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Combining two bedrooms to create a suite is another possibility. Buckner says that homes with four bedrooms transformed to two suites, one guest room and an office are efficient, sellable, marketable and desired in the Pacific Northwest. “In a three-bedroom house, reducing the home to two suites by combining two bedrooms, is also very sellable and pleasurable to live in,” she says.
Another option is to build an addition to accommodate a new master suite. Usually the homeowner moves into the new addition and remodels or upgrades | | | |  | |  | | | | | “Expanding a Home to Create an In-Law Suite”
More and more homeowners are converting their houses into multi-generational homes for themselves, their children, and their aging parents. In this fourth project of Season Two of Bob Vila, Bob meets with Howard Brickman, an old friend of the show who specializes in hardwood flooring installations, who is adding space to his Norwell, Mass., home to make room for his mother-in-law who wants to move closer to family and to help should she need it. The walls and floor of the addition will be built of energy-efficient Reddi-Form insulated concrete forms (ICFs). ICFs work like building blocks to make light work of foundations and walls. These forms are designed to use less concrete and still carry the load of a soaring 20-foot-gable end wall. Once the shell has been poured, a specialized framing system for the deck or interior floors of the home is set in place for the concrete pour. This high-efficiency, thermally smart home also has a solar roof to help reduce the family’s utility bills and usage. Air quality is a top priority, so all steps are taken to dry the house completely and stop mold from starting once the walls are put up. A deck, beautiful windows, flooring, a fireplace faced in stone, doors and worry-free trim complete this new home. View the first in the video series here.
| | | | | | | | | | | their original suite for their parent/grandparent, says Buckner. Another possibility is to convert a third bay of a garage into a separate apartment-type living space with its own access. “This encourages privacy, autonomy, and can be rented to someone else in the event of vacancy,” she says.
Gibbs suggests homeowners might want to consider replacing or eliminating an under-used first floor living space—such as a formal living room that is never used or a formal dining room only used twice a year—or to create a suite on an upper floor or in a bonus room over the garage, though an elevator or chairlift might be needed.
Design Spaces within the Space
Once the space has been chosen, decide what can be included. A separate bathroom and adequate storage in the bedroom-sitting area are essential. Separate washers and dryers (stackables are one good option here) might be included in the bathroom closet area.
A separate entrance and kitchen can take it to another level. Separate cooking facilities and separate entrances, Gibbs cautions, may actually pose zoning code issues. “We rarely incorporate a full kitchen but may design what is labeled as a wet bar.” The issue is that local zoning regulations may consider it as creation of a freestanding apartment that you could rent out, which would not be allowed in a neighborhood zoned single-family occupancy.
Buckner has found similar issues. “In most jurisdictions in Oregon, you are prohibited from having two complete kitchens in a residence. Basically you can include a kitchenette, which is everything except a cooktop/oven. Depending on the age and circumstances with clients, I have designed various options,” says Buckner. A kitchenette would include a sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, and microwave. Some include just having a mini-bar—refrigerator, sink and microwave. Another option is to have no kitchen facilities and eat communally with the family.
Where regulations do allow, Buckner says, “separate entrances are commonly requested and planned for in the design. Usually this scenario involves parents with good mobility who can still drive and care for themselves. They just need a little extra support—whether financial, physical or psychological. Perhaps their spouse has died and they are lonely. Half of the projects with two master suites that I have designed have had their own access to decks, patios and/or egress to the street.”
Tips to Remember
As the in-law suite is created, remember that the occupants of the suite may change, so keep the basic design attractive for any future occupants. Here are some other essentials to keep in mind:
• Make areas of the suite as spacious as possible. Incorporate universal design principles not only in the suite but also throughout the house if possible. These designs can include no-slip flooring, considerations for height and reachability, wider doorways, grab bars and handrails. Make sure the suite has some relationship to public areas of the home.
• Install separate light, heat and air conditioning controls as well as smoke, fire and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Choose easy-open door and drawer hardware. At the minimum, install overhead and hand-held shower heads.
• Place electrical outlets on both sides of the bed area. Consider installing emergency call buttons or at least a jack. Install a separate phone line, Internet connection, cable jacks and perhaps a stereo system unique to the suite.
• Choose materials that ensure the health, safety and welfare of the occupants.
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Text by Maureen Blaney Flietner
© 2009 BobVila.com
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