A Midwest-based small-home senior living operator is expanding its model with affordability and personalization in mind.
Earlier this month, operator Harmony Homes received approval for six, custom-built single-family homes that can each accommodate 16 residents on a 10-acre property in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis. Like other small-home senior living operators, Harmony’s communities are homelike and carry higher staffing ratios compared to larger properties with dozens or hundreds of residents living onsite.
Construction on the project in Maryland Heights will start “in the coming months” with a projected opening for two of the six homes in mid-2026 and four others opening in 2027, according to CEO Bob DeClue.
“We became really familiar with the residential assisted living model and we decided to embrace that in the future, not only in the St. Louis area but in other markets,” DeClue told SHN. “It’s a big lift to be able to continue to grow and establish but we’re embracing it.”
DeClue founded Harmony Homes in 2020 after launching the company’s first three properties in Washington, Missouri, through a sister company, Aspen Valley Senior Homes. The Aspen Valley segment is also growing with new development in New Haven, Missouri, while also offering consultation services to other residential assisted living operators to “bring them across the finish line” prior to opening.
The effort to build residential assisted living communities – also sometimes called small-home communities – stems from DeClue’s mission to better serve older adults with middle-market assisted living rates. DeClue views the model as a more personal alternative to traditional, large-scale senior living communities, with room enough for both to flourish in the current demand environment.
To position Harmony Homes to best capture demand, DeClue said starting on development efforts now would put the company in the best position to attract baby boomers who may want to move into a community with a more private and homelike setting.
“Given the growth and demand that we know is showing up, along with the baby boomer transition [now] it’s about how do we address the need,” DeClue said.
Central to the company’s success is its high staff-to-resident ratios that can be established in this smaller setting. In the last year, the company has made strides to reduce turnover and improve retention at existing locations, DeClue said.
To scale, DeClue said Harmony Homes is cross-training employees and providing added training to prepare for “these difficult transitions” as older adults leave their long-time homes and move into a community. The company has a service line dedicated to helping older adults downsize in a manner that aims to “minimize that traumatic” experience of leaving a long-time home for senior living.
On the sales and marketing side, Harmony Homes has partnered with third-party referral services to identify potential leads.
“Why we like the model starts with the care ratios,” DeClue said. “I think RAL is a trend that we will continue to see, and we’re not here to replace anyone. We’re here to be an alternative.”
Harmony Homes is looking at additional land parcels in the St. Louis market and in Kansas City for its next growth push, with locales such as Springfield and Columbia in Missouri standing out for potential future expansion. Opportunities could also extend to the Southeast in Kentucky and Tennessee, DeClue said.
On just when new projects and development could pick back up, DeClue said he feels like there’s a “perfect storm” coming where demand remains high for senior living and will ultimately force developers to dive back in.
“We certainly have plans to diversify our model,” DeClue said. “We can’t solve the entire problem, but we sure like to make our mark.”
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