After years of working in the healthcare industry, Katie Condon has helped her sister, Anna Massie, find a new purpose for her longtime family home tucked into the countryside northeast of Battle Ground.
Hidden Gem Adult Care Home opened in early April at 19401 Northeast 249th Street, less than a mile away from Battle Ground Lake State Park. The home offers 24-hour care for up to five residents, providing a quieter and individualized environment, setting itself apart from larger senior living facilities.
The idea took shape after Massie and her husband realized they were using only a small part of their home once their children moved out.
“(Katie) came over one day for a visit and I said, ‘What are we going to do with this big place now that our kids are gone?’” Massie said.
Condon, who has worked in hospice care for more than a decade, said she saw the property’s potential right away.
Condon first discovered her passion for caregiving while caring for her husband’s grandmother at home, before she began working professionally in hospice. For Condon, individualized senior care offers a more satisfying work environment than larger settings.
The sisters spent about 18 months converting the house into a licensed adult care facility. They remodeled bedrooms and bathrooms, lowered windows to meet state requirements, updated walls and flooring, and worked through county and state permitting.
Massie said the most challenging part was the lengthy permitting process and the many regulations involved in converting an older home for licensed care.
“There are so many rules and hurdles to get over, and so many required documents and then I don’t know if they’re understaffed… it takes them so long to get back to each step of the way, so that’s what took a lot of the time,” Massie said.
According to the sisters, remodeling and startup costs totaled just over $100,000, which included furnishing the home and preparing it for residents.
Now open and partially filled, Hidden Gem Adult Care Home focuses on providing what the sisters describe as a more personal and dignified approach to senior care.
“When I was getting my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), the residents were really just a room number,” Condon said. “They say ‘5B needs water,’ Whereas here, if David wants a special kind of snack, we’ll put it on the list and he gets it.”
The home employs four CNAs. Condon manages resident care and daily operations, while Massie handles business accounts and administrative tasks.
Residents receive assistance with activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, meals, and medication management. The home also offers hospice and end-of-life care, allowing residents to stay as their needs change.
“One of the things we’re trying to do to set us apart from others, even adult family homes, is just (that we’re) a little more upscale,” Massie said. “Cleanliness, quality meals, quality home-baked goods.”
The rural setting also meets the duo’s standards for senior living. Residents can spend time outdoors in the garden, gather around the dining table for meals, and enjoy visits from family members at nearly any hour, thanks to the home’s 24-hour awake staff coverage.
“It’s a much slower, quieter experience for older people,” Condon said.
The sisters have also started a youth visitation program, encouraging younger volunteers and family members to spend time with residents through conversation, walks, games, and music.
“When people get older like this, just sitting and visiting with them or sitting with them listening to their stories supports them,” Condon said. “Like David, he loves to tell his old stories. Just sitting and listening to his old stories is huge with him.”
Instead of following a set activity schedule, the sisters aim to tailor activities to each resident’s interests, whether that means gardening, crocheting, puzzles, reading, or spending time outside.
“We want to stay away from noodle necklaces and finger painting and all those really basic things and just preserve a little dignity,” Massie said.
Since opening, the sisters say demand has already exceeded their expectations. Three of the home’s five beds are filled, and more residents are considering moving in.
The sister’s project also presents an opportunity for Condon to create the kind of care environment she wished she experienced often during her years in hospice work.
“This is more personalized… (With) the quality of care, I can decide if the quality of care is good, or if I need to train (CNAs) more,” she said.
Condon and Massie hope more families become aware that adult care homes are an alternative to larger care facilities.
“I would like more people to know that these homes even exist because the care is so much better versus a facility,” Condon said.
More information about Hidden Gem Adult Care Home is available at hiddengemach.com.
