When a father builds a home on his son's property, the two discover they share more than just land.

"How would you feel if mum and I moved back to Hampton?" George Fry asked his son over the phone.

"Relieved," said Jeremy. "I wish you would. It would mean less worry for all of us."

The timeliness of the conversation was uncanny. George's next call to Jeremy a few weeks later was not a whim. His wife Mollie had fallen downstairs and was badly hurt. Her subsequent hospital stay brought home the fact that they had no family support in Fredericton. Their son Jeremy lived the closest, an hour and a half southeast of them in Hampton, NB. His brother Nick lived in BC. George knew he and his wife were at the age when other emergencies could follow. It wasn't just their friends who were getting older. There was no more time for hesitating-they were moving back.

It was also without hesitation that Jeremy and his wife Donna suggested their parents build a house on their property. In anticipation of George and Mollie's move back to Hampton, they had chosen a piece of prime land for them at the foot of two hills, with mature trees to allow each family some privacy.

"I've always wanted to build a house," Jeremy told his father. "The closest I came to it was the tree house Martha Ruddick and I built when we were 12 years old. Please let me build it for you!"

The couple's generosity was overwhelming, but George was soon caught up in his son's excitement. Jeremy's lack of experience didn't faze him. His son had toyed with an architectural degree at university. Being a hands-on kind of guy, he eventually became an electrician. Through the years he had worked on some large projects such as Edmonton's convention centre and the Toronto SkyDome, managing to pick up some knowledge of contracting along the way.

The father and son quickly set up a meeting with an architect friend. George and Mollie wanted a home that would continue to serve them for the rest of their lives. The first item on the agenda was to create a safe environment; a home that would continue to be user-friendly as the couple aged.

"The ground rules were easy," says George, looking back on that day. "It was decided that our new home should be an open design, with lots of bathrooms and no slippery floors!"

In the course of their meeting George was pleasantly surprised to discover that he and his son had many home design ideas in common. Japanese house designs, specifically, which the retired director of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design had always admired. "The Japanese relate to the landscape so they don't become landsores," he says. "The architect's sketch immediately reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright, who enjoyed a similar philosophy. As soon as I said this, Jeremy said, 'Yes! I love his work!' and began sketching. I was totally surprised."

Jeremy admits that ever since he discovered Frank Lloyd Wright, he has found his philosophy of organic architecture captivating. "I like the way his colours always relate to the landscape."

As his son sketched, George found himself thinking of things other than house plans. He didn't know his son as well as he'd thought.

"I realized then that I'd been away from my kids too long!" he sighs. But thankfully there is still time.

Soon Jeremy handed him a sketch of a Japanese-style house complete with a low, sloping roof and generous overhang.

"It was perfect," says George. "But as anyone who has ever built a house knows, nothing you want is ever really easy to get!"

Luckily, the intricacies of house building were not entirely foreign to Jeremy. The first thing he did was to hire, in his opinion, the best builder in the county. But the actual realization of the design turned out to be a challenge.

"We knew what we wanted but we had to be flexible," says Jeremy. "For example, my original design called for eight foot ceilings, but I wanted to eliminate steps within the house and entering and leaving it. We had to settle for nine foot ceilings, but this still allowed the low profile I knew Mum and Dad wanted."

From concept to move-in day, the project took one year.

The front entrance of the house is really at the back, with a clear view of the hills where Donna's horse grazes in the summer and Tasha, a loveable cross between a boxer and a bull mastiff, happily throws sticks for herself and gallops up the hill after them.

The first impression is of a low-to-the ground bungalow with a graceful roof overhang. But it's not. It is, in fact, a full two-storey building. If necessary it could become two complete apartments, a practical move should Mollie or George require live-in help someday. It is totally possible to enter the main floor of this 2,200 square foot living space and never encounter a difference in footing from one end to the other.

There are many comfort and safety features built into the house. Two of the three bathrooms are down the main hallway, one of them an ensuite to the master bedroom, with the other next to the guest room. The third bathroom is directly inside the door from the garage. To make life a little easier and safer for his mother, who has difficulty navigating steps, Jeremy put in a shower that is flush with the floor. The challenge in creating the fully accessible shower was to build up the bed very gradually so that, although it remains level with the floor, the water flows freely toward the drain.

Though not immediately obvious, the house conveniently has a large number of light switches. To counter the challenge of fumbling for light switches in dark rooms, which can be potentially dangerous for elderly people, switches were placed on every wall from the garage through to every closet and hall space throughout the house. How many light switches? Jeremy admits he lost count.

Though many of the home's details are practical, there is beauty there as well. What appears to be a green-grey tile with a touch of red, is in reality solid slate running from the entrance to the garage and kitchen and back again to the bedrooms and George's studio. "It's so wonderful," George smiles. "Mollie and I grew up in England and the slate is a touch that makes us feel right at home."

Another striking feature is the living room, which is large but has an intimate atmosphere. Its sliding glass doors and windows draw the eye to the panorama of the farm property. One day there will be a patio there.

The décor reflects George and Mollie's lives, centred on art in all its forms. No fewer than three chesterfields in warm blues provide a backdrop for the antiques, china, and art. Mollie's dollhouse of miniature antiques from all over the world share space with a nearly 200 year-old chest, hand made from local wood from New Brunswick's Kings County. A chest-high birch-wood wall separates the kitchen from the living/dining area.

George and Molly couldn't be happier with their new home. "Everything about our house, including the kitchen, was designed to be efficient and to live with nature," says George. "It was Jeremy's doing. There was little he didn't think of; the kitchen window for example, set into a corner so it faces the sunset."

But the new home is only part of what George says he has gained in this move. Along with peace of mind in knowing he and Molly will be safe, he says he has gotten to know his son much better.

"Contrary to general belief Jeremy's and my working together on this has brought us closer than we have ever been. I think he's quite wonderful."