Caretaking is in the Pauls’ blood.

As their culture is strongly based in family, the tradition of caring for their elders dates back to before the now-married couple Manuela and Daniel Paul immigrated to America in the mid- and late ‘80s, respectively.

“Caring for others is like second nature,” Manuela Paul said. “We always care for our elders.”

So expanding their adult family home to 13 rooms, making it the city of Sammamish’s first and only assisted living facility, was natural.

Family-to-Family Senior Care Inc., previously called Ideal Senior Care at Sammamish, is located at 25633 SE 30th St. in Sammamish. The Pauls and their three children live in the 7,000-square-foot facility and bring the residents in as part of the family.

“It’s just like a grandparent — there’s no difference,” Daniel Paul said.

The couple’s Romanian roots brought them together in the late ‘80s, when they met in a Bothell church.

Though they lived in separate cities, the then 15-year-old Daniel Paul would bike from Redmond through Marymoor Park to Kirkland to see then 12-year-old Manuela. The Pauls have been married for nearly 20 years.

Both from large families — Manuela, one of eight, and Daniel, one of 12 — they are accustomed to living with many people.

“I actually grew up in a six-bedroom facility,” she said.

Manuela Pauls’s mother, a certified nursing assistant who first opened an adult family home in Bellevue in 1987, currently operates a facility down the road from the couple’s 13-bedroom facility. Her sister operates two homes in Issaquah and her brother owns one in Bellevue.

Likewise, Daniel Pauls’s parents currently operate a home in Kenmore and his sister runs another in Bellevue.

The Pauls opened their first adult family facility in Bellevue, which was in operation from 1999 to 2005. They then moved to Sammamish, acquiring property off of Southeast 30th Street, demolishing the original home to replace it with a custom-built facility, complete with wide hallways and door frames.

The spacious facility offers private rooms, between 165-170 square feet, each with a closet, restroom and individual temperature control. It boasts two large living rooms, two main showers and a large communal kitchen where everyone can eat together.

The Pauls have medications delivered to the home, and the same, small staff work in the facility (including Manuela Paul, who graduated as a registered nurse in 2003), which she says creates a “homey” atmosphere for the residents and a sense of “relief” for their families.

“You see the same staff everyday; you see me everyday,” Manuela Paul said. “I’m here all day.”

As well as bringing a “high-end level of care,” the Pauls host in-home activities, such as weekly music therapy sessions or bringing in a hair dresser.

“We just love to enrich their lives,” Manuela Paul said. “I love making their life better, making them laugh.”

The Pauls provide transportation to doctor’s appointments or for running errands, such as going for a coffee.

“It is fun here,” said resident Lois Cruickshank, who admittedly loves her lattes.

Cruickshank, 90, says she had been living in a larger facility but was “kicked out” because they “got tired of me fallin’.”

Manuela Paul says this is not uncommon for larger facilities, where patients may not be getting the kind of attention they need.

Next month, Cruickshank will have been living with the Pauls for three years.

Most of the residents are in their 90s, and several have been living there for several years, usually with their families nearby.

The price point for the Pauls’s all-inclusive service is based on the assessed level of care needed for the individual resident. At a set price per month — which includes room and board, housekeeping, laundry and medical care — there are four levels of care, the last being hospice care.

For more information of Family-to-Family Senior Care, visit www.familytofamilyseniorcare.com or call 425-644-7321.