SOLEBURY, Pa. - Age-restricted communities are condo or townhouse developments where people who are tired of maintaining a big house move to "downsize" their housework and get some peace and quiet, right?

Think again.

A fast-growing segment of the 55-and-older housing market consists of - you guessed it - big single-family homes.

It seems that not every boomer who retires and sells the family home necessarily wants less living space. What many appear to want is a comparably sized abode with a lot fewer headaches.

"Our garbage is being taken care of, the snow plowing, all the maintenance is being taken care of by the association," said Pat Pieranunzi, who owns a house in Fox Run Preserve, an age-restricted community of single-family homes in Solebury.

"My husband's big thing was, he didn't want to cut the grass," said Lynn Desrochers, another Fox Run Preserve resident.

Sales records show homes in Fox Run go for anywhere from $384,000 to about $471,200. Pieranunzi's house is 2,700 square feet, while Desrochers' house is 2,300 square feet.

The average size of a new, single-family home in Bucks County is around 2,500 square feet, and the average sales price is about $373,500, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, a Philadelphia real estate research company. In comparison, the average size of a new home in an age-restricted community is about 2,200 square feet, with an average price of about $349,000.

The Desrochers said they weren't gung-ho about moving into a 55-and-older community, but found that was the only type of development where they could own a single-family home where someone else is responsible for cutting the grass and shoveling the snow.

The Desrochers aren't alone, nor is Fox Run the only age-restricted development of single-family homes in the area.

According to Bucks County and Montgomery County planning officials, at least eight age-restricted developments of single-family homes are being built or planned.

"We do find that today's older buyers aren't necessarily downsizing," said Jeff Jenkins, spokesman for the Seniors Housing Council of the National Association of Home Builders. "While they are looking for low-maintenance homes, these empty nesters and boomer buyers definitely want quality, and to live in a home or community that allows them to lead the lifestyle they feel they deserve."

Increasingly, they feel they deserve to live in a big, new house, free of the maintenance and landscaping headaches they've spent a lifetime dealing with.

"I did not want to be in a condominium," said Pieranunzi.

"They're ready to downsize, but they're not necessarily ready to go into multifamily living," said Jackie Rhoades, vice president of sales and marketing for Katz Builders & Developers.

Katz is about to break ground on The Villas of Lamplighter Village, a 106-unit age-restricted community of single family homes in Warrington. They range in size from 1,650 to 2,470 square feet and are priced in "the high $200,000's," according to Katz literature.

"They were not scaling down, they were scaling easier," says Joan Diaz, vice president of sales and marketing for the Barness Organization. Barness built Legacy Oaks, a 241-home age-restricted community at Street and Folly roads in Warrington, between 1998 and 2002. Homes range in size from 1,600 to 2,400 square feet, and sold during that period for $261,000 to $284,000.

Most age-restricted single-family home developments are structured in the same way as a condominium development: Buyers own their houses, but the grounds are collectively owned by everyone in the community. Owners pay a monthly maintenance fee, which covers all landscaping and snow removal.

Most also have amenities you won't find in a standard subdivision, such as a clubhouse, pool, recreation facilities and organized social events.

"Basically, they don't want to cut the grass anymore, they want a socialization process, and they don't want the expense of an older house anymore," said Jared March. He is director of sales and marketing for The Mignatti Co., which developed Heritage Creek. It's a community of 402 houses in Warwick that range in size from 1,300 to 3,000 square feet.

The interest in age-restricted, single-family home developments marks quite a change from a decade ago, when such developments were all townhouses or condos, housing experts say.

"What we're seeing ... is a tremendous change since 1996," said March. "There's now a need for maybe three different types of communities between single family and nursing home."

Indeed, the new age-restricted single family home developments don't preclude other types of age-restricted housing. Heritage Creek, for instance, also includes 120 traditional condominium units, and Katz is also building 150 condos in another development near Lamplighter Villas.

"You get different things for different people," said Rhoades. "We're finding that there's a market for all of these."