AnonymousLoved one of resident
    5.0

    Warm clean family-run comforting home

    I placed my parent here after a tour and couldn't be happier - the facility is clean, well-kept and feels like a warm, family-run home. The staff and owners are kind, patient and professional, provide individualized, above-and-beyond care (they call and send photos, handle aggressive episodes calmly), and the home-cooked meals, dogs, porch and amenities make it very comforting. Communication is excellent - truly a lifesaver for our family; my mom is happy, healthy and safe. Minor downsides: rooms are small (not great for sharing) and I did notice a brief professionalism hiccup during the tour, but overall I highly recommend this close-knit, affordable alternative to a traditional nursing home.

    Pricing

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    Amenities

    4.55 · 11 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      4.9
    • Staff

      4.6
    • Meals

      5.0
    • Amenities

      4.0
    • Value

      4.0

    Pros

    • Caring, attentive staff
    • Respectful treatment of residents
    • Personalized, individualized care
    • Family-style, home-like environment
    • High caregiver-to-resident ratio (e.g., 1:4)
    • Experienced owners and managers (around 20+ years)
    • Competent leadership and oversight
    • Clean, well-kept facility
    • Attractive, up-to-date surroundings
    • Home-cooked meals with accommodations
    • Strong family communication (calls and photos)
    • Effective management of aggressive episodes
    • Pet companionship (dogs)
    • Porch and yard suitable for walking and bird watching
    • Reasonable/competitive pricing
    • Plenty of caregivers and patient staff
    • Welcoming staff and informative tours
    • Safe environment with improved resident wellbeing
    • Operates multiple homes (experience and some scale)
    • Personal attention that exceeds larger facilities

    Cons

    • Small resident rooms
    • Not suitable for shared rooms
    • Limited capacity/small facility may not suit everyone
    • Staff professionalism concerns (owner appearance/unavailable during tour)
    • Location may be inconvenient for some families
    • Some uncertainty during initial tours (revisit recommended)

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment: The reviews for The Homesteads are strongly positive, with repeated praise for the quality of care, the warmth of staff, and the small, family-style atmosphere. Multiple reviewers emphasize that the home delivers individualized attention and a level of compassion that they felt was missing in larger institutional settings. The recurring descriptors are caring, respectful, and attentive — reviewers consistently say staff go above and beyond, treat residents like family, and provide a high standard of care.

    Care quality and staffing: A dominant theme is the hands-on, personalized care model. Several reviews point out a favorable caregiver-to-resident ratio (one review explicitly noted 1 caretaker to 4 residents), which supports attentive supervision and individualized routines. Reviewers credit experienced owners and managers (noted across reviews as roughly 20–25 years in the business and operating multiple homes) with providing competent oversight. Families report that staff are patient, professional in caregiving duties, quick to respond to incidents, and able to manage challenging behaviors or aggressive episodes effectively. Communication practices are also highlighted as a strength: staff and management reportedly call families when issues arise and even send photos, which many families found reassuring.

    Facility, environment, and amenities: The Homesteads is described as clean, well-kept, and attractively updated. Multiple reviewers liked the home-like environment and family atmosphere instead of institutional decor. Outdoor spaces — specifically a porch and yard — are noted as pleasant for walking and bird watching, adding to quality-of-life for residents. Pets (dogs) are present in some homes and are cited positively for companionship. The physical layout and floor plans received praise during tours, and reviewers mentioned a number of amenities that contributed to a welcoming impression.

    Dining and daily life: Reviewers appreciate home-cooked meals and the ability to accommodate dietary preferences. The small-community, family-style approach extends to meals and daily routines; families reported strong communication about meal accommodations and a sense that staff know residents' preferences. Several reviewers said their family members became happier, healthier, and safer after moving in, and at least one family explicitly stated the facility was a lifesaver for them.

    Management, operations, and reputation: Management experience and the presence of competent owners are repeatedly cited as positives. The Homesteads appears to operate multiple homes (one review mentioned four homes), suggesting some operational experience beyond a single-site family home. Reviewers commonly used strong endorsements — 'highly recommend,' 'phenomenal level of care,' and similar phrases — and families recounted stories of feeling that the staff became an extension of the family. Responsiveness, follow-up communication, and openness to addressing issues were highlighted.

