Amy Decombaz wanted her senior mom to live with her, and after house shopping for a space to accommodate them both, she purchased a home in Logan Square.
“I bought the house specifically so mom could have her own floor,” said Decombaz, adding that among the modifications, she had the builder reinforce stair railings and changed the flooring from carpet to tile. Her mom was able to live with her for 10 years before recently moving to a senior facility.
As the elderly population grows, more homeowners are finding themselves making plans for their parents to live with them. Some have been creative in figuring out what multigenerational living will look like.
Whether homeowners are making adjustments to their home’s interior, taking advantage of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on the property, looking for a new home or moving elderly parents next door, the real estate industry has noticed an uptick in multigenerational living.
Jaime Torres, founder and principal of Canopy Architecture + Design in Chicago, said that Midwest designers, developers and homeowners are soul searching to find the right balance among different generations living with one another.
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He said people are adjusting their home to make it more livable for both aging grandparents and adult children looking to move back in. “It just makes sense from both a cost standpoint and a social health and wellness standpoint,” he said.
Torres is building multigenerational homes in Little Village and Pilsen. He started designing multigenerational homes in the area about six years ago after homeowners contacted him about their dilemma. They had bought a lot in Pilsen next to a park and a senior living facility and wanted their aging parents to live with them.
Torres’ solution was to build a three story, two-unit home for both generations. “It’s not a suburban McMansion,” he said. Instead, it’s a fairly modest sized home with about 1,100 square feet per floor. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the first two floors, and a one-bedroom apartment on the lower garden unit.
“The idea is that you minimize the amount of vertical changes from one floor to another, so you have a really simple way to navigate it if you have a cane,” he said.
Torres, who grew up in Mexico City, said that during his childhood it was second nature to grow up around extended family like grandparents and aunts and uncles. “And now in Chicago, I think there’s a good number of folks, whether Latino or other cultures, that do the same. It’s just the human instinct of being able to grow around your family,” he said.
After eyeing his first multigenerational home design, another family requested something similar from Torres. Rosy Lawson’s maternal grandparents lived until they were 98 and 102 with family all around them. About five years ago she realized her own parents may live just as long, so she and her siblings decided they wanted their parents closer to them.
“My dad adamantly wanted to maintain a sense of independence,” she said, and that ruled out initial thoughts of renovating her own home to accommodate her parents. Instead, the family had a new structure built next to her existing home in Pilsen.
To accommodate Lawson’s needs, Torres is building a LEED-certified home with three apartments, one for the grandparents and one for other extended family and one that will be used as flexible space for kids coming home from college or to rent out through an Airbnb platform for extra income. He also carved out more green space for the entire family to enjoy the outdoors together.
“My favorite feature is the view into the courtyard which pays homage to (my parents’) homes in Mexico, where they lived as children,” said Lawson. Designing a new building next to hers allowed the family to easily share spaces with her parents yet maintain physical boundaries for privacy as needed.
Rodney Harrell, the American Association of Retired Persons’ (AARP) vice president of livable communities and long-term services and support, said having a good design for older family members doesn’t need to translate to a hospital feel. “Thing is, most people don’t want that clinical-looking design, it’s a last resort,” he said.
While the home for Lawson’s parents is accessible, she said it’s also “peaceful and modern with incredible light penetrating from several angles.”
Harrell said modifications like zero step entrances, doors that are wide enough to get through with a walker or a wheelchair, and features to help navigate open floor designs, are some of the ways to make it easier for older residents.
Morgante Wilson Architects is an Evanston-based architecture and interior design firm that has worked with several clients to design homes with multigenerational living in mind. John Potter, partner with Morgante Wilson, said one client bought two side-by-side units in the same urban condominium building so his dad, who had MLS, could be nearby.
“We designed the whole unit so that the dad could live independently, and the son was right next door,” he said.
One of the most popular features among clients who want a flexible space that will eventually accommodate aging parents is a first-floor guest bedroom with a bathroom and shower that can accommodate a wheelchair.
The firm has also had homeowners request elevators in their homes, either because they have an elderly family member already living with them or anticipate doing so in the future. In these instances, Morgante Wilson will build just the elevator shaft so the home can be outfitted with the elevator mechanicals when the time comes.
“Especially in the city, where we’re dealing with narrower houses, elevators are very popular. And they’ve come down so much in price,” he said. Rooftop decks are popular in the city and having an elevator allows an older parent to be with everyone else when the family is entertaining on the roof.
Potter has recently worked with two sets of clients who planned additions for their parents in anticipation of them moving in at some point. “When we designed the house, we made sure there was enough floor area, the setbacks were so that if the occasion arose, we can permit an en suite bedroom on the first floor,” he said.
Some other design features Potter uses include lever doorknobs that are easier to grab, motion detector lights inside walk-in closets, and showers over tubs with lower thresholds. AARP also offers a guide that helps with making homes safe and accessible as people age.
Jessica Sims, owner of a coaching and consulting business for caregivers, said she and her brother, David Lewandowski, noticed their mom needed someone to check on her every day and be there for showers in case of a fall.
Their mom, Dianne Lewandowski, moved in with her brother. He takes care of the house and Jessica manages the medical issues. “After a fall going down a step to get outside, we had to put ramps at the front and back entrance and make her bathroom handicap accessible,” she said.
The set-up works for her mom and brother, but she added that it doesn’t have much room for privacy and respite.
Some are lobbying to make use of secondary buildings on their property for multigenerational households. “I think another recent trend we’re seeing, that’s very encouraging, is the accessory dwelling unit,” said Harrell.
Accessory dwelling units may be the answer to many Chicago-area homeowners’ need to live with aging parents. They’ve become a hot topic with people looking to make use of extra buildings like coach houses, that have been deemed illegal in Chicago since 1957.
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“A lot of people in Chicago have told me, through a survey and petition that I organized, that they would like the ability to build ADUs on their property in order to house family members,” said Steven Vance, founder and CEO of Chicago Cityscape and data expert spearheading the ADU movement in Chicago.
Torres said ADUs include not just a carriage house in the back of a building, but maybe an attic built above a two-flat, or a garden unit. “There’s a whole zoning issue that’s impeding the ability to have multiple units within a single-family home. That’s a big push.”
Vance has heard from homeowners who want to use the ADUs or tear down their garages to build one so their elderly parents and caretakers can live there.
Despite the convenience and peace of mind, having parents live in the same property is a big undertaking. Lawson said occasionally her parents will have a small issue, and it immediately becomes everyone’s problem.
Decombaz’s mom has unexpected bouts of confusion due to her illness. But, despite the challenges, she said living together has worked. “Having a parent live with you can be very rewarding knowing you are giving back the love they gave you growing up,” she said.
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