For a dozen years, Paul and Amy Silverman lived in Houston, where he worked as an oncologic radiologist. The couple later discovered Asheville, N.C., when they visited for a medical conference, and eagerly moved there after Dr. Silverman retired in 2012.
“We thought we would spend the rest of our lives in Asheville,” Ms. Silverman said. “Everybody said, ‘Why don’t you retire where your kids are?’ But I wanted a place where they could visit and get away.”
Their house had a gorgeous view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the couple enjoyed the outdoorsy surroundings, with hiking, kayaking and fly-fishing. Ms. Silverman, 72, a former teacher, was an active volunteer. Dr. Silverman, 73, gardened and tended beehives. After taking a class in hand-built ceramics, he began crafting vintage tools and cameras from clay. “It’s like woodworking, but instead of pieces of wood, you roll clay into slabs and build things,” he said.
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Shortly after arriving in Asheville, Ms. Silverman developed macular degeneration, and her vision grew increasingly hazy and distorted. During the pandemic, she stopped driving, which made life in Asheville untenable. She felt imprisoned in the house.
“We went to lunch with a friend who said, ‘You need to leave now while you can still do stuff,’ and we went home and put the house on the market,” Ms. Silverman said.
That was a year and a half ago. “It was sad to have to leave under these circumstances, but you have to deal with what life gives you,” she said. The Asheville house sold for $1.84 million.
Both Silverman children were in New York — their daughter in Chelsea and their son, with his wife and 6-year-old, in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Brooklyn reminded the Silvermans of Boston, where both are from. (They met as camp counselors in New Hampshire.) So they decided to relocate within walking distance of their son’s family.
For a price up to about $2 million, the couple sought a relatively new condominium with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and private outdoor space. They preferred a quiet street with proximity to subways and plenty of natural light to help with Ms. Silverman’s low vision. And they wanted to be near a gym, though their son reminded them that a gym in the building was both possible and preferable.
They also realized the value of some kind of third place. “The thought of being either in the apartment or finding a place outside it, like a coffee shop, would be a very limited and binary decision that would not be enjoyable, especially in inclement weather,” Dr. Silverman said. “When we found that some buildings had common space, that became a priority.”
There were few options within walking distance of their son’s family. “Most of the larger, more amenitized buildings are in Downtown Brooklyn,” said their agent, Tamara Abir, a salesperson at Compass.
The condo units the Silvermans considered were similar inside, with around 1,200 square feet, private outdoor space, large living/dining areas that had open kitchens (always with a dishwasher and an island or peninsula), and a stacked washer-dryer. They also offered useful extras like walk-in closets, five-burner stoves and double bathroom vanities.
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