TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
T here’s a famous quote by Angela N. Blount that says, “Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to make.” This feels like the perfect introduction to the story behind Lisa and Mark Looney’s new house. Unlike most new homeowners, the Looneys were not looking to move at all, much less build from scratch. Instead, it all started when Lisa had a friend from Hot Springs call and say she and her husband were headed to Texarkana for the day to look at houses. She wondered if Lisa had any insight into a couple of the houses they were considering, so Lisa invited them over for a visit. When the friend and her husband got to the Looney’s, they fell in love with the house and asked Lisa if they could look around. After a thorough (self- guided) tour, the friends asked Lisa if they might consider selling and made an offer the Looneys accepted. “We unexpectedly sold our other house. We didn’t have anywhere to even move or go,” Lisa explained, as though still shocked by how it all transpired. “I thought, ‘What have I done? I didn’t even ask my husband.’” Luckily, Lisa’s cousin, Gayle Wright, invited Lisa and Mark to stay with her while they decided what to do next. They enjoyed staying with Gayle so much that they ended up buying some of her land and building right next door. Even more than the blessing of time with family, the move continued to prove to be the right decision. Lisa had been experiencing some health issues, and mobility around their two-story house on a hill was becoming more and more difficult. “I was having orthopedic issues walking, and I couldn’t even get up and down the stairs. My granddaughter’s room was upstairs. She would say, ‘Oh, Yaya, come up and let’s go play,’ and I’d have to say I couldn’t because I’d just had knee surgery,” she recalled sadly. “And the doctor was telling me that I’d need another, plus two hip replacements.” As a result, a primary focus in this new build was aging in place. Aging in place is a building concept where you plan a house that can accommodate different potential health issues as you age. For the Looneys, this meant placing importance on wide hallways and doors so wheelchairs or walkers could fit and considering features
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LIFE & STYLE
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