Since 2016, the Relais du Mazagran has housed gîtes and guest rooms between the urban center of Metz and the rural areas of Boulay-Moselle. From February, this building located in the town of Les Étangs opens its doors to seniors with spaces open to shared accommodation.
Pauline and Pascal Schoumacher have chosen to offer seniors the opportunity to live in a community. “I searched for my professional path for a long time. I did volunteer work in a nursing home, which perhaps gave rise to this desire in me to turn to seniors… In any case, offering them solutions for living together is an expanding sector” says the daughter, Pauline.
Accompanied by her father Pascal, she never stops opening and closing the doors of a Relais du Mazagran purchased and then restored by her family to make it into guest rooms since 2016 and then to welcome an older audience to from February 2025. This old building with a certain character, located in the town of Les Étangs, will in fact be completely intended for shared accommodation between elderly people. “When do you become a senior? It depends on the versions, we have in any case not defined a minimum age” smiles Pascal Schoumacher.
Common areas
The father and daughter then happily show two apartments capable of accommodating up to four people but also eight bedrooms without individual kitchens. In total, the Relais du Mazagran could accommodate up to fifteen people. “We intend to let future occupants take ownership of the premises. That’s why we didn’t necessarily put a lot of furniture and decorations,” explains Pauline Schoumacher.
ALSO READ: Senior clubs, essential vectors of social ties
The objective is in fact to create a real community for seniors able to live alone around several private spaces. With the aim of breaking the often inerrant solitude at retirement age, the Relais du Mazagran provides its tenants with two shared kitchens, a dining room, a garden, a terrace… “The objective is obviously to organize meals and theme evenings,” explains Pauline Schoumacher.
-Senior village project
With her father, the entrepreneur therefore combines projects for older people. She develops:
“We are also going to open a village for seniors in the town of Courcelles-Chaussy. Our desire, in fact, is to offer housing solutions between the individual house and the retirement home. However, we are not going into the medical field and are aimed at independent people. In Courcelles-Chaussy, we will offer around twenty accommodations modeled on a holiday village. Ultimately, we want the relay and the village to be linked, perhaps with a shuttle service between the two and joint events.”
While waiting for the village which requires more work, it is time to open the doors of a Relais du Mazagran which also offers a spa. A single room can be rented from a thousand euros per month and this rent includes a concierge service, maintenance of the common areas and access to the different living spaces. Also, Pascal and Pauline Schoumacher plan to offer their residents cleaning and catering services, as well as access to a grocery store for everyday products.
The concept of shared accommodation between seniors, “co-living” in English, has appeared rather trendy in recent years. It meets the expectations of a population who intends to maintain their privacy, who want to delay a potential entry into an EHPAD as long as possible but who demand a social and community life. The Relais du Mazagran wishes to meet these different expectations from February 2025.
Rémi Alezine
