Raising a House

 

 

I was first contacted by Alem and Nigisty, the owners of  a small 3-bedroom bungalow in the Temescal District of Oakland a bit over a year ago.  They were referred to me by Kifle Zereat, a contractor who had completed a small commercial project for me a few years ago, also in Temescal.  These clients purchased their home over twenty years ago and raised their children there.  It’s a small house…three small bedrooms and two little baths.  They wanted to renovate and discuss options for adding a second unit.  The kids were either off at college, or would be heading there soon.  Alem and Nigisty wanted to remodel their current space, provide a long-term affordable living situation for their kids, and create a source of income for themselves in the future.

I’ve worked on a number of Accessory Dwelling Units in the past.  But, Alem and Nigisty wanted a larger space and their zoning allowed for multiple units.  They’re also on a city lot with a two-car garage in the backyard.  They didn’t want to lose their garden to another structure.  There were two options: adding on a second story or lifting the house about nine feet into the air and building beneath it.  The second option is what we went with.

Design work started with figuring out their wants and needs for their personal space.  Nigisty wanted an open plan kitchen, living and dining room.  They also wanted a bathroom that was accessed from their bedroom.  Alem spends a lot of time out on the front porch and wanted to maintain a similar space.  They planned to live upstairs.

On the new lower level, they wanted an open plan two-bedroom apartment.  It also needed a laundry room and full bath.  At the back of the house, adjacent to the rear garden, they requested a flexible studio space.

We spent a few months working on the design, with Kifle, the contractor, working with us to help control construction costs.  Then the engineers got involved, designing a new foundation and determining the structural modifications that would be necessary to open up the existing house, as well as, designing the new first floor structure that would support it.  We navigated through Oakland’s Design Review Process, notifying neighbors and getting the exterior design approved.  Final plans were submitted last summer to obtain the building permit.

Once financing was in place, construction could begin.  Of course, by the time everything was lined up we were entering the rainy season.  Kifle took a chance and started work in January.  Utility lines were cut, the chimneys removed, and the house was released from its foundation.  The house movers arrived and jacked the house into the air.  Then utilities were hooked back up and Alem and Nigisty returned.  Until work starts on the second floor interior, they’ll remain in residence.  I was unsure how that would work, but they seem to be doing fine.  Alem is loving his new second floor balcony (formerly the front porch).

Wall framing should start this next week, with structural steel following soon after.

I’ll post updates periodically!

 

Accessory Dwelling Units: A Growing Bay Area Trend

Here at RADesign, we’ve had several recent inquiries about adding second units to existing single-family homes.  It’s a growing trend and there are a multitude of reasons that clients are asking about it.

While I’ve designed numerous accessory structures over the years, my first Accessory Dwelling Unit Project was built last year in El Cerrito, CA.

Matt, my client, had spent over twenty years in his house, and raised his kids there.  But they’d grown up and moved out and he found himself alone in a four-bedroom house that was too big for his needs.  Selling his house was an option, but the residence is conveniently located just a few blocks from downtown El Cerrito and a BART station.  He also had years of great memories that were tied to the house.

I ended up designing a 650 square foot one-bedroom apartment for Matt.  If you’re interested in seeing photos of the project and finding out more about what we did, click here.

Matt ended up living downstairs in his new bachelor pad.  It’s sized just for him and has all the features that he requested: an open plan, a spacious kitchen, a bathroom with a big tub, an office space (he works from home) under a sunny window with a view to the garden, and an outside terrace with access from a wide sliding glass door.  He loves the space and now rents out the main residence to tenants.  The rent he collects covers his mortgage payment and pays for the brand new apartment that he’s living in.  Downsizing into a second unit on his property turned out to be a great financial and quality of life decision for Matt.

But there are a multitude of other reasons to add second units to an existing single-family home.  I hear a lot about Aging-In-Place these days.  If you’re not familiar with the term, it just means having the ability to remain in one’s home as you get older.  This term often refers to adding features like accessible bathrooms and kitchens, ground floor bedrooms, replacing outside stairs with ramps, and widening doorways and hallways for wheelchair access and to make caretaking easier.

An Accessory Dwelling Unit can also be an ideal option when it comes to Aging-In-Place.  For older folks living alone, a smaller one-bedroom space can be a welcome relief from the maintenance and expense of a single-family residence. This goes hand in hand with the idea of Downsizing.  A second dwelling unit, however, can also serve as a place for live-in caretaker.  Or, the rent collected from a second unit can be used to cover the costs of a caretaker or other expenses when other options are limited.

Multigenerational Housing is another thing that I hear a lot about from my clients.  Many of them have aging parents or grown children.  But the cost of housing in the Bay Area is high.  Parents can’t afford the cost of maintaining their existing home, retirement housing or assisted living.  Children find it difficult to find or afford a place of their own.  An Accessory Dwelling Unit can be an ideal option in these cases.  A second unit can provide a bit of independence for its occupant (and the resident of the primary residence), but also keep them near family or friends.

In the coming months, I’ll be posting about some past and present projects that involve Accessory Dwelling Units or Multi-Family Housing.  I love working on these types of projects!  If you’ve been considering building a second unit, or modifying your existing residence to include a second unit, I’d love to discuss the options with you.

You can contact me, Rich Depolo, at 510.717.0728 or click here.