Accessibility

La Rupina is fully accessible for guests who have disabilities or use wheelchairs. 

Here are some of the questions we get asked about the features of the house, along with our responses. We hope you will find this information useful. If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If we need help or information where do we go?

We live in our own separate house about 75m away, and we are on call if you need help or information. There are no shared facilities between the two houses, so you can have complete privacy while knowing help is on hand if you need it.

Can we park near the house?

There is parking space for two cars. One space is right next to the house; it’s 5m wide and about 5m from the front door. The other space is to the side of the house, a little farther away.

How is the access from the car to inside the house?

From the car, you cross the pergola area to the front door. This is all step free and level, so it’s wheelchair accessible. The front door is extra wide (0.95m).

How accessible is the kitchen?

The kitchen is fitted with an electric rise-and-fall unit containing the hob and kitchen sink. There’s a safety pressure switch to stop accidental lowering. The area underneath the unit is open to accommodate wheelchair users.   

The kitchen also has a raised fridge and an eye-level, side-opening oven. There are no wall units; all storage is in pull-out drawers for easy access.

The space between the kitchen table and the units is 1.2m to 1.5m wide.

How accessible are the main bedroom and bathroom?

The main bedroom is on the upper level, along with the kitchen and living area. Both the bedroom and the en-suite bathroom have extra-wide doors (0.88m) and the bathroom has a wall-hung, disabled-height toilet with a hand bidet and a grab rail. The shower is large (1.2m x 1.7m) and step free, with roll in/roll out access. There are both overhead and hand-held showerheads. 

The toilet seats in both the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms lock into the bowl for safe side transfer, so there is no possibility that the seat may become dislodged. There is 1.0m of free space to the side of each of the toilets. Both bathrooms have unobstructed sinks, allowing a wheelchair easy access.

Where are the other bedrooms?

La Rupina has an unusual layout, with the main entrance and living areas on the upper floor. The main bedroom is upstairs, and downstairs there are two more bedrooms and another bathroom. 

Are there any other features we should know about?

• The pool is not accessible to guests in a wheelchair.

• All the windows in the house have been made with reduced-height handles, so they can be reached by someone in a wheelchair.

• The house’s internal stairs are not wheelchair accessible, and there is no lift/elevator. The upper and lower levels of the house are joined by an external wheelchair-accessible footpath with a gradient of 1:20. 

• All of the electrical sockets, throughout the house, are located in a raised location.

• The hot water outlets in the bathrooms are set by a thermostat to prevent accidental burning.