The Best Independent Living Communities in Cumberland County, ME

"My parents just moved to Clover Health Care up in Auburn. My father moved to their memory care and my mother followed. Everything's been great and they've been very helpful. They've been working overtime trying to help with getting insurance all taken care of, because that was quite difficult. We don't know how insurance could be and we're still trying to iron out some of it, but they're able to get my parents in there for the time being. I've only been there a couple of times, and only there to see my dad before my mother moved in. It's a very clean place. The staff also seems incredibly friendly and attentive. We really don't have any complaints about them as of yet. Their common areas are very nice and very clean. There is a courtyard outside that seems nice. It's in the middle of the winter, so it's kind of hard to see right now, but everything is clean and adequate for my parents. The only thing is that Dad can't go visit Mom in her area. Mom can go visit Dad though, so at least that's allowed. I guess the memory care people can't go out of their area. That's the only bummer about it."

"Huntington Common was nice, clean, and attractive. The people were very nice. The dining area was very pretty. It was very quiet when I was there, but they had excursions here and there."

"My friend moved into Plant Memorial Home a week ago. The administration there is fantastic. They helped with every step of the process. It's a very homey place. It's more like being in your own home. The location is beautiful, and the people are wonderful. They really care about the residents. The medical attention they show him has been excellent. They're on top of his medication, his physical therapy, and occupational therapy needs. They have been very communicative with me any time they had a question or I had a question. His apartment is clean, bright, and cheerful. The floors are brand new. They have big, spacious, and handicapped accessible bathrooms. They have a kitchenette. It is freshly painted. He has a stunning view of the river. My friend says that the food is excellent. He loves to eat, so the food must really be good. I ate there the day I moved my friend in, and the food was excellent. He enjoys socializing with other people in the common room. They have a movie every night after dinner. People can go down and watch TV during the day, if they want to. They do trivia, and they have a pastor that comes for Christian services. They organize outings. They can go to the grocery store on the bus once a week, and they can go to Wal-Mart once a month. They have an exercise class. Last time I was there, I saw a bunch of paintings that the residents had done at a painting class."

"My mom moved into Atria Kennebunk. They have a wonderful staff there. A couple of the staff members have been in hospice care and have worked with memory care residents in other facilities. It's just been a phenomenally positive experience for my mom as well as for my family. She transitioned from an assisted living room and was physically moved down to the memory care unit, which is on the first floor, and that was traumatic right there. So it took her quite a bit of time, or several months, to get used to that. However, the staff has been phenomenal in helping her. Her room is like a little apartment. She has her own place for her bed. She has a living room, a bathroom, and a little kitchenette area, which she doesn't use. We brought in a little table if she wanted to sit. But she primarily goes to the dining area, where all the residents of that unit eat together. They have TV and music. They do bingo and play cards. They all go to the music, which is for the whole community, and they enjoy that. They have other functions going on, like they just had their 25th anniversary, where they had cake, ice cream, balloons, and games going on. The music has been great for my mom as well as other residents of the memory care unit."

"My mother is transferring to Schooner Estates. It's awesome. She will be in their memory care unit. It's a brand-new facility designed for people with memory loss. The people were extremely professional, nice and helpful, and it was very welcoming. They had a salon, and it's adjacent to doctors' offices."

"Our overall experience with Ocean View at Falmouth is very good. The staff here is good and the residents are nice. We like it very much. It's an excellent place. It's completely private, so there's no Medicare or Medicaid, but the facilities are very nice. The care is good. Housekeeping, laundry, and meals are taken care of. The food is excellent. The activities are very good, too. They've got the usual bingo, but I'm more into fitness, so they offer cardio chair fitness three times a week, yoga, and Taichi. We have movies and a wine and cheese social hour before dinner on Wednesdays. There are also word games, book clubs, puzzles, and a big activity room with different things that go on there. We have a program that's coordinated between the Falmouth House and Falmouth high school where the students come in once a month and do a lot of things with the residents. I was with them one afternoon and we were just planting flowers into pots. That was probably around Mother's Day. There are always little things that have to be worked out though, individual things, like getting help structured and medications delivered on time and stuff."

"We liked The Atrium at The Cedars. It looked like it had good activities. It had a nice little fitness center. They have a different kind of meal plan where you get like 30 meals a month. They have a full kitchen. We looked at a two-bedroom. The facility is very nice. I can't speak to their activities as much, but they have music come in and cultural activities and things like that. They have a nice big common area, a library, and a game room, that kind of stuff. We were pleased that they had a fitness center because we're into that. The staff was wonderful. We liked the person who gave us a tour. She was very knowledgeable and warm. We liked her."

