The Mary Culver Home for Visually Impaired Women

    221 W Washington Ave, Kirkwood, MO, 63122
    4.9 · 8 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousCurrent/former resident
    5.0

    Outstanding care for visually impaired

    I live at Mary Culver Home and couldn't be more grateful. It's a small, 150-year-old facility specialized for the visually impaired where I'm treated like a person, not a number. Private rooms and baths, a strong staff-to-patient ratio (~7:1), hands-on management (Amy is a godsend; Brooke is an awesome activity director), and staff who truly understand visual impairment make care exceptional. Restaurant-style on-site dining with helpful aides, abundant daily activities/exercise, live music, and a calming, family-like atmosphere - I highly recommend it.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Medication management
    • Mental wellness program

    Healthcare staffing

    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Dining room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library

    Community services

    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    4.88 · 8 reviews

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      5.0
    • Staff

      5.0
    • Meals

      4.3
    • Amenities

      4.0
    • Value

      4.9

    Pros

    • Specialized care for visually impaired women
    • Long-standing institution (about 150 years)
    • Small, home-like facility
    • Private rooms
    • Private bathrooms
    • Attentive, caring staff
    • Strong patient-to-staff ratio (~7:1)
    • Hands-on management and leadership
    • Named administrators praised (Amy, Activity Director Brooke, pleasant director of nursing)
    • Restaurant-style dining with on-site cooking
    • Good quality meals
    • Dining assistance provided
    • Frequent activities and exercise classes
    • Engaging social programming (bingo, live musicians, piano)
    • Cultural and historical tours/discussions
    • Busy, full-day activity schedule
    • Consistent dining companions fostering friendships
    • Well-maintained older building
    • Personalized, family-like care (residents not treated as a number)
    • High overall satisfaction and strong recommendations

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment: The reviews for The Mary Culver Home for Visually Impaired Women are overwhelmingly positive. Reviewers consistently emphasize strong satisfaction with care, staff, activities, and dining. Multiple comments highlight that the facility is specialized for visually impaired women, small and home-like, and has operated for roughly 150 years — factors that reviewers view as contributing to stability, institutional knowledge, and a specialized culture of care.

    Care quality and staff: Care quality is a dominant theme. Reviewers describe staff as attentive, caring, and genuinely invested in residents’ wellbeing. Management and leadership receive frequent praise; an administrator named Amy is referred to as a "godsend," the director of nursing is described as pleasant, and the activity director Brooke is specifically called "awesome." Multiple reviews note hands-on management and a team that understands and adapts to visual impairment needs. Dining assistance and aides during meals are repeatedly mentioned, reinforcing that staff provide not only medical or custodial care but also practical, day-to-day support. The stated patient-to-staff ratio of about 7:1 is cited as evidence of close supervision and accessibility of personnel.

    Facilities and accommodations: The physical environment is described as a small home with private rooms and private bathrooms, which reviewers associate with individualized attention and comfort. The building is noted as older but well-maintained, suggesting a historic, homelike atmosphere rather than a sterile institutional setting. The small size is repeatedly framed positively — residents are "not just a number," and the scale supports personalized care and a family-like environment.

    Dining and meals: Dining is another strong positive across reviews. The Mary Culver Home offers restaurant-style dining with on-site cooking; meals are described as good quality. Several reviews highlight dining assistance and the social benefits of consistent dining companions, which foster friendships and routine. Reviewers appreciated that staff help during meals, which is particularly important for visually impaired residents.

    Activities and social life: Activity programming appears robust and varied. Reviewers mention frequent exercise classes, daily engaging activities from morning to evening, and a range of social and cultural offerings such as bingo (noted for good prize values), live musicians, piano, and tours/discussions on cultures and history. The activity director is singled out for effectiveness, and the schedule is characterized as busy and stimulating, contributing to residents’ engagement and social connections.

    Specialization and personalization: A recurring theme is that the home is tailored specifically to women with visual impairments, and staff demonstrate understanding of those needs. Reviewers emphasize personalized care — small facility size, attentive staff, and consistent helpers result in individualized approaches rather than one-size-fits-all care. This specialization is highlighted as a core differentiator that drives positive outcomes and satisfaction.

    Notable patterns and concerns: Across the review summaries provided, there are no consistent or significant negative themes reported. The only potentially neutral note is that the building is older, but reviewers explicitly call it well-maintained, so it is not presented as a problem. In short, reviewers repeatedly recommend the Mary Culver Home, citing exceptional care, strong leadership, a rich activity program, quality meals, and a nurturing, family-like atmosphere tailored to visually impaired women.