    Concerns and trade-offs: The most consistent downside mentioned is the small room size: reviewers specifically noted that the rooms are small and not suitable for shared occupancy. The small size and limited capacity are a double-edged sword: while they enable personalized care, they may not meet the needs of families seeking larger private rooms or the option for shared rooms. A few reviewers raised concerns about staff professionalism in limited contexts — examples include the owner not appearing professionally dressed and the owner being unavailable during a tour — which caused some families to request a follow-up visit. Location was cited as an inconvenience for at least one family, so proximity should be verified depending on where relatives live. Finally, a few reviewers indicated an initial need for additional reassurance (a planned revisit or further touring) before committing, suggesting that while day-to-day care is strong, first impressions or administrative interactions can vary.

    Who this is likely to suit: The Homesteads appears especially well-suited for families who value individualized, family-style care, close communication with staff, and a small, home-like setting with attentive caregivers and pet companionship. It is also attractive to families seeking strong behavioral management and consistent responsiveness from experienced owners and staff. Conversely, families who need larger rooms, shared-room options, or who require a facility in a specific, more convenient location may find The Homesteads less fitting.

    Bottom line: Reviews convey a consistently high level of satisfaction with the quality of care, staff compassion, and the home-like environment at The Homesteads. The most notable trade-offs are small private rooms and the limited scale of the facility, along with isolated concerns about professionalism or tour availability. For families prioritizing personalized, attentive, and experienced care in a warm, small-community setting, The Homesteads is repeatedly recommended and described as having a meaningful positive impact on residents' wellbeing.

    Location

    Map showing location of The Homesteads

    About The Homesteads

    The Homesteads sits at 6 Main Street in Apalachin, NY, and you'll find that it's a quiet place along the Susquehanna River with a real home feeling, where about five or six adults live together like a small family rather than a big institution, and you can see that in the way the staff members, who have first aid and CPR training, really know each resident and offer help with things like bathing, dressing, and taking medicine. The rooms come furnished, and the house has a colonial-style look, with landscaped grounds, a koi pond, and walking paths if you want to get outside for a stroll, and inside you'll find home-baked foods and meals made with special diets in mind, with snacks and fresh baked goods always nearby, plus there's housekeeping and laundry help so residents don't need to worry about chores.

    The Homesteads runs every day from 11 in the morning to 7 at night for visits and consultations, though residents live there full-time and can get 24-hour emergency help with the push of a call button. It's licensed by New York State and checked by Social Services, with Ms. Connie Barton as the owner, and the staff watches out for each person, making sure those with dementia or high needs have safety and memory activities, plus the staff keeps a low caregiver-to-resident ratio-usually one to four-so no one feels lost or ignored. The home adds a sense of family with daily group activities like arts, crafts, baking, movies, and exercise, plus outings and social events that help everyone keep their mind and body active, and there's even a beautician who visits on-site and a swimming pool or hot tub available.

    There's memory care with locked, secure facilities for those with Alzheimer's or confusion, and individual care plans get made for everyone, so what each person needs is what they get, from diaper care to diabetes help to help with walking. The Homesteads also has respite care if a regular caregiver needs a break, day care at daily rates, and short-term stays, and there are options for independent living too, with resort-style amenities, transportation help for a fee, and chances to join in on what's happening in the community. The license allows some medical help like round-the-clock nursing, wound care, and medicine management, though for more serious hospital needs, outside care would be called in.

    You'll see the homes really pay attention to kindness, gentle supervision, and keeping folks from feeling alone, and with only a few people living together in each home, most folks get to know each other well, which means the staff sees to it that people are comfortable, safe, and treated like family. If you're interested, it's best to ask about what's unique at each house, meet the owner and family, and visit a few homes to really understand what feels right, because The Homesteads runs a handful of similar houses around Apalachin, each with the same idea of small, family-type care instead of the big facility feeling. The homes focus on honest support for adults who may need help with daily life, whether that's laundry, meals, medication, or supervision for safety, and keep things simple so residents can really feel at home, with a strong reputation for friendly staff and a close, caring environment.

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