Company Overview
As Mark Lutton, Founder of Mellifluous Residencies Inc., was looking for an active adult retirement community, he had some concerns. Where could he find a place to continue enjoying his love of playing music and performing on the piano? Could he afford a place big enough to accommodate his piano and his desire to play with others? Could he find a place full of people who loved music in the air instead of always complaining about the racket? Well, even though there was no suitable place for Mr. Lutton where he wanted to be, there was such a place in his heart. With his dream in mind he set out to create Sprucewood, a Mellifluous Residences Community, as his ideal place to live out the rest of his active days, and perhaps, even beyond those.
His search ultimately led to a professional relationship with Nicholas Leach, owner of Nick Can Fix It construction, and Matthew Leger, a business student with working knowledge of facility management who had an acumen for operations and collaboration. Nick quickly went to work finding a suitable site to begin in Hillsborough County, located in southern NH. With Mark’s finance contacts, an S corporation was quickly set up, which solidified Mark’s dream into reality as Mellifluous Residencies Inc.
We chose the S corporate form for several reasons. We need the limited liability that a corporation offers. A Limited Liability Corporation organized as a partnership would give us this but adding and removing partners (who are investors and part-owners) is a burdensome process. With a C corporation, owners can buy in and sell out simply by buying or selling shares of stock, but their earnings are double-taxed, first as taxes paid by the corporation and second as personal taxable dividend income. An S corporation also allows owners / investors to buy and sell stock easily. There are restrictions on stock ownership, including that there can be no more than 100 stockholders and they must be individuals, not partnerships or corporations. These restrictions are not burdensome for us.
Nick began looking into properties and sites for sale that could be suitable to build or renovate into a vibrant living community focusing on music and the arts. Knowing that this would be a place people would hold dear and near to their hearts, having an assisted living and memory care facility nearby was vital. The relationships being built here in this community would continue long after individuals lose their own ability to play. We intend either to locate Sprucewood near an existing assisted living / memory care facility or on a plot of land that includes land suitable for building such a facility.
Meanwhile, Matthew was quick to start bringing into sight the practical on goings of such a place like what Mark was looking for. As soon as Mark started sharing this idea with him, he could see the place take shape. It was a home where people could move out of the hustle and bustle of making a living and delve into their passions for music and performance. Rooms suitable for mastering their playing skills without concern for those who live next door. Studios where you could get together to form quartets or practice on pianos housed there. Rooms equipped with the means for members of the community to come and learn to play, taught by those living here. A performance space where ensembles could put on concerts for the public. And a motor pool capable of transporting groups to other facilities to play music for those no longer able to get out on their own.