A simple, economical, and small (1,440 sq.ft.) one bedroom retirement home in the country for two city dwellers, Gary, and Carol Ridge, reflects the aspirations of out of the box thinkers who wanted something decidedly different in a retirement home. Gary is a retired construction superintendent, so he literally built most of it by hand, right down to the cabinets, with some locally hired helpers. Carol is a retired administrator from the McMaster University Family Health Department, and we previously worked with her on a clinic design. They purchased a wooded lot overlooking the Consecon Canal along the Loyalist Parkway in the northwest corner of popular Prince Edward County.