the dining room and basement sound like a great plan.

Easy access, and private for the caregiver, and access to the main kitchen too.

Looks like a generous space to work with.

Is this an inlaw suite or a place for a short term caregiver. If you use the DR then how will you access the basement ? Most garages are not to code for living space and the plumbing issue can be quite a big deal. The DR is the easiest to convert so only the kitchenette and bathroom would be in the basement ?

Is the caregiver for YOU, or a spouse, a compromised child??

A "Part Time caregiver....."

How part time? Days, nights, both?

That would imply for the care giver,

A Bedroom/sitting area/tv

A minimal 5 x 8 bath - Vanity, shower, toilet

A kitchenette at best! Sink, under counter fridge, microwave.

Clarify please. As I would put that entire "suite" In the basement. That you "don't use" the dining room is irrelevant, it's limited as an access from the garage.. The caregiver is either in the task of providing said care on the main floor, or is spending the night when charge is safely tucked away to sleep?

Your question needs more context, for more relevant advice. How many in the family, who needs the care, etc: )

There are stand alone granny flat kits that can be purchased and installed on property. Most are constructed to code and shouldn't present a problem in that aspect. You might check into those. That would eliminate disrupting the existing house layout.

I would put everything for the unit in the basement if you can get egress windows for a bedroom. I would put a wall up in the dining room creating an entrance to the unit and an entrance into the main house. I would try to do very little to the dining room except a wall and door so it would be easy to turn it back to a dining room in the future if you sell.

Your garage entrance is in the dining room. How will you deal with that?

Is this another AI question?

Is it just me or does the answer seem obvious - put the suite in the basement.

Some feed back would be nice Good catch Debbi

Assuming it is the caregiver in the new space my vote is also for in the basement.

No its for age in place with a still active senior with beginning dementia who neeeds watching and a caregiver nearby, preferably on same level. no its not an AI question, its real life. we would hire rotating caregivers so this would have to suit a few different people, but they can all manage stairs well. i wasnt sure if having the bathroom downstairs and the caregivers bed upstairs (in DR) would work, but they would have their own bathroom at least and a space for downtime. I cant add a bedroom downstairs as per town without making a very large basement room to include the walk out bilco doors for extra 2nd egress and expand window for a bedroom, which is expensive, but it can be a smaller sitting room with the existing windiw and a bathroom (just not a bedroom unless it expands to the egress Bilco) as per town.

the DR/FR is easier, for sure. no one uses the garage but it is good for eventual resale down the road. i suppose adding a sitting room and bathroom to basement is good for resale, too.

You absolutely should turn the basement into the suite for tue caregiver and not give uk the dining room. Make it have an entrance and meet code. That is the better plan all around

We would like caregiver to have own space and private bathroom.

the town wont allow bedroom in basement without making a much larger room to include the bilco egress which is halfway on rear wall. so we dont need such a big basement room. more $ to heat and cool and more taxes, additional septic for a fourth bedroom. so we want to do simplest and best for our elderly relative and caretaker what will make her stay and be cozy!

If that is the case then I would recommend you make the dining room a studio apartment with bathroom and call it done. Forget going into basement at all

Well we can put the bathroom in the basement and a sitting room. my original question was whether to do this in basement or go into garage? or back of garage?

Neither. That is my point. You are overthinking it.

where then would you add the bathroom — the fining room is only 14by 14 and there are three doors?

Thank you!

You will need to add a door to the room to make it private. You will lose access from the door to the garage. You could take a bit from garage for bathroom. Or put it elsewhere in space.

Thank you everyone!

All that this early dementia situation requires for a caregiver ( they are Rotating btw ) is a bathroom, separate from the primary bath and it should be on the main living floor..

Any OTHER space can work for a comfortable chair, twin bed, and a television and the dining room is fine for that. It is unclear who may require the other bedrooms , or if if they are in use.

No need for ANY separate kitchen , whatsoever. That would be for a live in 24/7 care situation.

The problem here, will not be "quarters" for the care. The problem will be the scheduling, the rotating. The "I can't come" The who didn't show up. There are 24 hours in a day. If the "watch" is to cover all? You are talking three separate caregivers. If you want to ASK me how I know this will be problematic maximus? Private message me.

