How do you define "age in place"?

Ideally, be able to stay in this house through end of life. We’re in our 30s now, so it’s a still a bit abstract at the moment.

Well, two stories without an elevator is not age in place.

The plan is the second story would be for a potentially live in caretaker; only the bottom floor would be used. Living room converted to a bedroom.

If you plan to turn living room into a bedroom, you will need closet space there.

I think the kitchen/dining area would be too small to absorb the living room if the living room became the bedroom.

I'd rather have a bedroom with walls and a door for privacy.

Considering where you are in life, while nice to think about age in place and have an idea, I wouldn’t actually worry that much about it. A caretaker won’t want to live above you in this tiny space. It wouldn’t be comfortable for anyone. That said it’s a cute ADU and that’s a separate comment

Thanks folks. Makes me rethink if we want to make the sacrifices needed for it to be “age in place” if it won’t even be comfortable for that. Food for thought.

What sacrifices are you making?

Few younger people have a clue about what elderly people need in housing. If you want to build a rental and will be happy living with long or short term tenants in your back yard, that's a different story. (I presume this is legal in your municipality.)

When you want/need elderly-friendly housing years from now, you can address the issue. Few houses are 'best' for people in different stages of their lives: Singles; Couples w/o kids; Families; Extended Families; Elderly before they need residential care.

Your plan is cute, but lofts are a waste of living space and hard to HVAC. Use walls for windows, not closets. When would you break even on this project?

If you're building an ADU in your backyard for you to eventually live in as seniors, who will be living in the house? And why do you think you'd prefer to live in what amounts to a bachelor apartment (the downstairs) just because you're older? I could see having a care-giver live in the ADU and you stay in your home. But putting you and your caregiver into that teeny space seems uncomfortable at the very least.

You might want to consider remodelling your existing home in stages so that it will accommodate your life stage appropriately.

​I'm 72. That's not a place I'd want to live in at my stage in life.  A bedroom but no living room? Where do I keep my books, put the stereo system, set up the computer, do my exercises, and get a bit of space when hubby is driving me nuts?  Just because I'm getting on a bit doesn't mean my only activities are eating and sleeping.

There is nothing that would work for a couple in that ADU and especially not that bathroom. Turning radius for a wheelchair i 60" square so that is nowhere near good for aging in place.

Do yourselves a favor and build for now and the next 10 years. Do not worry about what will happen in 40 years. Life changes.

Your neighborhood may change for the better or worse over the next 40 years. If for the better you may decide it's worth selling and using the money to invest and/or get something that suits your lifestyle at whatever age you are. If it's for the worse, you may decide to sell so as not to live in a downtrend area.

Your life circumstances may change. Jobs change. Kids needs change. Etc.

Lots of good comments and questions! We envisioned this space as a rental and then a place one of our parents might live their end of life (after our other parent passed) and the same for us. So envisioned for one person not a couple—hopefully very far from now, not at 72! Which is still on the younger side these days. But it is good to think about whether it makes sense to plan that far in advance given how much things change. And the space is not fully ada compliant, so perhaps the worst of both worlds in that sense. That said, we live in a very popular neighborhood in an Ivy League college town, so hoping things don’t change too much in the next 40-50 years…

Aging in place stuff aside, I wonder if there’s a way to capture more space and keep most of the loft. In a house this small, I think it would be important to keep height and openness in the main living area

For the first while, it will be a rental; down the road we see it as an age in place possibility (thus the generous dimensions in the downstairs bathroom in this small home).

I know I'm echoing what others have said, but this is not a realistic house for an elderly person:

- Climbing stairs may become difficult or impossible. At age 99 my grandmother could walk for an hour ... but lifting her foot to step up a curb was difficult.

- Sleeping upstairs is not fire-safe for an elderly person.

- Bringing the bed downstairs would mean you'd have no living room, and that's just not realistic. Plus you'd have no bedroom door or closet downstairs.

- The downstairs bathroom is not "generous" in size.

