Collingswood's Aging-in-Place Contractor for Craftsman and Colonial Homes

Collingswood’s Walkable Borough and the Homes That Need to Keep Pace with Their Residents

Collingswood occupies a rare position in South Jersey — a compact, walkable borough with a thriving downtown, a PATCO Speedline station connecting it to Philadelphia, and residential streets lined with craftsman bungalows, foursquares, and colonials that date from the early decades of the twentieth century. Haddon Avenue, the borough’s commercial spine, has earned a regional reputation as Restaurant Row, with dozens of independent restaurants, shops, and cafes packed into a few walkable blocks. The combination of transit access, dining, community events, and architectural character has made Collingswood one of Camden County’s most sought-after addresses.

That desirability has kept Collingswood’s population stable and committed. Residents who moved here in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s — drawn by affordable homes with character and a real sense of neighborhood — are now reaching the age when the features they love about their homes become the features that threaten their safety. The steep stairway to the second-floor bedrooms in a 1920s colonial. The original clawfoot tub in the upstairs bathroom with its 18-inch sidewall and no grab bars. The three concrete steps up to the front porch, now cracked and uneven after ninety years of freeze-thaw cycles. The narrow hallways and doorframes built to pre-war proportions.

Accessible Solutions provides aging-in-place modifications for Collingswood homeowners that address every one of these barriers while respecting the architectural character that makes this borough worth aging in.

Craftsman Bungalows and the Challenge of Compact First-Floor Plans

Collingswood’s most iconic residential architecture is the craftsman bungalow — the low-slung, wide-porched, wood-shingled homes built between 1910 and 1935 that line streets throughout the borough. These homes were designed around the Arts and Crafts ideal of honest materials and functional beauty: exposed roof rafters, built-in bookcases and window seats, heavy wood trim, and a floor plan that concentrates living space on a generous first floor with secondary bedrooms tucked under the roofline upstairs.

For aging in place, the craftsman bungalow has both advantages and limitations. The advantage is the first floor — typically containing a living room, dining room, kitchen, one bedroom, and a bathroom, all connected by a relatively open layout. If that first-floor bathroom can be made accessible and the bedroom path kept clear, many Collingswood bungalow residents can live comfortably without using the second floor at all.

The limitation is size. Craftsman bathrooms were compact by modern standards. A five-foot tub along one wall, a pedestal sink, and a toilet, all in a room that may measure five by seven feet. Built-in linen closets and medicine cabinets use every available inch. Converting this bathroom to an accessible configuration — removing the tub, installing a barrier-free shower, adding grab bars, widening the doorway — requires working precisely within the existing footprint.

Our approach in Collingswood craftsman bathrooms is surgical. We remove the tub and install a low-threshold or curbless shower base sized to the alcove. Grab bars are anchored to framing members, which in these older homes may be true-dimension lumber — actual two-by-fours rather than the nominal-dimension lumber used in modern construction. This is structurally advantageous for grab bar support. A fold-down shower bench provides seated bathing without consuming floor space permanently. The doorway is widened to at least 32 inches, and where the existing frame allows, to a full 36.

Second-Floor Bedrooms and the Stairlift Question in Collingswood Colonials

While bungalow residents may be able to avoid stairs entirely, Collingswood’s colonial and foursquare homes place all bedrooms on the second floor. These homes — prevalent along Collings Avenue, Lees Avenue, and the streets between Haddon Avenue and the PATCO line — have a first floor devoted to living, dining, and kitchen space, with bedrooms and the primary bathroom upstairs.

The stairways in these homes reflect their construction era. Colonials from the 1920s and 1930s typically have straight-run staircases with moderate pitch and wooden handrails that may have loosened over decades. Foursquares may have a quarter-turn or half-turn stairway with a landing. In either case, the stairway was built for foot traffic, not for someone who grips the railing with every step and fears every descent.

Stairlift installation in Collingswood colonials requires precise measurement of the stairway width, length, and any turns. For straight staircases, a standard rail-mounted stairlift provides motorized transport between floors with a folding seat, armrests, and footrest that tuck against the wall when not in use, preserving the stairway for ambulatory household members. For stairways with turns, curved rail systems custom-fabricated to the exact geometry of the staircase provide continuous transport from bottom to top without requiring the rider to stand at a landing.

Beyond the stairlift, we address the upstairs bathroom. Second-floor bathrooms in Collingswood colonials are the primary bathing space and typically contain the only full tub-shower in the home. Converting this bathroom — replacing the tub with a walk-in shower, installing grab bars, improving the flooring — completes the modification package that makes second-floor living safe and sustainable.

Front Porches, Borough Character, and Sensitive Ramp Design

Collingswood’s front porches are not decorative afterthoughts — they are functional community space. On summer evenings, residents sit on their porches and talk to neighbors walking to dinner on Haddon Avenue. The porches define the streetscape along every residential block, creating a visual rhythm of columns, railings, and rooflines that give the borough its cohesive character.

When a ramp is needed at a Collingswood home, the porch is both the destination and the design constraint. The porch deck is the entry level — typically three to five steps above the sidewalk. Our ramp systems connect the ground-level walkway to the porch deck, providing a gentle slope that meets ADA requirements. The configuration depends on the lot — a side approach along the driveway, a wrap around the porch corner, or in some cases a straight run from the sidewalk where the front yard depth allows.

The key principle is that the porch remains the porch. The ramp connects to it; the ramp does not replace it. The porch steps remain in place for household members who use them. When the ramp is no longer needed — after a recovery period, or after a resident moves — we remove it completely, and the porch is exactly as it was before.

PATCO Access, Community Bonds, and Why Collingswood Residents Stay

Collingswood residents have a particularly strong attachment to their borough, and it is not abstract sentiment — it is practical daily life. The PATCO Speedline station at Collingswood provides direct rail access to Philadelphia in twelve minutes, which means residents who no longer drive can still reach Center City medical specialists, family across the river, and cultural institutions without depending on someone else for a ride. Haddon Avenue’s restaurants, pharmacy, bank, and shops are within walking distance for most borough residents. The community calendar — Collingswood Farmers Market, the May Fair, First Friday gallery nights — provides a social fabric that no assisted living facility replicates.

For older Collingswood residents, leaving the borough means losing all of that. Home modifications preserve not just physical safety but the entire lifestyle that makes Collingswood home. A bathroom conversion that eliminates fall risk. A ramp that restores independent entry and exit. A stairlift that keeps the second-floor bedroom usable. These are not just construction projects — they are the infrastructure of continued independence in a community built for walking, eating, and knowing your neighbors.

Full-Service Aging-in-Place Modifications for Collingswood Homes

Accessible Solutions provides Collingswood residents with every aging-in-place modification service. Modular aluminum ramp systems designed for craftsman and colonial porch configurations. Ramp rentals at $300 per month for temporary or recovery needs. Bathtub-to-shower conversions within craftsman and colonial bathroom footprints. Barrier-free roll-in showers. Grab bars at showers, toilets, hallways, and stairways. Stairlifts for straight and curved interior stairways. Doorway widenings to 32- or 36-inch clearance. First-floor living conversions for bungalow and colonial layouts. Durable medical equipment including hospital beds, rollators, wheelchairs, and commodes. Licensed New Jersey contractor. Certified NJ MLTSS Medicaid provider. Serving Collingswood from our Atlantic County warehouse.