    Location

    Map showing location of The Mary Culver Home for Visually Impaired Women

    About The Mary Culver Home for Visually Impaired Women

    The Mary Culver Home for Visually Impaired Women sits quietly in downtown Kirkwood, Missouri, and has served as a peaceful home for women with vision loss for over 150 years, making it the only care facility in the United States dedicated exclusively to visually impaired women. This cozy, not-for-profit nursing home has 27 private rooms in a beautiful prairie-style building designed by HOK, and you'll find it's calm and easy to navigate because of its small size. The staff and caregivers know each resident by name and try to make sure everyone feels comfortable, safe, and included in activities, which range from crafts and bingo to music programs, fun & games, pet therapy, and outings when the weather's good. The facility has accessible outdoor patios and gardens filled with scents, a newly updated dayroom that acts as the hub for most daily happenings, and both common and private spaces like a solarium, Cozy Café, parlor, and comfortable dining area.

    Residents have three meals a day and can eat in several different, pleasant locations. Girls who once attended the Missouri School for the Blind found a place here generations ago, and the home now welcomes older women with eye conditions leading to vision loss or those who are legally blind, accepting women for life regardless of their changing needs. Licensed nurses and caregivers are on hand 24/7 to assist with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, eating, and getting around, and they offer both standard and hospice care. There's a focus on dignity, compassion, and fostering independence, with each woman encouraged to set her own schedule and express her preferences for activities and meals. The staff takes time to organize activities around what the residents want, and there's a monthly council where women can help plan outings, discuss menus, or talk about any concerns.

    The facility supports both physical and emotional wellness, providing physical therapy that's helped women regain mobility and offering a social worker designee for counseling. Scheduled visits from doctors, dentists, and podiatrists are arranged here, and all housekeeping, laundry, and medications come included for one monthly fee. The home exceeds most care standards, frequently achieving perfect marks in state inspections, and has created an intimate, supportive environment where happiness and well-being come first. Every part of the building, from the scent gardens outside to the cozy bedrooms inside, aims to meet the needs of visually impaired women and give them a safe, caring, and friendly place to call home.

    People often ask...

    Nearby Communities

    • Front exterior view of the American House Town and Country senior living facility with a circular driveway, landscaped greenery, and an American flag on a flagpole under a wooden entrance canopy.
      $5,000+3.9 (61)
      suite
      assisted living, memory care

      American House Town and Country

      1020 Woods Mill Rd, Town and Country, MO, 63017
    • Exterior view of a senior living facility named The Ashton on Dorsey, featuring a large covered entrance with stone pillars, multiple windows, and three flagpoles with flags in front of the building under a clear blue sky.
      $4,100 – $6,900+4.7 (76)
      Studio • 1 Bedroom • 2 Bedroom
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      The Ashton on Dorsey

      1105 Dorsey Ln, Louisville, KY, 40223
    • Evening view of the entrance area of Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park, featuring brick walls, decorative lighting fixtures, a circular chandelier on the ceiling, and a sign with the facility's name visible near the street.
      $5,506 – $7,157+4.5 (131)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park

      700 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL, 60614
    • Exterior view of Belmont Village Senior Living Glenview building at dusk, showing a large covered entrance with white columns, well-maintained landscaping with bushes and trees, and a multi-story brick and siding facade with lit windows.
      $3,965+4.6 (121)
      Semi-private
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Belmont Village Senior Living Glenview

      2200 Golf Rd, Glenview, IL, 60025
    • Exterior view of a large, modern three-story senior living facility building with a covered entrance driveway, surrounded by green lawns and trees under a partly cloudy blue sky.
      $5,633 – $7,322+3.9 (69)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      assisted living, memory care

      Alto Grayslake

      1865 E Belvidere Rd, Grayslake, IL, 60030
    • Aerial view of a senior living facility named Montage Mason surrounded by green lawns, trees, parking lots, and nearby buildings under a clear sky.
      $4,395 – $5,274+4.5 (75)
      Semi-private
      assisted living, memory care

      Montage Mason

      5373 Merten Dr, Mason, OH, 45040

    Assisted Living in Nearby Cities

    1. 154 facilities$5,156/mo
    2. 155 facilities$5,113/mo
    3. 170 facilities$5,155/mo
    4. 173 facilities$5,135/mo
    5. 145 facilities$5,106/mo
    6. 145 facilities$5,002/mo
    7. 163 facilities$5,051/mo
    8. 163 facilities$4,972/mo
    9. 161 facilities$5,056/mo
    10. 166 facilities$4,966/mo
    11. 173 facilities$5,001/mo
    12. 147 facilities$5,208/mo
    © 2025 Mirador Living