20 March 2025
Yesterday, Nancy, Michel and I toured John Knox Village with the expert tour guides (and golf friends with Nancy and Michel) Jackie and Dave. I don’t think we could have gotten as good a tour from the marketing team. They are long time residents and have been on several boards, committees, and events chairs for years. It was really nice to see them and get a tour of their apartment in Cassels Tower.
If I make a mistake in what I heard, hopefully Michel and Nancy will let me know and I can make corrections.
John Knox Village sits on 70 acres and has 1000 residents either in towers or villas (triplexes).
The Village has independent living (towers and villas), assisted living (Gardens West), Seaside Cove Skilled Nursing and Memory Support, Trustbridge Hospice, and Woodbridge Skilled Nursing and Rehab.
Amenities include an aquatic complex with lap pool and regular pool, fitness center, two auditoriums, five restaurants (Bayer’s Poolside Pub, The Pearl Restaurant, Seaglass Restaurant, Westlake Eatery, and BV’s Coffee and Wine Bar), a cultural center, art center, learning center, tech learning center and theater.
There are nine living spaces in The Village: Cassels Tower, East Lake Towers, Heritage Tower, Lakeside Villas, N.E. Garden Villas, S. Garden Villas, Village Towers, and Westlake Tower (The Terrace and the Vue). In the Villas, there are two, two bedroom units and one, one bedroom. The towers have a combination of one and two bedrooms.
John Knox requires you to buy into to your residence. When you pass, the property reverts to John Knox. You pay a monthly fee (based on the number of persons) which includes electricity, cable, internet, phone service if you want a landline, and a $360 per month allotment for food.
One thing that intrigued me was if you go into assisted living or memory care, the only increase is to your food portion of the monthly fees since they figure you’ll need more prescribed nutritional care.
There are a 24 hour EMT and Wellness Nurse on the property. The grounds are meticulously maintained and the overall effect is of a village that you walk to anywhere, anytime. They do have staff that provide transportation and buses. The Village also has a fleet of cars to carry members to doctors’ appointments.
The one “complaint” Jackie and Dave had is that there are too many things available to do they have to be careful from overdoing.
The Village is very gay friendly with an LGBTQ+ organization and is considered to be approximately 32% gay. It’s also pet friendly.
According to their website, buy in ranges from $213,000-$762,400. For a second person, add $30,000.
Monthly fees range from $3,571-$6,061. For a second person, add $2,258. The monthly fees are subject to change to reflect the cost of service increases.
To become a member of John Knox Village, you must be 62 and pass health and financial assessments. You can select either Plan A or Plan C. Plan A is an all inclusive contract that “provides for your future healthcare needs by providing unlimited access to assisted living, supportive memory care and skilled nursing care included in the Monthly Service Fee.”
Plan C provides use of “amenities in Plan A without healthcare benefit. You pay for healthcare services as needed and will be charged the prevailing rate less a resident discount.”
Plan B is a hybrid of Plan A and C.
I’m not easily impressed but I was impressed with the facilities. Thanks to Jackie and Dave, not only for the tour but also for lunch. We got to meet Peter, a friend of theirs who could give us an additional perspective.
Are you thinking of moving there??