Robert Tolliver Sr. - Residences at Courtyard Crossing

Robert Tolliver lived in a two-family house in Latonia for 16 years. He was happy there. His place had a basement for storage and a driveway where he parked his camper. When the landlord doubled the rent from $600 to $1200, though, he had to look for a new home. He chose the Residences at Courtyard Crossing, a 47-unit, age-restricted affordable housing community that was funded in part through Kentucky Housing Corporation's innovation pool. He moved in March 2022.

Robert has three children and eight grandchildren. His 19-year-old granddaughter visits him often, he said, but she calls it a retirement home. Robert is still young and vibrant and is quick to correct her. "This is not a retirement home," he keeps telling her. "This is a building for people 55 and older."

Although he has worked on many multifamily buildings, this is the first time he has lived in one. He has taken to the social aspect.

“There's so much versatility here of people," he said. “If we had met anywhere else, we probably would say hi and drink a beer together, but we probably never would have hung out together.” And yet, he said, they gather outside the building in the gazebo, and they chat and joke when they pass in the hallway.

“I haven’t met anybody I don’t like yet,” he said. “And I don’t even like people, really I don’t,” he added, smiling. 

Thanks to his 30 years of experience as a construction supervisor, Robert has become the de facto handyman at Courtyard Crossing. He recently jumped one resident's car, helped another assemble a clothing rack, and fixed a dining room chair in the community room. 

Robert said that in moving it was hard to give up his basement, which he had used for storage, but, in a way, he was glad to be moving on. “It's time to get rid of the stuff,” he said. “Some of the stuff has been hanging around too long.”

Article and photos by Steve Morrow