Your own front door
A private entrance, a front porch, your own heating and air. No long hallway to walk down in your slippers. The lawn, the snow, and the leaky faucet are somebody else's problem now.
Now: getting ready to buildUpdated November 2026
Twenty front porches and a very good cup of coffee.
Glenmora is a small retirement neighborhood that Kate Shaw is building after more than thirty years in senior living: private cottages with their own front doors, gathered around an inn with a café, a pub, and a fire going all winter. We expect to welcome our first neighbors in 2028.
The Glenmora difference
Designed like a neighborhood, not a facility.
Most senior living was built for an earlier generation. Kate Shaw has spent more than thirty years inside it, as an owner-operator and as an executive, and Glenmora is built on what she's learned: somewhere you'd choose on purpose, not somewhere you end up.
The Inn, a few steps away
Coffee at the café in the morning, a beer at the pub at night, and a big lodge-style room with a fire in between. Chef-prepared meals to enjoy there or carry home. A warm water pool, raised garden beds, and fenced yards for the dog.
Help, only if you want it
Glenmora is independent living, not assisted living. If you'd ever like a hand with housekeeping, rides, meals at home, or personal care, residents can choose those services à la carte through a resident-led cooperative and pay only for what they use. Needing a little help shouldn't have to mean moving.
Meet Kate Shaw
Built by someone who has been doing this for thirty years.
Kate has worked across the full range of senior living, as an owner-operator and as an executive. She knows what residents and families actually want, what it takes to run a community well, and how Wisconsin's senior care rules work, because she's lived all of it. She's local, and she'll be on site.
- 30+ years
- Across nursing homes, assisted living, independent living, senior centers, hospice, and community programs
- 2014 to 2023
- Owner-operator of a boutique senior living community, including through COVID-19
- 97 units
- The independent living community she directs today
- Trained for it
- Graduate degree in Health, Aging & Disabilities, a BS in Business, and a nursing license
In her words
I've spent more than thirty years in senior living, and for nine of them I owned and ran a community, straight through COVID.
Those years taught me what matters. People do better with their own front door, and that goes double during a pandemic. And what they remember about a place comes down to who knows their name and how the coffee tastes.
Glenmora is everything I've learned, built from the ground up. It's small on purpose. I'll be there in person, so if something's not right, you won't be calling a regional office. You'll just come find me.
Kate Shaw
Founder Dane County, November 2026
Talk with KateAn ordinary day
A Tuesday in February, say.
Anywhere can look good in July. This is the day we're actually designing for.
7:40 am
Coffee at the Inn
A real cup and a warm muffin. Three of your neighbors are already disagreeing about the Badgers.
10:15 am
The warm water pool
It's eleven degrees out and you're going for a swim. Or skip it. Nobody takes attendance.
12:30 pm
Lunch, wherever you like
The chef's soup at a table by the fire, or carried home along a path somebody else already shoveled.
3:00 pm
Your daughter stops by with the kids
They came to see you and stayed for the café. They'll be back Sunday.
5:30 pm
A beer at the pub
It's quiet tonight. Friday's the fish fry, and you'll want to get there early.
8:30 pm
Home
Your door, your lamp, your dog asleep on your couch. Porch light on.
We're not there yet. But that's the day we're building toward.
Where things stand
Opening in 2028, if the weather and the permits cooperate.
2014 to 2023
Kate owns and runs a community
Nine years of boutique senior living, straight through COVID. Much of what you see on this page comes from those years.
Now
Getting ready to buildWe are here
Plans, approvals, and a lot of meetings. Less photogenic than a groundbreaking, but it's the part that decides whether this place turns out right.
Next
Breaking ground
We'll post the date here as soon as it's firm, and photos once there's something to photograph.
2028
First neighbors move in
The Inn, the café, and the first twenty cottages.
2031
Ten more cottages
Thirty homes in all, and that's as big as this neighborhood gets. Staying small is the whole idea.
These are our best current estimates. We'll update them here when they change, because they will.
The waitlist opens soon
Twenty porch lights to start.
First twenty cottages, 2028
Ten more, 2031
That's how many cottages the first phase holds, and we can't pretend otherwise. So when the waitlist opens, it'll be simple and fair: open to everyone, in the order people sign up. Leave your email and you'll hear about it first.
- First word when the waitlist opens, before we announce it anywhere else
- Floor plans and final pricing as soon as they're settled
- An invitation to walk the site with us and help with the details, starting with what the café bakes first
Talk with Kate
Rather talk to a person?
You'll get Kate herself. No call center, no sales script, and it's fine if you're only curious.
Asking on behalf of a parent? That's how a lot of these conversations start.
Tell her when's good and she'll call you back, usually within a couple of days.
Prefer email? hello@glenmoraliving.com
Fair questions
What people ask first.
Is this assisted living?
No. Glenmora is independent living: your own home, your own schedule. If you ever want help, you can choose services through the residents' cooperative, but nothing is bundled in and nothing is required.
What will it cost?
We currently expect about $4,000 to $5,000 a month in today's dollars, depending on the size of the cottage. That covers the cottage and utilities, plus a membership for the dining program, activities, the pool, lawn care, transportation, and 24/7 emergency maintenance. A second person in the cottage adds a fee. Final rates come closer to opening, but we'd rather give you a real ballpark now than make you call for it.
Do I have to buy in?
No. As planned, it's a monthly rental, with no large entrance fee.
Where exactly is it?
Dane County, Wisconsin, close to Madison's hospitals and clinics. We'll share the exact location here as soon as we can.
Can I bring my dog?
Please do. Pets are welcome, and the plans include fenced dog yards.
Does leaving my email commit me to anything?
Not a thing. It's only an email list. You can leave whenever you like, and nobody will call you unless you ask.