The retirement home of your dreams: Chats with Celia Imrie and Ralph Fiennes, private chefs and a stunning pool - if you have £1million to spare

An intimate evening with Cynthia Imrie, Royal Opera House premiers or an intellectual talk given by a human rights lawyer on the history of Gaza are not typically associated with retirement communities.

But for a select number of households in west London, these are just a few of the luxury perks associated with their riverside gated community of over-65s.

Riverstone Living Fulham, home to more than 100 residents, comes equipped with facilities including a swimming pool, golf simulator, plush cinema and several bars, to name just a few.

Residents can join everything from art and book clubs to Tai Chi and pilates classes, be chauffeured to West End shows and enjoy talks from a host of celebrities from Ralph Fiennes to Joanna Lumley.

Touring prospective apartments feels more like examining some of London's finest riverside condos, rather than a unit designed to protect and preserve the health of the older personage.

Yet despite the top-notch facilities and countless social opportunities on offer, the relatively unassuming exterior conceals the community within, which prides itself on discretion – for a price, of course.

'We don't want this to feel like a hotel. We want it to feel like a home,' CEO of Riverstone Living Duncan Garrood told the Daily Mail on a tour last week.

'It's how we make the residents feel, that's what really matters.'

Residents (L-R) Janice and Tony Isaac and Sue Harwood, residents at Riverstone Living Fulham, praised the community's safety and security and array of facilities and activities

Riverstone has a pool room with a hydrotherapy pool, with UV-sterilised water and swan jets

A luxury theatre shows nightly films and hosts a film club for residents

And while features including a spa treatment room and a state-of-the-art gym could easily find their home in a hotel, additions such as annual mobility consultations with wellbeing staff, discreet help buttons and access to a 24/7 doctor service are less common.

Riverstone already has two communities in Fulham and Kensington, and is set to open its third in Bishops Avenue in November.

Janice and Tony Isaac were among the first residents to move into the Fulham development.

'When we told our friends, they thought one of us was dying,' Mrs Isaac told the Daily Mail. 'Because we'd had a house built that we were in 14 years. And then to give that up, they thought something's wrong here.'

The couple, who have two children, a son living in Australia and a daughter residing in the UK, didn't tell anyone about their move until it was completed.

Mr Isaac said: 'We didn't tell our children until we'd done it. Our daughter, who lives in Balham, had been sending us retirement home flyers. 

'She was relieved. And when she walked round, she loved it. And our second bedroom, our granddaughter believes it's hers.'

Friends and family are welcome to stay with residents at Riverstone, and there is even the option of renting a whole apartment for short stays, something the couple's son has done when visiting from Down Under.

And although their friends may not have initially understood their desire to downsize from their family home and move into an apartment complex, they say the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks. 

'During Covid, we lost 12 of our closest friends, not due to Covid, but to age,' Mrs Isaac said. 'And I looked at our house and I thought, I do not want to be left to sell this alone.'

CEO Duncan Garrood, (left, pictured with residents and general manager Russell Markou, right) told the Mail the complex has been designed with elderly residents in mind

Touring prospective apartments feels more like examining some of London's finest riverside condos, rather than a unit designed to protect and preserve the health of the older personage

Riverstone has one, two and three-bedroom flats as well as penthouse apartments

A golf simulator for use by residents has 500 virtual courses and a professional teacher is on hand for private lessons

Riverstone's garden has a club for residents, and the space was designed by award-winning gardener Andy Sturgeon

The pair cited a sense of community, security and reams of on-site activities including a book club, art class, professional golf tutelage and film nights, and said they are busier than ever before.

An examination of the complex offers a glimpse into how its comforts and activities are designed with safety in mind.

Riverstone's apartments have a discreet alarm system which, rather than obvious red strings hanging in every room, see floor level buttons positioned on the walls of every bathroom, where residents are most likely to suffer a fall.

Alarm panels are present in every communal room which staff or residents can easily access, and there is a team of two concierges around the clock to assist with any queries, or in case of an emergency.

The Isaacs say this makes it easy not only to feel safe at home, but also to go away on short trips and longer holidays as they know their belongings will be secure in their absence.

Sue Harwood, who moved to Riverstone while still working in the City of London, agreed.

'When I said I was moving to a retirement community, my friends thought I was nuts, that I was going to an old folks' home and would just be sitting watching television all day.

'But it is the community that is the best thing about it and the peace of mind, and that is invaluable as you get older.'

Ms Harwood mentioned a recent car accident – which she was not at fault over – that left her with minor injuries including whiplash.

