Over 55 Communities in Halifax, MA: Halifax Estates and Featherwinds

Two age-restricted communities in Halifax are on the public record, and they are very different purchases. One is a new condominium in an elevator-served building. The other is a manufactured home on land owned by a residents' cooperative. This guide lists what the town, the state and the communities themselves have published, and what you still need to ask for. For prices and the wider market, see the Halifax town guide.

Which over 55 communities are in Halifax, MA?

Town records and the communities' own websites document two: Halifax Estates, a manufactured home community that its website says opened in the mid-1970s, and Featherwinds, a condominium community that Town Meeting cleared the way for in 2023. Both are in Halifax, a Plymouth County town.

What is Halifax Estates?

Halifax Estates is a manufactured home community with its business and sales offices at 50 Sycamore Drive. The state lists it as Halifax Mobile Home park, and the residents' corporation that owns it is the Halifax Mobile Home Estates Association, Inc. Its website says it opened in the mid-1970s and "is now a 430-home, resident-owned manufactured home community for people 55 and over." The state's list of manufactured housing communities, last updated February 24, 2021, also shows 430 for the park.

Residents formed the Halifax Mobile Home Estates Association, Inc. and, by the website's account, purchased and took control of the community on October 13, 2017. ROC USA, a national nonprofit whose network assisted the purchase, reported the price as $27 million. Member households elect a Board of Directors, which works with a property management firm, and the full membership votes on the annual budget and any change to the rent.

The website does not publish the monthly rent, the membership cost or the detailed age rule. Two listings for Halifax Estates homes shown on Coldwell Banker's website on October 9, 2026 gave a monthly lot fee of $700 that covers basic cable TV, weekly rubbish pickup, town recycling, town water and septic system maintenance or updates. Both said a membership share purchase of $1,800 is required on top of the home's price, with credit and background checks as part of the membership application. The town words the age rule differently from the community. Halifax's zoning bylaw, Section 167-7D(3), says trailer camps, parks or courts "shall permit only adults over fifty (50) years of age as residents." The community's website says "55 and over." Ask the business office for the current community rules and budget.

What is Featherwinds?

Featherwinds is a condominium community that Thorndike Development describes as "55+", at 265 Monponsett Street (Route 58). On December 14, 2023, a Halifax Special Town Meeting created a Senior Housing Overlay District covering that parcel and a second one at 266 Monponsett Street, which the developer had described to selectmen in March 2023 as across the street. The meeting minutes record the chair of the Board of Selectmen telling voters the project would allow "102 age restricted over 55 condominium units" and a new town-owned senior and community center.

Section 167-4H of the zoning bylaw defines a senior housing development as a building with three or more homes, or two or more multi-unit buildings on one lot, "intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older." It adds that such housing "shall comply with" the federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq. The bylaw caps buildings at three stories and 50 feet and requires two off-street parking spaces per home. Thorndike describes 102 single-level condominiums in elevator-served buildings, with one- and two-bedroom plans from 1,027 to 1,599 square feet. Its website listed prices from $399,000 on October 9, 2026.

The Board of Selectmen's report in the town's 2024 annual report says the development has begun construction and that the new senior and community center was expected to break ground in 2026. The developer's community page, read on October 9, 2026, says the center is "currently in design by the town." That page does not publish the condominium fee or name an association manager. Four Featherwinds listings placed by the developer and shown on Coldwell Banker's website the same day gave monthly condominium fees of $336 and $384 for one-bedroom homes and $448 and $500 for two-bedroom homes. The listings do not say what the fee covers. The two at 266 Monponsett Street are in Building 1, one of them described as finished and ready for delivery, and the two at 265 Monponsett Street give spring 2027 delivery. A master deed for Featherwinds West Condominium, at 266 Monponsett Street, was recorded on January 14, 2026 at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds (Book 60739, Page 281). Its Section 6.1(A) says "at least one person who intends to occupy a Unit in the Condominium as a permanent resident shall be age fifty-five (55) or over at the time of purchase of said Unit." It limits children under eighteen to ninety days a year in a unit as residents or guests, counted in total, and says no more than twenty percent of units may have all of their residents under fifty-five. Section 6.1(D) limits rentals to terms of six months or more, to tenants over 55 whom the trustees have approved in writing. No master deed was found in the registry index under the Featherwinds name for the building at 265 Monponsett Street, so ask the sales office which documents govern a given home.

How does 55+ housing work in Massachusetts?

The federal Fair Housing Act says its familial status provisions do not apply to "housing for older persons." As amended by the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995, the law counts a community as housing for persons 55 or older when at least 80 percent of its occupied units have at least one occupant who is 55 or older, it publishes and follows policies that show that intent, and it complies with HUD's rules for verifying occupancy. HUD's rule requires occupancy surveys to be updated at least once every two years.

Massachusetts law has its own wording. General Laws Chapter 151B, Section 4 says its age protections do not apply to residency in communities "constructed expressly for use as housing for persons 55 years of age or over or 62 years of age or over" if the owner or manager registers every two years with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The Attorney General's guide to manufactured housing community law, dated September 2024, notes that, as far as federal law is concerned, a community may be more restrictive than the 80 percent rule. It advises reviewing municipal requirements and the community rules to see how the rule applies in a given community.

What should you check before buying in a 55+ community in Halifax?

• The age rule in writing: who must be 55, whether a younger spouse or partner may stay, and what happens if the qualifying resident dies or moves to a care facility.
• At Featherwinds: the master deed, the association's bylaws and rules, the current budget, the monthly fee, and whether a garage space is deeded to the home.
• At Halifax Estates: the community rules, the membership cost, the monthly rent and what it covers, and how buyers are approved.
• Resale and rental limits: who may buy, rent or inherit and then occupy the home.

At Halifax Estates you own the home and the residents' cooperative owns the land. The Attorney General's Office says every manufactured housing community, however it is owned, must follow the state Manufactured Housing Act and the Attorney General's regulations, but the regulations do not apply to internal disputes between residents who are shareholders and the cooperative's board of directors. Its guide also explains that manufactured homes are classified as personal property and generally exempted from real property taxes. Residents pay a monthly license fee, set by the city or town, that the guide says varies from $6 to $12. Halifax's 2010 Housing Production Plan reported, citing a local realtor, that financing is often difficult because many lenders do not provide mortgages for mobile homes, so ask about financing early. One of the Halifax Estates listings read on October 9, 2026 said the purchase needs a chattel mortgage and transfers by bill of sale, not by deed, with no FHA, VA or conventional mortgages. For real estate, Halifax's FY2026 residential tax rate is $14.08 per $1,000 (see property tax rates by town).

How do you get to Boston from Halifax?

Halifax has its own MBTA commuter rail station at 6 Garden Road, on the Kingston Line in fare Zone 7. The MBTA lists 412 parking spaces at $2 a day or $35 a month, and a full high-level platform for level boarding. On the weekday timetable in effect on October 9, 2026, twelve inbound trains ran from Halifax to South Station in 50 to 57 minutes. Outbound trips from South Station to Halifax took 46 to 50 minutes. Schedules change, so check the current MBTA Kingston Line timetable before you plan around one train.

What else do people ask about 55+ housing in Halifax, MA?