There is a neighborhood going in near me that seems to be catering to the idea. The garages are all detached with apartments above. They are being finished out with a single bedroom, bathroom, and a kitchenette/living room combo. Could be ideal for a mother in law or young adult child.
I love this is happening!! ^
I grew up in NJ and returned as an adult. Most the people I knew lived in multigenerational homes. Most had their own spaces, kitchens etc. I remember when DD was younger she went to a birthday party in a neighboring (very affluent & gated) neighborhood (Georgia) and came home so excited! Grands lived on first floor, her family lived on terrace level, her aunt lived on upper floor - all built out with kitchens, etc. She thought it was great her friend got to live with her grandparents. We are also talking about a 7000 sq ft house but all she saw was family.
I love the idea if it works for your family. DD#2 is a teacher and lives in an "apartment" in our basement. We had finished it in a way for DD#1 who is disabled should he progress to an independent. He has a huge living room, huge bedroom, huge bathroom with kitchenette, his own deck etc. He pays us rent, he is a great backup for his brother and it allows him to save money for a down payment ... if housing can get under control. His friend with a doctorate just hired as professor at major college got turned down at so many apartments because he didn't make enough money or have 6 mos of paychecks yet. So he is living home commuting an hour each way until he at least has the paychecks and will start looking again.
There is so much benefit to it besides shared expenses. Some need the daycare, some need the adult care, for us it provides backup for issues with special needs son. I know during shut down DS#2 told us he didn't know what he would do if he were living alone. I mean we are most often in our own corners but it's nice to have a few meals together each week or get the extra physical help doing something.
While around here it has mostly been folks from other countries, I am seeing it more and more. My folks neighbor's DD got divorced and moved in with them bringing college age kids, my neighbor's son has a good job but has been back and forth as roommates come and go. I know of two other houses on the street with young adults still living with them, working. I wish it were more normalized. I see some I know struggling to pay bills because rent is so high while parents sit in a massive empty home - because they are looked down on if they moved back home. Kinda makes me sad.
in the states when people refer to multigenerational homes they basically mean grandmas actually living with the family or adult kids move back home. And everyone shares common places. Or at least that’s been my experience
It really depends on where you are in the US. In my NJ/NYC area each generation had it's own space, either stacked "apartments" in a large converted home or a built out apartment in the basement of a home. I knew very few where it was simply living in the same house. This applied to friends elsewhere in Boston etc. Maybe more common in the NE of USA. I'm in the SE now .... but I don't know of anyone who has a "grandparent" living with them without it being in a separate apartment space.
Here zoning is a HUGE thing. We legally can build a full apartment in our basement and many do, as long as those living there are related to you. I could not rent it out to a non-family member. I'm sure there are areas you can't add a second kitchen. Zoning becomes a very sticky issue when trying to do creative housing.
Although, with the way things are going that may be the reality for his generation.