She told how, after mentioning it on her return home to a member of staff, Riverstone's wellbeing team phoned her within ten minutes to check on her welfare and to see if she needed any medical assistance.

They then telephoned her the following day to ensure she was not experiencing any delayed effects such as shock. 

Ms Harwood said she hasn't made any sacrifices to move to Riverstone, and has instead picked up new hobbies and learned about complex issues she previously had little knowledge of.

Would-be residents can purchase apartments fully furnished, completely unfurnished, or anything in between

Many apartments have spacious living quarters and balconies, with some directly overlooking the river

A restaurant on site is open to the public and is often used by residents hosting friends and family

Riverstone's cinema has a handy bar next door where residents can purchase drinks and snacks

An espresso bar serves as a social area for residents of Riverstone and is located just down the hall from the gym

A members-only space is reserved for residents only, with no guests or members of the public allowed entry

The library contains a collection of books, comfortable reading chairs and the architect's model of Riverstone Fulham, which is embedded in the table

She described a talks programme, instigated entirely by residents, in which individuals give lectures and answer questions on topics in which they have expertise.

So far they've been attended by more than 40 residents at a time and have covered everything from the history of Gaza, delivered by a human rights lawyer, to cancer, from an oncologist at a top London hospital, and space, from a former MP. 

Then there's the resident art exhibition, which Ms Harwood's seven-year-old grandson, Hector, has also contributed to. 

Family affairs are nothing new at Riverstone, either: since moving to the complex, Ms Harwood hosted a family party for more than 30 relatives aged from just four to 95 years old.

Riverstone put on a private chef to cater, Ms Harwood booked the entire cinema and the whole day was so successful she's planning to do it again next year.

CEO Mr Garrood gushed about Riverstone's day-to-day comforts, but stressed there is a serious side, too, with every aspect designed with its users in mind.

As well as subtle alarms and 24-hour on-site staff, every resident is offered an initial and annual mobility assessment with wellbeing staff, who are all trained medical professionals and spend their working hours protecting people's health for as long as possible.

A state-of-the-art gym includes e-gym facilities, with workouts individually tailored to every resident based on their needs and unique medical history.

Our reporter was told some inhabitants had been so diligent with taking advantage of the facilities, that they had grown a centimetre in a year due to improved posture, or had successfully reversed their osteoporosis.

One of the most popular classes is Riverstone's 'Fallproof' – specifically created to help with strength and balance to prevent falls. Initially scheduled twice a week, it's proved so popular the team are now looking to add a fourth session.

Then there is the stunning pool room, with a glass roof that looks up into the shared garden – designed by award-winning gardener Andy Sturgeon.

Complete with a swimming pool and hydrotherapy pool with handrails and swan neck jets, the water is sterilised not with chlorine, but UV rays.

This prevents residents being exposed to the chemical, which can strip away collagen and accelerate the ageing process.

Next door is the wellbeing suite, where anyone can speak to a trained medical professional, and a series of treatment rooms for individuals to use for external treatments from massages to haircuts or pedicures.

And round the corner is a golf simulator, with 500 virtual courses and a professional coach regularly attending Riverstone for residents to book private lessons. 

Lifts, of course, take occupants upstairs to their apartments which feel just like touring any other luxury flat on the river.

But a look closer shows subtle signs they are designed with the older person in mind: the ovens are at waist level, the dishwasher is split-level for those unable to bend down, and wet rooms remove trip hazards.

Assistance from experts helping buyers downsize, flexibility over how furnished a flat is purchased as, and weekly meetings with Fulham's general manager are all designed to help smooth the transition into Riverstone.

Naturally, all of this comes at a cost – and not an insignificant one.

One-bedroom apartments at Fulham start from £961,000, while a penthouse would set a buyer back by at least £6.71million.

Then there is the membership fee – starting from £1,574.47 per month and capped at £2,014.

But this can be halved if purchasers agree to a larger deferred fee – the other catch. 

Like many other retirement villages and assisted living facilities, Riverstone charges a deferred fee at point of sale, meaning the company will take a chunk of the sale price to be funnelled back into the community.

It offers three payment programmes – the lowest level will see residents' monthly membership bills rise with inflation to a cap of 4 per cent, with a 28 per cent deferred fee.

The second offers a 30 per cent deferred fee in exchange for fixed monthly fees, while the last sees owners give up 35 per cent of the sale price, but get a 50 per cent discount on their monthly bill.

In the light of these costs Riverstone's emphasis on discretion, given the clientele it looks to serve, makes more sense.

But residents were clear the financial implications were more than worth it. 

'We feel we're the vanguard of starting a trend towards these communities,' Ms Harwood said.