Carolyn and Mona Harvey will celebrate 35 years together this coming March, legally married since 2008!
The couple renovated their 1923 Edwardian house over the many years they lived in San Francisco, before selling it two years ago to be closer to family in Arroyo Grande and in anticipation of becoming residents of Villaggio.
Carolyn is a retired podiatrist who had a private practice as well as taught at the podiatric medical school in San Francisco. She also served as a podiatric medical consultant for several State and Federal prisons. Carolyn graduated UCSB and put in a stint in the Peace Corps in the Philippines.
Mona is a retired journalist and editor who specialized in covering international trade. After graduating Western Washington University, Mona initially worked at small town newspapers in the Pacific Northwest.
The two love books and constantly read aloud together. Music, theatre, movies and nature perk their interest. They are self-taught uke players and are always up for a day trip or a road trip.
Carolyn is a pickleball enthusiast and thrilled there will be courts at Villaggio. She started the pickleball program at Golden Gate Park, which now has over 400 participants.
Mona thrives on photography and digital art. This past November, she became one of the winners of the National Novel Writing Month contest. To win, one must write a 50,000-word first draft in the 30-day time limit.
The Harvey’s are happily anticipating moving to Villaggio. “We’re looking forward to someone else doing the cooking,” Carolyn said. “We have already met some future residents and made wonderful new friends and look forward to making
Bill, Sue, and their English cocker spaniel–Ginger Spice, live in the South County of San Luis Obispo. They enjoy working in their garden, feeding and watching the songbirds (and an occasional sharp-shinned hawk) at their feeders, visiting with neighbors, traveling, and daily walks with Ginger Spice.
Five years ago, they made the cross-country journey from the East Coast to the California Central Coast where their daughter’s family lives. One of their great pleasures is playing with Laila, their 10-year old granddaughter, and watching her grow up.
There are many benefits living here near the coast, with easy travel access both north and south to places like Santa Barbara, Carmel, Big Sur and elsewhere in California. Their son and his wife live in Portland, Oregon which is another frequent destination for them. Closer to home, they support the local theatre, music and restaurants which are always a treat.
When asked why they are excited about Villaggio they answered, “For us and others, Villaggio will make possible the next stage in our lives…. with the needed support and amenities we need. In the years ahead, we look forward to connecting with our next set of friends at Villaggio.”
Phyllis and Robert Frank have been residents of San Luis Obispo County since their marriage in 1972. They originally settled in San Luis Obispo, where Phyllis taught at Teach Elementary School and Robert finished up his BS (Business) at Cal Poly. Upon graduation he entered the banking world, working for San Luis National Bank which became First Central Coast Bank and finally Wells Fargo. In 1978 he became an organizing Vice President at First Bank of San Luis Obispo (now Union Bank.) Phyllis taught in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District in both San Luis Obispo and Los Osos Middle School. In 1988, Phyllis retired from teaching and the couple moved to Templeton where Robert chose to change careers and become a walnut farmer. The Franks now reside in in Cayucos.
Both Phyllis and Robert have been active in community non-profits for many years, mainly those involved with the arts. They were involved with the Vocal Arts Ensemble when they lived in San Luis Obispo and they have been very active with the Paso Robles Youth Arts Foundation and the Paso Robles Art Association, where Phyllis served as President and past-President and Robert as Treasurer. They are generous supporters of the San Luis Obispo Symphony, OperaSLO, SLO REP, Meade Canine Rescue and the Cayucos Lioness Club.
When asked about why they have chosen to move into Villaggio they said, “We are moving to Villaggio to be free to concentrate on what we enjoy doing without worrying about unforeseen events determining our decisions. We want to be in control of our future without being a burden on each other or our loved ones. We want to be in a community that provides a safe and secure environment whatever the future holds. “
Bob was born and raised in New York City an only child, by way of Jewish immigrants parents. His father was from Germany and his mother was from Austria. Bob Wolf has his parents to thank for his fine education. From grades 5 through 9, he attended the United Nations International School. Partly as a result of that, he was exposed to 4 foreign languages by the age of 12. He received his bachelors of science from MIT and his Ph.D. from Stanford, both in math. He was a math professor at Cal Poly for 30 years. During that time, he wrote two books and also spent two years in Europe: a sabbatical in Holland where he worked on his book and studied mathematical linguistics, and a stint as Resident Director of the California State University International Program in France.
