Generational Housing
Creating a home for now and later
by David B. South
July 8, 2004
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YumaDome, a beautiful dome in Yuma, Arizona is 84' in diameter and 39'8" inside height from floor to ceiling offering a total of 11,000 square feet of living space for three generations of their family. |
Since he was in "retirement mode" he felt that the two bedroom home on one side of the breezeway covered all of his needs and then some. It featured two baths, a spacious living room and a great room/kitchen concept. It was a great place to entertain family and friends.
When his wife had a project to do, she used the other part of the house, laid out her project and made whatever size mess she wanted. She didn't have to worry about cleaning it up until she was done with the project. She could leave it and go back and forth for days or even weeks.
Visiting Family
He also stated that it was fantastic when the kids came to visit. The great room in the main part of the house was plenty big for family get-togethers, dinner, birthday parties, etc. Yet, the smaller attached home was ideal for visiting family/kids to retire to at night. He said it was quite wonderful when they would take the crying babies over and put them to bed in that section of the home and then return to their part of the home -- just he and his wife.
Changing Needs
He forecasted that building a home this way also gave him and his wife far more living options in the future. They could see a day when their mobility might be challenged and they may need to hire someone to live in the other house and assist them if needed.
As it actually turned out, he passed away and his wife moved into the smaller section and rented the larger home for an income. She rented it for a couple of years and then one of her children took over the larger section with her family -- to live together, yet separate.
Generational Home Defined
Since talking to this man, I began to formulate a definition of what I term "generational housing." Generational housing allows homeowners to reconfigure their house as lifestyle changes. Rooms can change in size and/or a complete floor may change in function.
When designing a home like this , it's important to equip the home with pre-wiring and plumbing ready for adaptation. Generational housing is built to be accessible with features to accommodate young children, the disabled and the elderly. A generational home allows space to be used differently with minimal changes and cost. A generational home is usually designed to permit surplus space to be rented out to either a non-related tenant or a family member and thereby reduce the costs of ownership. As the family size increases or its needs change, the dwelling can be reconfigured.
Cost Consolidation
Using this concept could allow young couples and one set of retired parents access to housing that is made affordable through shared down payment, rental income or shared ownership. Generational housing could allow both a young couple or a small family and the older couple to meet their spatial needs - the young family for more space and the older couple for less space. A further advantage to the older couple is that it allows them to remain in the community for as long as possible.
Occupants of a generational home share the expense for one service entrance for water, gas, cable and telephone installations. Both generations can share the same main entrance, parking space, and accessory buildings such as a garden shed. Shared taxes, utility costs and maintenance dramatically decreases cost of living for all the parties involved.
Thinking outside the box
When a young married couple is starting their lives together, they don't need a big house. They just need a small home, but as the family grows their spatial needs increase. As I have thought of this concept of housing, I can see that rather than trying to add on a couple of rooms to an existing home as needs change, why not add a bungalow - making it so it actually becomes part of the house. In the south, a covered walk way between the two homes is all that is needed to connect the homes. In the north, it may need to be enclosed.
The large, single-family home is primarily a function of energy. We don't often think of it that way, but in order to minimize the surface area presented to the weather, conventional homes are built as close to square as possible. But with a Monolithic Dome that problem is eliminated. The energy loss from a Monolithic Dome shell is minimal at worst. So the home can be built in sections and not increase the energy usage.
Multiple dome possibilities
As a family grows, various sections of the home could provide multiple uses. One dome could be used as a game room/gymnasium. Another dome could be used as a swimming pool/party room -- another dome a bowling alley or archery range. Certainly the guest portion does not need to be in the house. An additional dome could be the guest addition, the guest house or the guest wing. The guest wing could have many functions over the life time of the home. The options are endless.
Fenced in
Another part of the generational home is to put a privacy fence judicially around most of the home. The privacy fence would allow portions of the yard to literally become portions of the house. For example, an outdoor patio might become the summer breakfast area, the backyard patio could become part of the recreation center. Another area might even be for our favorite "shade tree" mechanic to work on his hotrod.
While both generations will have access to the backyard, each should have some privacy if desired, without using fencing. If the land permits, this could be achieved by designating a portion of the backyard for the older couple that is not visible from the younger couple's balcony or porch.
The Micro View
Another thing to remember when designing your home is the micro view is always more important than the macro view. The micro view are those things that are close -- the humming bird feeders, the blue bird nests, the butterflies in the bushes, etc. They will always be more interesting than the mountains in the background that quickly become wall paper. So when designing your new home -- design the small spaces. Add some water features and/or murals. Make the home something that is yours and not just another page cut out of a book.
Generational homes
The important part is for us as home owners to think outside the box and build a home that is truly a home for all generations - a home that will serve our needs when we are young, when we are middle age and when we have our senior moments. It seems ludicrous to have to buy a new home for each stage of our life.
In Conclusion
As the number of older adults in the country significantly increases, generational housing presents the opportunity to have a temporary secondary suite or section of the home to be used for as many functions as the families need. Designing a Monolithic Dome home to include multiple generations is a cost-effective way of creating needed housing for seniors and young families.
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