A Banyan Residence open house Ribbon Cutting by Lady Lake Chamber of Commerce. Pictured  of the owners in from left  Blake, Brandon Anderson and Greg Anderson on the right, the lady standing in the back ground in the red jacket was mayor Ruth Kussard. Many questions were being ask during the many tours so we thought we would do a question and answer story.

  1. Let me tell you about A Banyan Residence. What services are available at the facility?
  2. A Banyan Residence is an assisted living and memory care resort that is owned and operated by the founding family. Our family started in assisted living and memory care in 1998 with a unique concept that emphasized an independent and outdoor lifestyle that we’ve built into our design here in The Villages area. By dedicating three full acres to botanical butterfly gardens, waterfall koi fish ponds, walking paths, gazebos, and the like, we find seniors are able to relax peacefully in a home-like and comfortable environment. We also offer a giant clubhouse full of amenities to keep residents active from sun up to sun down. We have amenities such as a movie theater, hair salon, physical fitness gym, ice cream parlor, bistro, crafts room, library, and a state-of-the-art sensory room showing off cutting edge technology geared for senior living.

Beyond the building design itself, we are staffed and trained to provide any necessary assistance to keep our residents independent for as long as possible while still making sure their daily needs are met. Our custom culinary program is designed to provide exquisite meals that would go unrivaled in the industry. Our enrichment program keeps seniors of all types stimulated, active, and social with both on-campus daily events but also in the community, such as attending polo matches, live concerts, restaurant openings, and so on. Finally, our care program allows for seniors to rely on our staff to bridge the gap physically and mentally to achieve independence in their day-to-day lives while maintaining dignity and integrity. 

What is unique to our design is that our entire facility is considered both assisted living and memory care, so all of the amenities and grounds can be enjoyed by all. This characteristic allows families to rest easy that no matter what happens physically or mentally due to aging, they know that their loved one will never have to move rooms because the same level of care can be provided anywhere on property.

  1. How long has opening this facility in the area been in the works?
  2. Our family began discussing building a community in The Villages nearly four years ago. Our founder, Greg Anderson, has a degree and background in construction prior to starting in senior living in the 90’s. What is amazing is that over the past four years, Greg has been able to take a blank slate and combine his construction and design background with decades of assisted living experience to custom-design a community that structurally addresses issues seen in the industry. The entire process has been a collaboration among our family as partners and it’s unbelievable to see the finished product. The attention to detail is extraordinary and some of the finer points can be overlooked if people don’t take a tour with one of the owners.
  3. Why open in The Villages area?
  4. The culture in The Villages is something we have not ever experienced before but immediately fell in love with once we began to immerse ourselves. The population is friendly, social, active, and full of life, which is exactly the culture what we’ve aimed to create in our communities for decades. Our family felt the need that the growing community had for senior living options and we thought our values and principles were well-aligned with the soul of the community. We think that our unique concept and design is needed in every community that serves the assisted living and memory care population, but the local culture made it very easy for us to call this area our new home.
  5. How do you feel about now being officially open?
  6. Finally being open is such an amazing feeling! This has been our largest, most complex, most difficult, and most rewarding project of our family’s history. We used entirely local labor to help build the project and we can’t thank them and the supporting community enough. We had plenty of sleepless nights and that doesn’t even consider the global pandemic that was looming overhead threatening to alter the course of our destiny at any given moment. We’re so grateful to have had a successful ribbon cutting and the blessing and support from local elected officials as well as our own congressman. We’re hopeful that we can contribute back to the community to thank them for the support we’ve gotten to this point.
  7. Jennifer told me that the facility is designed almost inside out so every room is open to the outside and residents have free range of the area. Why design the facility in that way?
  8. Seniors have had unrestricted access to nature and the outdoors their entire lives… why should that change when they move into a senior living community? It seems too easy for a community to be built with a labyrinth of fluorescent-lit hallways that have to be navigated before being able to get fresh air and our principles fundamentally disagreed with that idea. Many of these people owned homes where they could step out of their back door onto their patio to enjoy their own gardens. We took that same experience and projected it throughout our community, which is why we have butterfly gardens, fruit trees, fish ponds, waterfalls, etc. There is automatic value in being able to relax peacefully surrounded by nature and that lifestyle being just at your fingertips out your front door. It encourages enriched livelihood, independence, activity, and natural energy. The exposure to nature’s light cycle also has very well-documented positive impacts on sleep schedules, moods, and behaviors. For someone that enjoys being outdoors in a flush tropical environment with sunlight and a breeze, we think we are the only community designed to capture that feeling.

 

Greg Anderson

Brandon Anderson Administrator

Brother—Anderson

Jennifer Hutt Community Liaison

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