Bob has been an environmental and political activist for a long time. He was a board member of ECOSLO, the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo, for 10 years and served as interim director for 7 months. He was a founding member of the Abalone Alliance and the Concerned Cal Poly Faculty and Staff and was arrested twice at peaceful demonstrations at Diablo Canyon. Currently, he is active with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and is the chairman of the Social Action Committee of Congregation Beth David.
Bob has a large number of pursuits. He plays piano and hand drums; chess, backgammon, go, ping pong, tennis, pickleball, and disc golf. Bob is excited to continue these activities while living in Villaggio. He decided to join the membership of Villaggio because he likes the idea of living with a group of like-minded people who are, at the same time, quite diverse.
Bob has a son Aaron and grandchildren Ben, Ronan, and Rose, who live in San Jose. He lives with his girlfriend Ginny here in SLO.
Rosh Wright was born in Jamaica and lived in the tropics until age 8 when her family moved back to London, England. Rosh attended a British boarding school for nine years and then entered nursing school and obtained her State Registered Nurse license. Thereafter she began to travel and spent five years in Canada before landing in Texas where she met her late husband, Jim Wright. They moved to the Bay Area and Rosh worked at Stanford Children’s Hospital. After her husband died, she worked for hospice and as a Legal Nurse Consultant before remarrying and moving to the Central Coast. That marriage ended in divorce, and Rosh can now be seen accompanied by her friend Steve Horne.
Somewhere in there Rosh began her second career, acting, and she has performed locally at SLO Rep and PCPA, in addition to various commercials, radio, webisodes, and yes, she appeared in the recent movie Destination Wedding as Keanu Reeves’ mother.
Rosh has also traveled extensively in Europe and worked in Austria and Germany as a tour guide. She has visited places like Hong Kong and worked for three months in Saudi Arabia. But Alaska and Antarctica are still on her bucket list!
Rosh is attracted to Villaggio because she has no children or family in the US and feels Villaggio would offer not only opportunities to pursue her interests in the arts, health, social interaction and exercise, but because it would offer a degree of security that she would not otherwise have under her given circumstances.
Victor Montgomery, of RRM Design Group of San Luis Obispo, is guiding the entitlement process for Villaggio as part of John Madonna’s Froom Ranch Specific Plan development.
Entitlement is the process we must go through with the city of San Luis Obispo to get an approval of the Specific Plan and the Villaggio project. There are at least 83 steps in this process and Villaggio only controls part of them. The remaining steps are up to the city and other governmental organizations to complete. There is no legally mandated timeline for completion of the entitlement process. In an effort to speed up the process, we have concurrently applied for the Specific Plan and the subdivision of the Madonna property to create a separate property for Villaggio. Additionally, Villaggio is working with RRM to have reviewed by the City Architectural Review Board, Cultural Heritage Committee, and Parks and Recreation Committee occur during the Specific Plan Approval Process. We officially began the entitlement process in 2016, but John Madonna started the background research on the property and identification of environmental factors back in 2014 when he initiated several technical studies of the Froom Ranch property including Biology, Wildlife, Traffic, Archaeology, Historic, Hydrology, etc.
Currently, we are in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) preparation stage of the entitlement process. The draft Specific Plan was prepared and submitted in mid-2017. In addition to the Draft Specific Plan, Madonna submitted all technical studies. The EIR Consultants were selected by the City, and they began their review and analysis in December 2017. The Planning Commission and City Council must review and approve the Specific Plan, the EIR, and the Subdivision Map as part of their review process. Concurrently we are in communication and coordinating with other agencies such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Army Corps of Engineers, and others that will review the project and issue construction permits.
The Froom Ranch property is currently located in the County of San Luis Obispo, not the city. Once the city approves the Froom Ranch Specific plan, the city will file an application with the Local Agency Formation Committee, LAFCO. LAFCO must approve the EIR and agree to annex Froom Ranch into the city. Part of that process is a negotiation between the city and the county to decide who gets how much of the increase in property values and property taxes.
Once the LAFCO/City negotiation is complete, the State must stamp their approval, and then Froom Ranch is officially part of San Luis Obispo and the project can move forward toward City approval of building plans and project implementation in the City of San Luis Obispo.
Life Care Services (LCS), our consulting experts in Life Plan Development, is confident that we will finish Phase I Villaggio construction within 24 months of starting.
There is currently no way to predict just how long the entitlement process will take, but we are working diligently with all governmental agencies to move the process along as timely as possible.
