‘There Is No Better Place’
Older adults who crave an active lifestyle fall in love with the park-like setting, plentiful amenities, and safety-minded campus of Hershey’s Mill Villages & Golf Club.
by Phil Gianficaro

Residents of Hershey’s Mill Villages & Golf Club periodically receive a questionnaire from management. The polling is designed to elicit comments and concerns from the 1,720 homeowners, ranging from their opinions on the sprawling and scenic gated community, to desired improvements, and even complaints—all aimed at satisfying residents’ needs.
 
“I get all the questionnaires back from them,” says Jack Keeley, director of advertising at Hershey’s Mill, as well as a 12-year resident of this premier 55-plus active-adult community in West Chester. “There are very seldom any negative comments. The people love it here.”
Among the questions Hershey’s Mill asks of its residents is: Is there anything we’re missing here?
 
The typical response: No.
 
“I know why they feel that way,” Keeley says, “because I live here and know what a great place it is. To me, there is no better place.”
 
One visit to the Hershey’s Mill campus is all that’s necessary to understand Keeley’s effusive praise. Situated on 800 park-like acres, the community is subdivided into 25 villages. Each village offers homes with a variety of different floor plans, from single-floor living to multiple-floor levels and walk-out lower levels. Each home has a first-floor master bedroom. Prices range from $250,000 to more than $650,000.
 
Hershey’s Mill caters to residents with an active lifestyle. Offerings include bocce, horseshoes, paddleball, pickleball, shuffleboard, swimming in the heated outdoor pool, tennis, billiards, table tennis, a five-mile circuit course for safe walking, running, or biking, and an assortment of exercise programs. For the more competitive Hershey’s Mill resident, a private 18-hole championship golf course is located on the premises and is open to residents and outsiders.
 
“We have a really active sports group,” Keeley adds. “We recently expanded our pickleball courts from four to eight, and bocce courts from two to three. Those sports are extremely popular here.”
 
Hershey’s Mill also has more than 35 active clubs, including art, yoga, knitting, books, computers, and bridge. Voracious readers can settle into their favorite book in the library. Gatherings can be held in the community center, which features spacious meeting rooms, a crackling stone fireplace to blunt winter’s chill, and access to an outdoor patio for get-togethers on warm summer nights.
 
Residents benefit from a fully equipped wood shop and a nature garden designed to enhance the community’s openness, greenery, and overall beauty. For anyone who craves off-campus adventure, Hershey’s Mill has its own executive luxury bus for in-style transportation to local attractions and entertainment venues. In addition, Hershey’s Mill Community TV offers a free summer concert series, whereby local musical groups set up in the golf club’s parking lot to entertain residents with live entertainment.
 
The list of amenities at Hershey’s Mill goes on and on, all to satisfy the lifestyle needs of every resident.
 
“I looked at about 25 other communities within a 10- to 15-mile radius from here, and nothing compared,” Keeley says. “We’re close to some of the best hospitals and medical centers, like Main Line Health, Penn, and Einstein, and we’re 15 minutes from Chester County Hospital and Paoli Hospital, which has the area’s only trauma center. That’s good for people who moved here from the area, because they won’t have to change doctors. For shopping, we’re close to the King of Prussia Mall and Exton Square Mall, or you can hop on Route 30 and be in Lancaster in 45 minutes. You can also drive 20 minutes to Delaware for tax-free shopping.
 
“Hershey’s Mill is a great place, and we’re so close to everything else you might need,” he continues. “Why would you want to live anywhere else?”
 
Hershey’s Mill’s focus on safety and security provides residents—and their families—with the peace of mind that comes from knowing they are in good hands. The community employs a 24-hour manned security staff. Visitors at the main entrance must receive clearance from security personnel to enter the grounds, and a security guard patrols the Mill day and night in a marked security vehicle.
 
“The No. 1 reason people come to live here is family and friends have told them what a great place it is,” Keeley says. “No. 2 is the sheer beauty. We have our own landscaping company that takes care of the villages, grounds, and entrances. No. 3 is security. Residents feel safe here.”
 
Hershey’s Mill has just about everything a resident could ask for. As for the questionnaire residents receive from management, Keeley remembers one suggestion involving the possibility of having an onsite fitness center. Residents spoke, and Hershey’s Mill listened. A fitness center is included in the planned two-story addition to the Community Center in the drawing stage now.
 
“We have four fitness centers within five minutes of us, but the people here wanted their own right here, so we’re doing it,” he adds. “It should be done in the near future. It’ll have a fitness center, snack bar, coffee shop, and expanded meeting rooms. Again, we give residents whatever they need.”
 
Hershey’s Mill constructed each home with privacy in mind. For Keeley, that was a major selling point in his decision to make it his new home.
 
“Back then, I knew I was going to be retiring in a few years,” he says. “We looked at so many 55-plus communities. The advantage was they were all pretty new, but the disadvantage was the homes were too close to one another—so close you could stand on your back deck and shake hands with your neighbor. That’s not the case here. That’s just one more reason why Hershey’s Mill is the best.”
 
Hershey’s Mill Villages & Golf Club
1500 Greenhill Road
West Chester, PA 19380
(484) 502-1175
www.hersheysmill55plus.com
 
Photograph by Jeff Anderson
 
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, February 2022.

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