You can tell a lot about certain classes of people by what other people try to sell them. The home builders have contemplated the now-retiring baby boomers and, although they put it more gently, the home builders have seen walkers, wheelchairs and general decrepitude. If not now, eventually. And they are designing houses that will allow creaky boomers to stay in them.

There is something called "universal design" that calls for homes to be designed to take into account age and physical disability.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the concept has been around for a while but now is beginning to catch on. For a start, there are all those aging boomers, and universal design now seems to look a lot more stylish and a lot less institutional.

According to the Journal, builders are offering wheelchair-friendly layouts, with the master bedroom on the first floor. Closet rods are lower and electrical sockets higher. The doors have levers instead of knobs and switches and faucets are designed to be easier for arthritic hands to operate. In the bathrooms, the toilets are higher and the showers oversize with seats and grab bars. In the kitchen, there are more drawers and fewer cabinets, higher countertops and ovens that raise and lower for less bending and reaching.

And - these are boomers, after all - in one house, according to the Journal, "a ramp leading up to stadium-style seating in the media room."

Welcome home, boomers. We're all going to get there one day.