Longevity Design and Building for Future Generations with Emma Kraft Saldivar

It sounds like you're really getting into like a deeper meaning because a lot of times people don't want to leave their homes because they've made community because they love their neighbors because they are the house that the kids come to to play at.

But they just need that one extra bedroom because they've had another baby or they just need that spot for an aging parent because that time is coming.

When I think about it from a landscape perspective, a lot of times the question we ask is like, tell me about how you entertain on the regular and then tell me about how you have that once a year or twice a year event, whether it's a family gathering or you throw some sort of a rally.

or an annual game at your house so that we can create space not just for like the day to day but for the 60 person party that happens twice a year where you have like the annual family volleyball tournament you know and i think that's fun and when i think of like younger designers getting into this you know just like inviting that question and usually what i found when you ask that question to to people who don't really have a ritual of community gathering at their home yet, is that it inspires them to consider what that could look like for themselves.

Right, which is like, you know, that's the joy of being a designer to help plant those seeds of inspiration.

Because of course, wouldn't we all desire for our communities to be flourishing with people that are regularly hosting, inviting people over making these connections.

I grew up in a huge family in the At our house, at my aunt and uncle's house, getting together with cousins, having whoever over, hosting, you know, annual barbecue for all the farmers to celebrate the end of harvest.

When we can be together, we have a lot of power for good and for recreation and for growth and change.

And so as simple as it is to have a space defined for it, it's actually magnificently complex and full of possibility for change.

And I think when you invite people into that kind of a mindset of like what it's a mindset of possibility.

Right.

And we as humans love hope and possibility and we thrive on it and we innovate within that mindset.

And when I think about thinking that way and guiding somebody into a space where they can see themselves as a place where people want to come to.

and their homes as a space where people want to gather, it allows them to think about their space as a Forever Home as a place that has longevity.

And when we do these really large, not only just expensive in dollars, but expensive in resources, projects, you know, I think it is a worthy moment to be able to guide people into what does a lifestyle that actually suits the best version of yourself look like and how do we create space for that lifestyle where you nurture yourself.

You take care of the hearth of home, and then you take care of the hearth of self.

And that's where wellness gardens have really taken off.

And I would say that's what we design.

People hire us to get a wellness garden.

And when I think about what you design and build, Emma, and I think about the recent story that was in The Oregonian.

where we were collaborating on what a longevity home looks like and what a forever home looks like one of the questions i really like to ask people is what is the best version of yourself when you're taking care of yourself and like what is what do you do in that do you need to sauna three times a week do you work out outside cold plunge and outdoor shower and you want to be a little bit cold with fresh air while you shower under warm water like you know like do you like to sit under that specific tree and read a book and it's really just about like what is your human experience of nurturing you and so I'm curious how you talk how you consider that in your own way

Yeah, well, and that's huge.

That's something that we really focus on and we've done a lot of projects about hobbies.

And so like, what do you do? So we've done like a craft room or we've done a basement guitar studio or a patio or a, you know, a gym.

So creating those spaces that, again, are fulfilling in your hobbies or the things that you want to do daily.