Multi-Generational Housing

As the real estate market has cooled, several historic trends are re-appearing. Most intriguing of these trends is the move back to multi-generational housing. Rhode Island is one of the best case studies for multi-generational housing in North American. From the Native Americans to the first Colonists and from the Irish, Italian to Guatemalan immigrants, the tradition has been a cornerstone of shelter. The concept of the suburbs has challenged the route, but even in the suburbs, multi-generational housing is becoming more common.

The triple decker houses in Providence are an ideal example of theory applied. The grandparent would be on one floor, the middle agent parents on another and the newly weds on yet another. Each had a degree of privacy with their own apartment, but they lived in a common building. This was true when the houses we first built in the early 1900’s and as true today. Three family, multi-generational, homes, are a great way for a family to pull financial resources together. As price increased, it had become almost the only way for families to get on the first rung of home ownership. Some of the additional benefits include at home childcare with ‘Papa and Avo,’

Recently, a widow invited me to review marketing her home in Cowesett. It had been a great, large ‘family home.’ that she and her husband had remodeled and enlarged. He had passed and it did not make sense for her to live alone in a 4,000 sq ft house. What strikes anyone walking through the home is the rich fabric of this family’s history in the house. From the ‘door jamb’ marking of each child’s height, to the oceans of photographs, one cannot help but feel the wealth of life. Yes, there is the ‘evidence’ of sadness and tragedy, yet they are a part of the whole, neither prominent nor dominant. They simply are. This is not a house, this is truly a home.

The owner discussed her plans with her children. She would move into a single family home of less than half the size, but it would absolutely include a garden so she could pursue one of her passions. It would need to be large enough for her to entertain the entire family.

When I called this week to set up an appointment to complete the paperwork to market the home, she was particularly excited. Now in this market, most sellers are not exuberant. Her excitement, however, is the result of a change in plans. Her son, his wife and their young children were going to move in with her. She would not have to give up the home she loved. Her son will put his house on the market.

It is my impression that this will become more, not less common as another trend in multi-generational housing. For real estate purposes it makes lots of sense. For environmental reasons it makes lots of sense. For family reasons, it makes the best sense of all.