Independent Living in Montrose, CO: Common Questions

In practice the terms overlap. Senior apartments and 55+ communities are age-restricted housing with no care services, while independent living usually adds meals, housekeeping and activities to the rent. Spring Creek Chalet is independent living: private suites plus meals, housekeeping, laundry, repairs and activities in one monthly rate.

The monthly rate covers a private 500 sq. ft. suite, three freshly made meals a day, housekeeping and laundry, Wi-Fi and Dish cable, all repairs and maintenance, activities and outings, and use of the full 20 acres. There is no lease, no buy-in and no entrance fee on top of it.

Rates depend on single or double occupancy and on what is available at the time, so we quote them by phone rather than publish a number that goes stale. Call 970-249-2438 between 9am and 4pm, Monday through Friday, and we will give you the current figure and exactly what it includes.

It is an independent retirement community. There are no doctors and no medical staff on site, and we do not provide assisted living services. Residents who want more support arrange their own private caregivers, coordinated with us according to individual needs, which lets many people stay here far longer than they expected to.

No. The agreement is month to month with a one-month minimum, no lease and no entrance fee. Rent does not increase from one month to the next, and we ask for 30 days' written notice before a resident moves out. Nobody is asked to sign away a year of their life.

Yes. Pets are welcome with an additional deposit, and there are no restrictions on the type or size of animal. Bring it up when you call and we will walk through the deposit and anything practical worth knowing, but the short answer is that your animal comes with you.

Every suite is 500 square feet with a bedroom, living room, kitchenette, en-suite bathroom and private porch. All 26 are the same, available for single or double occupancy, and the ones facing south look out at the mountains and the pond. Suites are unfurnished so residents bring their own things.

Yes. There is a furnished guest apartment on the property for residents' families to use while visiting, and we only ask for a donation toward the activities fund. It is one of the more unusual things here, and it matters most to families who live several states away.

Yes. Residents are welcome to arrange their own private caregivers, coordinated with us based on what that person needs. Because there are no medical staff on site, this is how residents who want hands-on help get it, and it lets people stay in the same suite as their needs change.

Three meals a day are cooked on site by the community's own cooks, with menus that change weekly and more than one choice at each meal. Snacks are available throughout the day. Produce from the property's orchard, garden and chickens goes into the kitchen whenever the season allows it.

The office is open Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm. Call 970-249-2438 during those hours to reach someone directly, or send a tour request through this website at any time of day or night and we will call you back during the next working day.

Call 970-249-2438 or send a tour request through this website. Tours are by appointment and take about an hour, covering a suite, the dining room, the common areas and the grounds. Come near a mealtime and stay to eat — it tells you more about the place than we can.