff and those in authority. He enjoyed the food and company around him. The facility is very homey and affordable.

Caring88390450

1

August 14, 2014

I visited this facility

I knew immediately this is a no when I saw the rooms. The shower is in the hallway. The actual toilet is between living room and bedroom in a little hallway. It's horrible. How can you have the shower in the hallway? It's definitely an older building, very quaint and cute on the outside, but when you get in the inside you can tell it's a very old building which has not been updated. I think they had kitchens where they showed me. But it was just the layout of the rooms. I was so disappointed I didn't stay there very long. I went in and out. When they showed me the unit, and that the shower was in the hallway and the way the toilet was, I knew my mother would never want to be there. So it kind of wrapped things up. I didn’t spend a lot of time asking questions because I knew it was a no. The location is right off behind a park in Aurora, so it's a cute location. But as far as wanting to be there, as far as comparison of places, it just seem a little bit lower class.

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Caring.com is a leading online destination for caregivers seeking information and support as they care for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones. We offer thousands of original articles, helpful tools, advice from more than 50 leading experts, a community of caregivers, and a comprehensive directory of caregiving services.

 

The material on this site is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal, financial, professional, or medical advice or diagnosis or treatment. By using our website, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

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