Designing Multi-Generational Homes for Aging Parents

As us millennials grow older, so do our parents. Some of us may choose to live in multi-generational homes with our parents as they age, which can often challenge our independence and make the already hard work of caretaking even more challenging. Sometimes the solution is more space, or rather a more defined, separated, or functional space within the same home or property. 

Accessory Structures and ADU’s: The Classic Mother-In-Law Unit

Some clients have come to us with questions about creating a Mother-In-Law unit for the future reality of their parent’s aging, and looked to finance it with short term or long term rentals in the time before the parent will move in full time. In this case, we have guided our clients through their choices with regard to ADU’s, Accessory Structures, and additions to find the structure that will work best for them and their budget. 

Accessory structures, rather than ADU’s, are especially useful for situations where parents come to live with you for extended periods of time but not permanently. Accessory Structures are much less expensive to use as short term rentals in the times between stays. In Portland, for an ADU to be used as a short term rental you must pay System Development Charges which can be upwards of $30,000. You may avoid these charges by instead building an Accessory structure which can have all the same features as an ADU except a stove, oddly enough. In the future if you want to convert your Accessory Structure to an ADU it will be as simple as applying for a permit, paying the SDC charges, and installing a stove. No major construction needed. 

Accessibility in Multi-Generational Homes

Other clients want to make their homes more accessible for a parent who visits often or intends to move in in the future. In this case, we may use landscape and grading design to avoid stairs, or we may look at renovating the ground floor level such that all necessary living and sleeping spaces for the aging parents are accessible on that floor. 

Converting Existing Spaces

One other common way that people can make accessible multigenerational housing spaces is through garage conversions. Garages by nature are always at grade and accessible, plus they are naturally separated from yet connected to the home. You may even add a separate entrance and consider the possibility of turning it into an ADU down the line.