When the author was a boy growing up in Van Nuys, California, during the 1950s and 60s, he remembers waiting patiently by the curb so he could help his mother, who suffered from polio and was on crutches, get up on the sidewalk. The world they lived in back then certainly was not designed to meet her special needs, but a lot has changed since then. A lot has changed for him, too. He is now a board certified orthopedic surgeon. In this article, the author shares how he was able to build his mother a home modified to meet her needs. He offers some general guidelines that will help one in modifying or building a similar home, as well as tips for specific rooms of the house. His goal was to give his mother a functional and classy living space that allowed her to live an independent life with style and grace.