The Best Independent Living Communities in Ellis County, TX

"My father has a room reserved at Odd Fellow and Rebekah Retirement Center. It's very clean and very updated. They have very friendly people. It has a library, a church, a beauty shop and a barber shop, and a very nice big dining area. It's just a really nice place. It has a country setting and he really enjoyed it."

"I toured the Villas of Lancaster. I like the way the community looked. It was clean and just looked quiet. I like the upkeep of it and everything. I didn't get to visit one of the apartments. They didn't have anything for me to look at, but the property and everything looked well-kept. All I did was fill out an application. He didn't give me a whole lot of information. I just left my information out with him. I just looked at the property and it looked good to me."

"I liked the looks of the floor plans that they gave me at Primrose Cedar Hill. I only met one staff member, but she was very nice. They had a swimming pool, an exercise room, and reading facilities. There really wasn't anything they didn't have that I would be interested in. They were well-equipped. I liked the layout of the apartments, and it was very accessible from the parking area. "

"The Arbors on Wintergreen was very nice and very clean. The staff was very helpful. It was more reasonable, but still with you not making about $2,000 a month, you're still going to be above your means. They qualify you by your total amount of income. You're going to have to be making a pretty substantial income in order to be able to stay there. The staff was very nice. They have things that you can sign up for and do, and they schedule certain things on certain days. They got areas where if you want to give a party or something like that, you can do that, but you have to supply your own food and stuff. It's very nice and very appealing."

"The Luxe at Cedar Hill was very nice, very light, airy, and roomy. Plus, they have elevators that take you from floor to floor. You don't have to take the stairs. The entrance was awesome. The color scheme was great. I liked the whole general area, but financially, I can't afford to live there. The staff was very nice, very cordial, and very interested in showing you all the benefits of being in that area. The rooms had balconies. Every room that I looked at was just awesome. The atmosphere alone would help improve one's attitude and overall daily feelings about being in that type of environment."

"I really did like Franklin Park because they had different sizes available, and it was also more affordable. It was really geared towards independent living, and it was more of what I was looking for. However, they didn’t have any vacancies at the time. That was something that my husband was more interested in. The grounds were very well maintained, and the community looks nice; it’s like a little community within the surrounding community. That would appeal to us more because of the ability to have more independent living. The person that was available was very helpful, and she answered my questions. "

"Hickory Manor apartments is perfect for me. There’s a washer and dryer in the apartment. It has a separate bedroom and a walk-in closet. They’ve got an activity room, and they have the standard Bingo and dominos. They’ve got a pool and have exercise classes like water aerobics. It’s close to my son. Everyone has been very sweet and pleasant with me. The staff is real nice. They have a 24/7 nurse and a doctor that’s very close, and they service the apartments. "

"I toured Champions Cove. Everything looked nice. The only thing was I wanted a balcony and they had no balcony in the rooms. But other than that, everything was clean. The rooms that the lady showed me looked very nice, very clean, and very spacious. The staff was very, very friendly. Even the price seemed good."

"We were very impressed with Primrose Park at Rolling Hills. It was very clean, and they didn't turn us away. We were worried about our dog because the others turned us away and said get rid of her. Our dog saved my husband's life twice, and she qualified as an assistance dog. These people understand the situation about a dog actually contributing to the health of the owner; plus one of the office people that I talked to, her husband is in exactly the same condition as my husband. He has to have his own bedroom and his own bathroom to keep sterile, and they understood that right away. The stairs were wide right there at the apartment. The doors of all apartments go onto a covered hallway. They have all the lights that stay on even during the day, and they have ceiling fans in the hallway to stir the air. The apartment itself was immaculate. It had a little outdoor storage room right there by the front door to make it convenient for people that have a hard time getting around. I was really impressed. They do not provide food, but they have plenty of activities. They have shuttle buses for appointments, and two of them have wheelchair access. They have outside tours once a month. The only thing I didn't see that they should have had is a gym. I saw quite a few people on walkers and canes, and they should have physical therapy. We were pleasantly surprised with the personnel. They have covered parking all over the place, every corner has a handicap access, and every building has an elevator. They have a computer room, library, activity room, kitchen, clubhouse, and wheelchair access to the pool, but the pool was dirty. They have a really nice large kitchen. It is income restricted, so that's a nice point too for the low income people. The others were way too expensive. "

"Grace Presbyterian Village is an older but a really nice community. It's older so the room that we looked at was only just one room for the bed. They showed us a calendar of everything that they do. While we were there they were having entertainment from a local musician in the Dallas area. They take the residents out to grocery stores, to movies, they take them out of the campus to different areas."

"Mom lives in Mariposa at Westchester. I like the amenities (probably that's their best feature). They have a movie room, a workout room, a clubhouse room, a pool, a workout facility, a game/study room (kind of a library room) with a pool table and card table, and planned activities with all the seniors. They also have raised garden beds where residents have a little patch of dirt to grow things. So, that's kind of cool. They keep the grounds clean. The prices of the unit are good, but they have been going up every year (I guess it's expected with the economy right now). The only thing that I don't like is in the other Mariposa location where mom was, the hallways were enclosed and air-conditioned so they could walk the hallways during inclement weather, but in all the new units that they're building in Mariposa at Westchester, they're not enclosing the hallways. Also, the outside areas of their apartments that are open are cemented, but they didn't seal the cement and there are stains all over the hallway floors. I've talked to the management about it, asking them to come in and power wash it, because what's happening is people are spilling things on it or they're dragging their trash and that's leaking, but they haven't done that. So, that would be my biggest complaint. There have been a couple of times when there was a break-in with some cars there on the property. It happened over the weekend and they didn't hear back from the manager until Monday and the security gate has been broken many, many times. The elevator in Mom's building has been broken many, many times, too, and is not working. Other than that, they keep it looking nice on the outside. It's brand new. It's only four or five years old."

"The staff is the greatest they have been so much help when it comes to My uncle. They didnt have to go the extra mile but they did. And not once but a few times. Thank you Staff. Thank you very much! If we only had this kind of staffing greatness everywhere life would be grand. "

"I have toured Nolen Grand Senior Apartments and they were very nice to me, but I just chose somewhere else over them. The staff was just spectacular. They were nice and would call me back when I left messages for them and stuff. They have an exercise room and a pool. They have a kitchen and library. They also have a place where if you've got company come in and want to have a little party, you can have that there. The staff was spectacular, very kind, and nice. They explained everything to me. They don't offer food. Something that they could improve was to get the yard cleaned up."

"Residence at the Oaks was OK. The size of the facility itself was pretty good. The apartment itself was also a good size and had adequate closet space. You see, I'm in a wheelchair, and with the wheelchair, I could go inside the closet, I could take the wheelchair inside the bathroom and stuff like that. That was one of the selling points for them. "