By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY  DeLAND, Fla.  Something is out of place in one of the freshly painted, tastefully appointed model homes in Victoria Gardens, an upscale development for the 55-plus set not far from Orlando. One of the guest rooms sports children's furniture, pink bedding and toys.  A kid's room? In an active-adult community?  It has become a common sight in a growing number of residential developments that try to fulfill families' desire to live close to parents, children and grandchildren. As the oldest of the nation's 79 million baby boomers turns 62 this year, extended families are extending. Their parents may still be alive, and their kids are having children and grandchildren.  These "multigenerational" communities stop short of putting several generations under one roof, the way many families lived in earlier times. Instead, they build close but separate sections for active adults, families and younger couples: one-story houses and golf courses down the street from larger, single-family homes near playgrounds and schools.  "They are close but not too close," says Jimmy Dundon, 38, of his in-laws. "It's easier getting together for Sunday dinners, birthdays and holidays. … It's much easier for babysitting."  The emerging niche for home buyers and builders has roots from long ago.  "This is historically how we lived 200 years ago or even 100 years ago," says Sherry Ahrentzen, an architectural researcher at Arizona State University. "It's just sort of coming back because of demographics, the transportation crunch and taking care of kids."  Germany, a nation like many others in Europe struggling with an aging population and low fertility, has turned to multigenerational developments to help support the elderly. Older people live next to young families who are not necessarily related to them. The two groups often help each other out.  In the USA, longer life spans and delayed childbirth create more multigenerational families. Housing for them is particularly popular with large subdivision developers who appeal to more affluent buyers.  Pulte Homes' Del Webb, a developer best known for its "Sun City" communities for people 55 and older, has launched "Anthem" communities for all ages in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. It also is building parts of similar housing clusters in North Carolina and Florida. Anthem at Merrill Ranch, southeast of Phoenix, is the first such development to include a Sun City section.  "Living closer to your loved ones, your family, your parents, your sisters, your aunts and uncles has been more important since 9/11, frankly," says Jacque Petroulakis, a public affairs director for Pulte Homes and Del Webb.  Dundon and his wife, Jen, 38, were raising their three children in congested South Florida about 200 miles from here. They longed for a small-town atmosphere but also wanted to stay close to Jen's parents, retired educators who lived 25 minutes from them.  They discovered the new, 1,859-acre Victoria Park community here in central Florida, about 35 miles north of Orlando. When Jen brought her parents, Jim and Maryanne Cerra, to look at the homes, they bought one.  "They said, 'We're not moving without you,' " says Maryanne, 62.  Now, the Cerras live in a single-story house in Victoria Gardens, the gated and age-restricted portion of the vast development. Their daughter's family lives a five-minute drive away in Victoria Hills, one of the community's single-family-home sections.  The three grandchildren — Julia, 7, Jillian, 5, Jeana, 2 — stay with their grandparents three times a month. Everyone knows that one of the guest rooms is the "kids' room." The three generations see each other at least once a week, take bike rides together and help each other whenever they can.  "It's perfect," says Jen, a math teacher at DeLand High School. "They're not right next-door, but really close."  The need to accommodate elderly parents and families is growing at all income levels, says Ahrentzen, interim director of Arizona State's Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family.  "Another reason that people are recognizing why it's important to live closer is, let's face it, that nursing homes and assisted living are terribly expensive," she says.  Not everyone can afford to move parents and grandparents to master planned communities such as Victoria, where prices start at $209,990. Some communities are allowing "granny flats" or "mother-in-law suites" — something that helps lower-income families, Ahrentzen says. "The more you can use your house to maintain the economic stability of your family, the better it is," she says.  'A rare day I don't see them'  Shea Homes' Victoria Park development here was designed to appeal to many generations. The goal was not to attract extended families, but it has played out that way.  Cathy Updike, 55, and her husband, Nathan, 59, already lived here. Her parents, Glenn and Inez Bish, in their 70s, were about two hours away in Lakeland. They saw each other only every couple of months.  "As the oldest of four, I figured I'd be the one taking care of them," Updike says. So she decided to move her parents closer — so close that they're in the active-adult section of the same development. They now see each other once a week.  For Joe Hilbe, 63, and his wife, Cheryl, 57, downsizing and moving to an adult community made sense after their two sons finished high school. They wanted them close and wanted to help them build a financial future.  The Hilbes moved into the new Sun City neighborhood near Phoenix and bought a house in the adjoining Anthem development for their sons, ages 22 and 20. "It's a rare day that I don't see one of them," says Hilbe, an adjunct professor of statistics at Arizona State University. "When I was younger, I would've thought that it was kind of a dumb idea, but as you get older … "  Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.
Today's community developers are filling a niche for extended relatives to live close, for comfort: 'Multigenerational' housing, the next best thing to next-door, bridges age and distance.