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Good Idea: Build a compound where you and your friends retire

By , Houston Chronicle

Idea: Build The Compound, a place to retire with friends.

Idea persons: Mike and Claire Farley and Mimi and Daniel Herbert, baby boomers.

Where the idea came from: The average life expectancy for a 65-year-old American is 17.7 years for a male and 20.3 years for a female, according to U.S. News & World Report. That a long time to live after retirement. None of the existing retirement alternatives were attractive to the Farleys and Herberts.

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Mike grew up as one of first barefoot skiers in Lake Charles, just "hauling ass out the door and coming back when it was dark." He wants a place outdoors where grandkids can roam someday.

Daniel was born in São Paulo, where his father worked in meatpacking and ranching. Daniel has great memories of the outdoor life on ranches in a beautiful part of Brazil. Daniel and his wife, Mimi, who spent split her youth between Brazil and Spain, want to be with friends in the country but want the option of spending time in a nearby major city. (And unlike the Farleys, they already have one grandchild to share a country home with.)

Claire, a member of a private equity firm, struggles with the idea of not working. But it was she and Mimi who, on a whim, decided to look for property in Austin County a couple of years ago.

"We're starting early," Mimi says.

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The Compound: It's 465 acres located near Bellville. An 1860s home graces the property. That's going to the Herberts. Both families are building casitas in different parts of the tract, far enough away to have privacy and with wide-enough doors for wheelchairs. (All four are very active now, but they have watched parents age and understand that even fit people can't rule out wheelchairs in their future.)

In the center of the land, the two couples are jointly constructing and splitting the cost of a pavilion, basically one large open room with guest rooms around the perimeter. The pavilion will give them a place for the four of them to get together, and to invite friends and family, too.

But the compound is not about constant togetherness. "We sometimes go for months now without seeing the Farleys," Mimi says. "We'll play it by ear," Claire says.

The cattle question: In a first test of Compound decision-making, most of the cattle which were on the property at the time of purchase were voted off, over the mild objections of one member of The Compound. "They're easygoing," says Mimi. "We're easygoing." She lost.

All acknowledge that they couldn't plan retiring together with just anyone. "There are innumerable couples who couldn't tolerate me," Mike says. "The Herberts are fascinating. And I'm sure Claire doesn't want to see just my face around for the next 20 years."

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Activities at the pavilion: Mike will play a lot of poker. Mimi's hobby is all things horses, and she hopes to keep trail horses nearby. Mike has qualified to be a Master Naturalist in Hays County, and he has what he describes as a nearly impossible goal: the reintroduction of quail to the property. Daniel and Mike both like to hunt, and look forward to hunting deer for the first time. Claire wants to the group to learn to love some new things, like Pilates and dancing.

The two couples are thinking about building a natural swimming hole on the property as well. They'll keep a few buck and sheep, and then there will be chicken in a coop. They all want to work together to rid the land of invasive species. There will be no shortage of projects.

They may invite friends, acquaintances and the local barbecue shack owner over to give talks about their hobbies and enthusiasms, whether it be pickling, Texas history or song wrriting. They may start a naturalist society focused on native grasses.

The retirement part: There's the next generation. With five adult children between them, the foursome wants to create a fun and interesting environment for their families to visit. Time spent with aging relatives shouldn't be about duty. "If we keep growing, our children will want to come," Claire says.

And there's the last days."We decided that we didn't want to go to a home," Mimi says.

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It isn't about dying, says Mike. It's about living. But when the time comes, "I don't want to be in a cold hospital, all medicaled up."

Next steps: Construction of the Compound should be completed in two years. "Maybe by then, we'll know more what we're doing," says Claire.

Big picture: Not everyone has the resources to create a compound, but everyone can try to be more proactive about retirement. As Mike says, "We want to try to go out on our own terms."

Andrea White contributes to the Gray Matters series on HoustonChronicle.com.