Couple makes move to Wind Crest as health issue puts their Whispering Pines ranch up for sale

Donna Corriveau loves her Whispering Pines neighborhood in southeast Aurora and would have stayed there for a long time. But now she’s taking walks not in piney Sampson Gulch, but along the Highline Canal trail in Highlands Ranch, after a health issue forced a sudden switch.

Donna’s husband John, 82, has been an unusually capable guy—seven years as a U.S. Army dentist early in their marriage, followed by a private practice in Illinois while staying active in the Air National Guard, heading their dentistry unit.

When he retired, John switched to winemaking—first using Illinois-harvested grapes, then after the pair moved to Colorado to follow their sons, importing a blend from Australia and New Zealand. Donna marketed their label, and the pair took first prize at the Colorado State Fair, among numbers of other awards.

But a year ago, John showed early signs of memory loss; and Donna attended a seminar on senior moves by The Steller Group, with Senior Solutions Division agents who are experts in those. (They have a seminar coming up Feb. 23 in Lakewood.)

‘Senior moves are complicated and you always need time to plan,” says Blair Bryant, Senior Living Specialist who will hold that home open today.

“But when an emergency moves up the timetable, you’ll likely require a lot more help. And that’s particularly true now, when the supply of senior living options in the Denver area is falling behind demand.”

Around the time Donna began discussing a move with Steller, the pair started the process of decluttering their near-new 3-bedroom/2-bath patio home, and visited Wind Crest in Highlands Ranch, where they put themselves on a waiting list.

But by three months ago, John’s symptoms were worsening and he was switched to a more ambitious drug package. Three weeks later, Wind Crest notified Donna that a nice 2-bedroom unit was available, and that they would need to decide right away.

Now Donna and John have moved into that apartment, where she has already made numbers of friends. “I have a best friend coming in to Wind Crest, too,” she reports. Fortunately, Bryant had seen no fixups necessary for the home, and Steller’s expert stagers have it furnished and staged for today’s open house.

Bryant says that the stars aligned for what otherwise would be an even more difficult move. “The single most important factor in getting a prompt sale in this early 2026 market is that you’re move-in ready,” Bryant says. “No question marks, no projects waiting for a new buyer.”

Bryant says that the business news about real estate this spring doesn’t jibe with what agents are seeing in the marketplace. “We had a home go under contract a few weeks ago at $100,000 more than its list price. And with the unusually favorable weather this month, we’re seeing a very good market.”

Meanwhile, although new senior products and communities are still being built in the Denver area, shortages of senior-living units have become a national issue, Bryant says. Steller has a specialty of staying ahead of the availabilities on those and will discuss those at its upcoming seminars on the 23rd and next month, as well.

The Corriveau’s patio home at 8153 S. Ider Court, $685,000, is one of two low-maintenance, senior-friendly listings that Steller can show now in pretty Whispering Pines, off the Gartrell exit from E-470. You can tour Ider Court today; and next Saturday, Feb. 21, you can tour a 3-bedroom/3-bath paired patio home a few blocks away at 25019 E. Alder Drive, $650,000.