"When we visited The Park Danforth, we toured the apartments. Their staff was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Their dining facilities and both the studios and the one-bedroom were nicely sized. The amount of care they get there is fantastic. They have a little button to check in every morning, and the facilities were really clean. You could tell that things were just well taken care of there. It was fantastic. Everyone there was just really responsive and very friendly. Everything was just so clean. No matter where we walked, the people said hello even though they didn't know who we were. It was just great, it was nice. We also toured the kitchen, the dining room, the menu, and everything else. We walked through while they were just finishing preparing lunch, and they smelled delicious. I would have sat down and eaten. There was no food tasting, but it looked really good. We do have friends who are there, and they said their parents love it there. It was extremely clean, and very well kept. The elevator was nice and clean, and the doors were washed in it. They have a little workout facility for the residents. They have a little movie theater where they show movies several times a night. They have a little cafe. So, if you didn't want the kitchen food, you could go down to the cafe and order different things. They provide transportation to doctor's appointments and to supermarkets and things like that. There wasn't too much that they didn't provide, which was nice."

"I moved to Betsy Ross House. I'm very happy. It was the right place for me to move to. Everyone here is very friendly. The facility itself is very clean and well-kept, and there are so many activities. I don't know which to do first. The only drawback is the apartments are small. I moved in from a two-bedroom apartment with a lot of room. When you come into the apartment, which I'm using as my computer room and office and all of that, you can't hang anything on that wall. They have a movie night. The people go down and watch the movies. They also have bingo games, poker games, and cornhole, so there are a lot of things that you can do. Everybody has a good time doing it and participating. I did not take the meal plan because I have a full kitchen. I wish I had a dishwasher which I need. I have a stove and an oven and I put in a microwave. It's livable. It's nice. They're currently constructing an addition to the Betsy Ross House. I don't know how many units are going to be in that, but it's a fairly good size. The staff was very responsive, in the winter, I gave them a duplicate set of my car keys because if we have a big snowstorm, they do go and plow the parking lot, and also clean off all the cars, so that's a big benefit. The manager is good. She listens to you. She's very good."

"I had a very nice tour of Avita of Stroudwater. They had memory care and a building being built that is almost occupied right across the street. The area is under construction, but it was a lovely community. They had lots of staff and a nice wing for memory care. The rooms were a little small from what I had seen in the past with my mother-in-law. The menu was very nice with two selections at dinner, including chicken fried steak. They told me the price was $6,500, but when I got there, it was $7,200, I believe. "

"The Cape Elizabeth Home is smaller. There are only six or seven people there, so it' more personalized. The building is in very good condition. They have an excellent chef that does meal preparation during the day and they have additional staff that does the evening meals. They have very qualified and very friendly staff. The atmosphere there is great. My mom is in a 2-room suite and she seemed happier when she moved there. I would recommend this facility to others. "

"I went down and looked at Piper Shores, and I liked the concept. They're the only one in the state that has the continuing care aspect. I also liked the location because it's near my son. The facility was nice. They have a courtyard and a nice pool. They have a cooperative and they make an effort to engage the people who live there in running the place. The resident who showed me around was a complete stranger to me. She didn't show me her apartment, but she showed me someone else's. It's a nice building and a nice location. You get one meal if you're in the independent living building. They had a beautiful dining room. It had a fancy dinner service with a view of the ocean and flowers on your table. They described it as having waiter service. You can order from a menu or you can walk up to the self-serve area. The main building for independent living fronts the ocean. Not all the apartments front the ocean, but most of them at least had a view."

"We’re going to Atlantic Heights (The Inn Apartment Assisted Living). It had everything; assisted living, independent, and hospice. It’s very clean and well maintained. The staff was very nice to us. The dining facility looked good. I’m planning to have lunch there one of these days. We’ve seen the menu and coffee is there all the time. The accommodations were very nice and adequate for a room. It’s smaller than what we have now but we’re very pleased with it. It’s one bedroom, a sitting room, and a kitchenette. They gave us a sheet of activities. Every day, there’s something going on all the time so we won’t be bored. It’s relatively convenient, about half an hour from where we live now. The main thing is they just have comfortable rooms and good staff. We were very happy with it. "

"I had checked out Thornton Oaks. They have a lot to offer, and they have an elegant dining room. I have friends that do live there, and they invited me for dinner this past year. Very elegant, nice food, nice conversations and they have a great setup as well. The food and the service were terrific. The dining room was spacious and very nice, and the people wore shirts, ties, and jackets. My friend has a spacious and well laid out apartment. She has a nice window view on the ground floor. They have a lot of walking paths. The friendliness, the pleasantness, and attractiveness stand out. I really think that it serves the purpose, and it’s a very nice place. "