Wheelchair and Disabled Facilities

Disabled and Wheelchair features

 

We have had a number of groups staying with us with family members ranging from grandpa to young adults and children who are disabled, and they have enjoyed their stay.  There are 3 homes, all with broadly the same floor plan, except that townhouse 2 has a larger area in the downstairs bedroom because it doesn’t have built in wardrobes.

 

These are beautiful homes that would be very comfortable for everyone including a disabled member of your family.  Upstairs there are 3 more bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, so it is a very spacious home for extended families and groups.

During the renovations in 2010, we added features that we hoped would make it easier for disabled guests during their stay:

·         Wider doors on the ground floor bathroom and bedroom

·         A ramp at the side of the property

·         Showers without lips and hand held shower roses

·         Toilets with grab rails.

·         Plenty of space to make it easy to manoeuvre around the ground floor living space

 

 

FAQ’s:

 

Does your bathroom have a roll in shower/flat entry?  Yes        

 

Do you have support rails in the shower?  No

 

Do have an open shower with a shower curtain?  Yes - Shower curtain              

Do you have a hand held shower rose? Yes

 

Is the toilet in the same room as your shower and is the bathroom large enough to have a wheelchair or scooter in there? Yes

 

Does the toilet have support rails?  Yes – a grab rail

 

Is the door into the bathroom wider than normal? Yes,  1M

 

Is it a sliding door?   Yes in Townhouse 2, No in Townhouse 1

 

Is flooring special non slip?     Yes in Townhouse 2, No in Townhouse 1, but tiles are not high gloss.

 

Are there any special wheelchair friendly shower chairs No, but these can be hired.

 

Is the rest of the house wheelchair friendly?    Ground floor bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining area are all on the same level with no obstructions between them.  The living area is separated from the dining area by 2 steps.  Another 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are upstairs.

 

Please describe (ie, entry into house, are living areas and bedrooms spacious, are there any other doors that have been made wider etc

Each home has a double lock up garage at the street side.  This opens onto the rear courtyard.  There are 3 steps up to the deck or a ramp at the side of the deck in townhouse 3.  Each main doorway into the homes is a wide swing door and there is a small lip at each entrance.  The rooms in these homes are spacious and the furniture is comfortable and modern.  The living area is an open plan area without doors.  There are gates at the top and bottom of the stairs to restrict access by young children.

 

Does outside allow for wheelchair users to roam freely on accessible paths or areas that are flat?   A wide deck on each home overlooks the sand dunes and beach.  A bbq on each deck and plenty of room for family or friends to gather.  The lawn area at the front of the townhouses is small but flat and grassy – nice for sunbathing or relaxing ... makes a good cricket pitch or bouche lawn.

 

The homes have flat accessible footpaths on the road-side of the home, which lead to a very good quality walking/bicycle path that runs the length of the beach both north and south.  Easy access to the Torrens Linear Park from the bridge to the north of the property.  This runs along the Torrens River all the way into the city and is wheelchair friendly.  So for more athletic wheelchair owners, this is a wonderful location where they would be able to access the beach and outdoors with a little effort.  There is an outdoor shower area.

 

How many people can you accommodate? 7-10 people in each townhouse.  There are 7 separate beds in each home.  Only one bedroom on the ground floor of each house, so one or two wheelchair bound people in each home.  Three homes so a maximum of 30 people in the complex.

Entry to the home:

 

There is a ramp to assist disabled people to enter the property at the side of townhouse 3.  However, there is one small step up to the rear deck and a lip at the entrance door.  Some guests have found it easier to take the wheelchair to the front of the property and enter that way.  Townhouse 1 and 2 doesn’t have a ramp, so the one in townhouse 3 must be used.  The easiest entry is from the decks on the beach side of the property.

 

Townhouse 3 courtyard entrance

Townhouse 3 ramp and path to front

Townhouse 3, rear deck with step up from ramp

Townhouse 3 Front deck with step up off path and entrance to living room

 

Ground Floor Rooms

 

Wide entrance to townhouse 3 and spacious entry area.  Doorway to the ground floor bedroom is the door on the left.

  

 


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The entrance to each house has a wide doorway which opens onto a wide spacious hallway.  The flooring is solid bamboo flooring throughout the ground floor of townhouse 2 and 3 including the ground floor bedroom.  The flooring in Townhouse 1 is slate with carpet in the ground floor bedroom.

 

The ground floor bedroom is the first room along the hallway and opens onto the rear deck.  It looks out over the courtyard in all townhouses.

·         The ground floor bedroom has a queen bed.  The bed is usually centred in the room and needs to be pushed to one side to allow easy wheelchair access to the bed.  This is easily done and we will do it for you before you arrive.  There’s still plenty of room for someone else to get in and out of the bed on the other side.

·         A water-resistant mattress protector is available on request.

·         The doorways to this bedroom and the adjacent bathroom are wider than normal (1M). 

Figure 2:  Townhouse 3: Ground Floor Bedroom


The Ground Floor Bathroom

·         The ground floor bathroom has a shower, toilet and washbasin + laundry facilities. 

·         The door is a sliding door in townhouse 2.  In Townhouse 3, it is a normal swing door. 

·         The doorway is 1M wide and there is no lip on the doorway.

·         There is a grab rail on the toilet but not around the shower. 

·         The shower is a hand held shower rose with wall mixer.

·         A shower chair can be hired or a plastic garden chair can be provided

·         The shower area does not have a lip or screens to make it easy for guests who need assistance or who are disabled.   The shower area is approximately 50cm deeper than this picture shows.

·         In townhouse 1 and 3 - the tiles are are travertine with a natural finish – not high gloss.  In Townhouse 2, the floor tiles in the ground floor bathroom are non-slip outdoor quality tiles.  This tile is used throughout the bathroom including the shower area. 

·         The bathroom is spacious enough to turn a wheelchair. 

 

Townhouse 3 Ground floor bathroom


 

 

 

Kitchen and Dining Area

 

The kitchen, dining room, ground floor bathroom and ground floor bedroom are all on the same level with lots of space to manoeuvre a wheelchair.  The kitchen and dining area have lovely views of the ocean and sand dunes. 

 

Image 8:  Townhouse 3 : Kitchen and Dining area

The Living Area

There are 2 steps between the kitchen & dining area and the lounge area, so assistance would be needed if you wanted to sit on the sofa or go out to the front deck.

Townhouse 3; Living room, dining and kitchen