When Kenny Standhardt and Mark Turner met in Eugene, Oregon, their histories were completely different. Kenny grew up on a working Pennsylvania Dutch farm outside of Philadelphia. Mark grew up in Santa Monica. Nevertheless, the two were surprisingly alike, enjoying most of the same things, like the same movies, the same foods, and the same jokes.
Mark’s mother lived next door to them in Eugene, but she eventually moved to Cascade Manor, a nearby Life Plan Community. Kenny and Mark were amazed by Cascade Manor’s enrichment opportunities and spectrum of care. They enjoyed getting to know many of Mark’s mother’s new neighbors, some of whom taught them to play Rummikub, which is now their favorite game. It was then that they decided they wanted to live in the same kind of rich environment themselves someday.
Kenny has been a professional potter for almost 30 years, having fallen in love with pottery at a very young age. He maintains a studio and gallery at their home in San Luis Obispo, although he will retire before they move to Villaggio. Mark’s career was in college office administration, first at Santa Monica College, then at Cal Poly in the 1980s, and then at the University of Oregon until he retired.
Kenny’s interests include gardening, hiking and all things made by hand, so he looks forward to the camaraderie of the Villaggio community gardens and the art and craft center. Mark likes to walk, especially around town. He is often at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in downtown SLO, volunteering for one thing or another.
Kenny and Mark were married in 2004. They have two children: a son who was born in San Luis Obispo but now lives in Seattle, and a daughter who lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ken Riener was born in Idaho and attended University of Idaho and Purdue University. He was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and taught Financial Management at Texas A&M, Concordia University in Montreal, and Cal Poly. He loves family activities, traveling, playing bridge, scuba diving, sailing, and being involved in assisting those interested in starting businesses through SCORE.
Judy Long Riener was raised in Arcadia, graduated from Cal Poly, and has lived in SLO for almost 55 years. She raised 3 children, was a substitute teacher, a Lamaze Childbirth teacher, a Guidance Counselor at SLO High, and supervised student teachers at Chapman University. She loves family activities, traveling with her children and grandchildren, playing tennis, bridge, her PEO Sisterhood, and being involved in organizations that offer scholarships to deserving students locally.
They were introduced to CCRC’s (Life Plan Communities) by Judy’s parents, who looked at several in Santa Barbara, but ultimately decided to move to SLO to be closer to the family. As they aged, and their needs increased, they ended up living in different facilities, miles apart. Over time, Judy and the family’s responsibilities for managing her parents’ care increased. She and Ken decided that they would NOT end up in a situation where they would be a worry and burden to the children and extended family. They are excited to begin living a carefree, active lifestyle, surrounded by others who will appreciate all the amenities that Villaggio will have to keep us physically, mentally, and socially active for many years together.
Sometimes, life imitates art. Self-published fiction author, Pat Heineman, writes about women of all ages who successfully go through life transitions along a journey of personal growth. She began writing 10 years ago, later in life, which started by documenting family events. As she says wisely, “whether we like them or not, transitions are a part of our lives. And we can harvest the wisdom we’ve gained as we journey through the past to our present story.”
Found on Amazon, her recent book, Mona’s Journey, chronicles the life of a woman who needed to find a way out of her parent’s home and in searching for a new job, ends up on a continent far away from her past. Her other book titles help to paint a picture of similar fun fiction tales she’s penned like Rocky Shores, A Peculiar Connection, and Lune Cottage, all with a common thread of life’s struggles and lessons learned with humor and sensitivity.
Pat is living in a three-level home near the ocean in Cambria. She says that the Pacific Ocean, with its ever-changing moods, makes an ideal setting to write. As she puts it, once the story flows, it takes over and writes itself.
Pat knows her multilevel home has become too large. Cambria also has limited medical services and she knows she will need more care as she ages. Being in the same county as Cambria, Pat says she will continue to feel connected to Cambria while gaining the lifestyle of the wonderful community of Villaggio at San Luis Obispo.
A fan of the arts, Pat says she’ll be happy to be closer to all of the cultural offerings in San Luis Obispo. She also looks forward to becoming engaged socially and developing new friendships at Villaggio. She is thrilled to learn of Cambrians moving to Villaggio and personally knows several women who are already members of the community.
Her daughter, who lives far away in Australia, is very happy for her and feels a sense of relief that she does not have to worry about her mother.
Like Pat’s own life and her storytelling, she is excited about her transition to new beginnings, living an enriching and full life at Villaggio, and all that the Life Plan Community will bring
3765 S. Higuera St. Ste 102, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
Contact a Residency Counselor: (805) 457-4200