- Consider that you're talking about elderly-you and a (possibly unrelated) caretaker living in this small space with no wall on the upstairs bedroom. You'd have no acoustical privacy, and the caretaker would not feel comfortable getting up /going to the kitchen while you're sleeping. Neither of you could watch TV, make a phone call or listen to music without the other person partaking.

- On the other hand, if you maintain your current house, and this ADU is "out back", it would be a great place for a care-giver to live. That person would have ample space, great privacy and would be handy to your "main house". This space for one person (or an accommodating couple) would be quite nice. The offer of this living space would probably make it easy to get a live-out-back caretaker.

- Still, if you want to be "future-proof", I'd say build this as a one-level dwelling; it's just more flexible. Better still, consider a one-bedroom apartment (with a separate entrance) connected to your "main house" by a breezeway. That's kinda the best of all worlds.

Well, two stories without an elevator is not age in place.

And an elevator in this small space would be odd.

Few younger people have a clue about what elderly people need in housing.

Agree, and quite a bit of the "aging in place" discussion on this board is just plain wrong too. Too much concern about wheelchairs, not enough concern about changes in flooring, which are tripping hazzards. Source: having been a caretaker for my grandmother, who lived to be ever-so-close-to-100 years old.

Your plan is cute, but lofts are a waste of living space and hard to HVAC.

Yes, the plan is cute, but lofts are not a great idea in reality. We've stayed several times in a rental cabin that has the master bedroom up in a loft ... it really lacks privacy. No, the kids couldn't see us upstairs, but every word anyone spoke downstairs reverberated up (it was made worse because all the surfaces downstairs were "hard" ... hardwood floors, no curtains, etc. The kids didn't feel comfortable watching TV after we went to bed, etc.

Use walls for windows, not closets.

Agree, but where else could a closet go upstairs?

I'm 72. That's not a place I'd want to live in at my stage in life. A bedroom but no living room? Where do I keep my books, put the stereo system, set up the computer, do my exercises, and get a bit of space when hubby is driving me nuts? Just because I'm getting on a bit doesn't mean my only activities are eating and sleeping.

Yes, my grandmother had a hard time giving up "her things", which she had collected for a lifetime. Even things that made no sense to keep -- such as business clothes she hadn't worn for decades. They were a part of her identity, and she wouldn't give them up.

With that said, here are my suggestions on making it a better space:

- Kudos for a covered entrance that will make it easy to get in/out; my grandmother was often slow getting in/out, and she was self-conscious about "making people wait", so -- if someone was picking her up -- she liked to prepare early /sit on the porch and wait.

- Go with a no-key entrance; my grandmother often had trouble juggling her purse and keys.

- Flip the direction of the coat closet door so it's convenient for the person entering.

- Note that you have only one door in this small house. That's not fire-safe.

- Corner banquette seating would be a good space-saver, and the storage you could build into the benches would be very welcome in this house.

- I see no place for a broom, vacuum, extra paper products, electrical cords, etc.

- You could save some space by going with a tankless water heater.

- Since the living room will never be a suitable bedroom, I'd loose the downstairs shower ... and instead enlarge the laundry to a non-stacked machine /which would allow for storage shelves above the machines.

- In fact, although a downstairs bathroom is highly desirable, in such a small space, I might prefer a large storage closet.

- The bathroom vanities are small /will probably have no drawer storage; as such, you will probably want deep medicine cabinets above the sinks.

- Put an outlet behind the toilet so you can have a bidet washlet ... this can make, um, cleaning yourself easier as you age.

- My grandmother (and my grandfather too, though I wasn't a close caregiver for him in his later years) needed storage at the toilet ... better to be prepared for this.

- Note that you'd have practically no storage in this kitchen /also no pantry. The moveable island sounds like a good idea, but a stationary island with doors could give you more storage. Yes, I know, I've talked about storage a lot, but if you don't plan for storage, you'll constantly have clutter underfoot.

- Upstairs I'd flip the bed so the headboard is under the window ... this would allow a more direct route to the closet.

