No, this does not refer to retirement homes such as you are imagining for senior citizens. This is a fictitious tale of what I imagine a lightkeeper might look for in a home when he retires. None of these homes are actually inhabited by a lighthouse keeper, as far as I know, but they appealed to me as a place where a keeper might like to retire.

Most keepers hate to leave their lighthouse homes at all, but sometimes, as in my case, retirement beckons too strongly and we give up the solitary life. Maybe we would move into . . . 

1. How about this one?

I saw this little dwelling and its location and immediately fell in love with it. It is isolated; it is near water; it even has a boat (note the kayak beneath the house). I still ride a bicycle, so why not paddling a kayak into old age? Perfect location for me.

The photograph is by Irene Becker for National Geographic Picture of the Day: A Tiny River House in Serbia. The website says:

A house in the middle of the Drina River near the town of Bajina Basta, Serbia. The Drina is a 346 km long river that forms much of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps.

i searched via Google Earth and finally found the location at latitude 43°59’3.73″N, Longitude 19°33’59.67″E (Google Earth KML file with several more photos of the house).

2. . . . and this one?

This little house is located in Rogaland, Norway. This would be more the typical dwelling I would imagine, although the former would be more adventurous. The pohtographer says:

Dom na wyspie leżącej na jednym z fiordów w okolicy Bergen.(oops, sorry, “House on the island lying in one of the fjords around Bergen.” – Norwegian to English translation courtesy of Google Translate).

This is a perfect place! a bit more wandering room, larger houses, and a bit more greenery. But, I wonder what it is like in Winter? This is Norway – cold! Not a good retirement home unless you are part Eskimo, as we say in Canada.

By the way, I have not found the location of this island. If someone can pinpoint it, I would love to know the coordinates or receive a KML file. Please contact me.

3. Now this looks more like it!

This  area is know as the Raja Ampat Islands in new Guinea. Wikipedia has an article which says:

Located off the northwest tip of Bird’s Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia‘sWest Papua province, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.

Now this is ideal! Nice sandy beaches, warm weather, and lots of places to explore. This would be ideal!

But I am retired now and look where I am located!