I know someone who lives in this apartment, which would work as a duplex.

{{!gwi}}

I wish this would have been a two bedroom/2 bathroom...It is really a good size for an apartment. Thanks for sharing it.

Doesn't anyone have a duplex on this forum?....surely that would be a "small house".

Have you posted on the apartment living forum?

I live in a duplex condo: up and down identical units, 1500 square feet each, in a century old house. What more information are you looking for?

marita~~
I a looking for a one story 2 bed/2 bath unit, about 1400-1500 SF with double garages separating the two identical units. I would appreciate the floor plan and if you like living in a duplex or do you regret not being in a single stand alone house.
Thanks!

phoggie, my 2nd floor duplex has three bedrooms, two baths, and a front porch. You enter into the dining room, with adjacent living room and front porch off the living room. Off the dining room is a hall with three bedrooms and one bathroom opening to it. Another hall leads to the kitchen. The original 1913 house footprint (it was built as a duplex) has not changed except for the addition of a second bathroom off the master bedroom.
I purposely looked for a condo because the historic area I wanted to live in is full of big old homes that have been turned into condos--so many, like my home, are 2, 3, or 4 person condos. I like it because, as in any condo situation, we pool our money to hire our lawn, snow removal, and other services I no longer wanted to do myself. I lived 25 years in a single family home. Luckily our house is very well built and we are quiet people so we don't disturb each other. So, yes, it was a very good choice for me.

Phoggie- How big is your lot? If Marita's duplex is 1500 square feet each...are you sure you can't use Summerfield's plan? You could connect the garage side or the bedroom side, with a few adjustments. You like the plan, so if it will fit on the lot...I'd think about it :)

Hope you don't mind me posting it, but I think people here would like to see it...and might be able to use some of the ideas, themselves. {{!gwi}}From Cottage house plans

I think if you find any plan you like, you can tweak it to be a duplex.

Just playing around with the one I posted above, I came up with these three.
{{!gwi}}





{{!gwi}}

I've seen duplex plans where the two units weren't identical, and something like that may work for you too, so you can make it fit your lot better.

I am wondering if you are not getting many replies because of your question. When I see the word duplex, I usually think of a two floor apartment.
You are loking for side by side. You might get some ideas by looking at floor plans of Florida condos.

The terminology depends on the region. When I hear "duplex" I think of two side-by-side units -- what the British call semi-detached -- whether or not they are one or two stories. A two-floor apartment I call a townhouse apartment; where a townhome is an independent, often multistory home that is attached on either side to another townhome. Each owns its own land ... they are not condominiums.

These are the terms used where I have lived.

As for the view, I know someone who bought a lot where the view was to the back of the lot. To the back, mountains. To the front, the road and other houses. She chose a house plan with huge windows and a porch on the front of the house, and simply had the house built backwards on the lot. So you drive up the driveway to the back door, and the front of the house, and the windows and porch, all overlook the mountain view. You'd have to check that this was okay with zoning and codes and all, though.

I'm curious as to why you want the units separated by the garages? One of the benefits of building a duplex is the lower cost incurred when you don't have to run the plumbing as far. So in duplexes, the kitchens and bathrooms tend to be on the shared wall, because that means that fewer feet of pipe need to be laid. Or, if the units are stacked one over the other, the kitchens and baths tend to be directly over each other, again to lower the cost.

With your plan of two units separated by the garages, you are loosing the lower costs of shared walls and plumbing being closer together. What are you gaining instead?

Would another option for you be a single family home with an in-law apartment?

In this region, "duplex" is two units side-by-side on one level.

Good point about the garages....I just thought it would be a noise separation, but I guess old widows wouldn't have to worry much about that ... unless one is hard of hearing and the TV is turned up too loudly~~ It it would cut costs if the plumbing was near each other...keep those kind of thoughts coming...'cause I need to cut costs, but still make it nice and livable.

Marti, I liked the second plan very well....I'll try to run it off and take it to a builder when we meet.

If anyone has any other plans or ideas, I'd like to see them.

THANKS!