- Speaking of the upstairs bedroom closet, go with a a door that allows access to the corners.

It looks like a good solution to meet your criteria that was given to the architect. And I like it in general. However not to pile on, but it does seem some consessions were made, half-heartedly, to give a nod to future living, which may be limiting you in other ways.

- Loft: It may be better to move the bed back, so as not to see it from below (offers more privacy in an open loft style). But the closet is there. The bathroom is excessively wide for a simple layout (and stairs meaning it won't be utilized for future accessibility). Walled linen closet inside the bath is not space efficient. Door at 36" is not needed when the stair is probably only 32" clear between the side handrail. So maybe rework an efficient bath/closet layout, which may result in a better bed location and more opportunity for windows.

- Kitchen: The area under the stairs is constricting your headroom from the middle of the sink to the left (14 risers = 8' ceiling). If this were a tiny house, it's a sacrifice and good use of space. But when I look at all the open floor space in the inside 'L' of the stair, the "foyer," and around the dining table, I wonder why the kitchen is getting tucked in under the stair as a sacrificial lamb.

- So my initial thoughts were "great!" - the Living converts easily to a bedroom, it feels very open for only 18' wide, and lots of windows. But the more I look at it, I might switch some things around. Move Living to open area, not tucked under ceiling. Entrance door in corner to congregrate circulation with stair. Dining where front door is, or maybe eliminated completely with a permanent, larger island. Laundry/mech tucked under stair. Fully exposed Kitchen. Flex (Office) area where Living is that can be converted later.

Good thoughts, 3 On The Tree.

This would be an excellent rental for students at the Ivy League School.

Just to give you a feeling of a space that seems to work for those aging.

Below is the floor plan of a one bedroom unit in a popular (pricey) assisted living complex (Central Florida).

Thanks all and Mrs Pete and 3onthetree for the thoughtful and thorough comments! There are some great ideas that I think we might include in the design. I’m trying to envision your suggestions, 3onthetree, but I don’t see where the coat closet would fit in the reconfig. there are sliding doors at the south side—trying to optimize passive solar with the polished concrete slab. We were also thinking tankless but that didn’t make it into this version.

Adding one more pic so you can see the exteriors. The lot is pretty tight and this is pretty much the only dimensions we can get with the setback requirements.

Oh and our existing house faces the north side which is why we’ve limited windows on that side.

Not to be mean Callista but I don't like the plan for either situation you've stated for it's use. Maddlelee's floor plan are more in tune for an ADU but yours is just awkward to say the least.

Put a Kitchen/dining/living room with a 1/2 bath on the first floor. Put 2 bedrooms and a 3/4 or full bath on the second floor. You will maximize the return on your investment as a rental and when and if the time comes for any old folks to move in just add a stair lift for $3-5 grand if it's needed.

What you have now is awkward if not impossible for entertaining and a tough situation to live in. Scrap the loft, the division between the kitchen and living room and reconfigure the stairs, bathrooms and closets. I really think you've tried to include features you like but are not right for a small apartment, and it should be more functional for someone to live in, and a better use of space.

And if that round thing behind the coat closet is a hot water heater it should be on the other side closer to the bathrooms and kitchen sink and not 18+ feet away.

How does the ADU position on your site? Route of getting to it/parking? What privacy is there to your house? You have a roofed porch on the east, but the slider (promoting outdoor living) on the south.

The lot is an odd shape but this would sit to the southwest of our house. Only the north side would face our house which is why few windows on that side (plus it’s the north side). The access from driveway would be from the northeast corner of the covered porch. I’ve got some questions about our foundation—we’re thinking about a hybrid foundation (frost protected shallow slab and crawl space under only the bathrooms for access to plumbing). I might make that a new post!

How would you design the ADU if your parents lived in your house as long as they are alive and you live in the ADU until then??

We’re a family of four, so we wouldn’t be able to live in something this small comfortably. This is mainly for a short term rental and quite a bit down the road the possibility of having one of our parents staying there for end of life (if needed). Primarily a short term rental meant for 2-4 people though.