You want the care "living" on the SAME level the compromised person is living. You don't build quarters for a baby sitter, and this is essentially what you are buying - three baby sitters all consistent at fixed times, or more?. You want as much daily /daytime/ engagement as possible WITH the elderly person.

This? This is dreamworld:

"We would like caregiver to have own space and private bathroom."

That describes a live in, one person, consistently....or a live in couple/caretakers

Downtime? You aren't paying for "down time". YOU ARE PAYING for "watch and engagement". That is the purpose of the rotation of the care. It's "trick work" as a factory and its shifts.

Trust me when I tell you. You're focused on the wrong problem. Put a bathroom or powder room ANYwhere on the main living floor, and all you probably need is a powder room. As I said......you may ask me: ) about the real problem, the slippery slope of early dementia and all involved with your plan.

Otherwise? Put an addition on the house for an ADU. or advise who is now using the two bedrooms outside the primary and convert one to a better primary bath for the elderly charge. The cost of off site memory care is so exorbitant, the least of the worry is resale of a house. Long term?

I would create a mud/powder of the dining room, which is all it is anyway, and open a wall to the living room, so that dining room is your bathroom.

The problem is not one of housing. It is the problem of rotating care, unless the care is loving f.a.m.i.l.y. The ads you see on tv? lol. x 1000

So no need for a kitchen if this is just rotating help. I deally a bathroom on the main floor would also be best are all the bedrooms in the house already in use ? Where is your realative going to be ?The caregiver can for sure use the main kitchen for meal prep and a coffee since they need to be there at different times . I think the logistics need to be figured out before anything else is done But a main floor bathroom IMO is a must . . You have plumbing in the kitchen so could be done I think. A single bed maybe even a nice daybed and a TV is all that is really a must then acces to the kitchen for them to use You ask for inlaw suite I am confused as to where they will be.

Not sure how useful it is for anyone to provide commentary on the care piece cs the design piece. None of us know this family’s situation. They have asked for help about where to build a room for relaxing essentially. Perhaps it is appropriate to leave the help to that.

I think it’s fair to ask for more context. Sometimes people can’t see beyond what they have been living with, and facing this new situation they may not know what they really need.

Context 100%. Telling them how they won’t be able to get quality care 0%

Jan, the fact that you typed all that like it replaces the OP’s experience is exactly my point. Your experience is being requested for design support not elder care. Stay in your lane. This is a design forum not a cater discussion site. Context is who will be there, how often, what needs to be included. Not a critique on the OPs ability to find quality care for a loved one.

When my dad required part time which progressed to full time 24/7 care… our care team utilized one of the bedrooms (they moved out when the next shift moved in), and we all shared the main bathroom, plus the kitchen. We ate as one huge family, around the kitchen table for every meal which was so enjoyable for my dad as well as us. Perhaps adding a another bathroom in the basement would be a great addition to the home and making the dinning room into a spare bedroom would be the easiest way to accommodate the care team. I would highly recommend if at all possible updating the other Barth room to be ADA compliant, so when the time comes it is WC accessible, with a walk-in shower. Best of luck!

The ^^"design support" is not in ANY way separate from a rotating care situation.

The title of the question was:

"Where to put an in law suite"

That alone is totally different than three or however many care providers will use/share any added aspects of design to this home. That may be as minimal as an added bathroom, or as luxurious as a tricked out basement with full bath, kitchenette, bedroom, sitting area. and a necessary Bilco or other egress from that basement. What it appears NOT to be is an "in law suite", a space dedicated to a couple , or a widow/widower alone who are by definition, family. .......unless these caregivers ARE family, and not outside hires.

Any and every design must meet a need, a function, and I have successfully been meeting those individual needs for over three decades - mobile, not mobile, thirty years young, ninety years old, and in just about all the years in between. Maybe you could just get off my back: )

The new space is for the care provider. Not the person needing care. Yes they could make a proper ADU or they could simplify. Yes more info on who is using the new space and how often is context needed. Again that is entirely separate from criticizing the OPs ability to find appropriate care providers. The design support is 100% not related to judgement about if they will have quality care providers.

Amen, Jan.

I adore Houzz. I get to be wrong about something, nearly every day.

I'm not "wrong" about this topic, I've lived it. I've watched others live it via friendships of decades, knowing all their family and long time friends. (The decorator who morphed to " just part of the family! ")

My own mom, in a thankfully gentle loss of mind, went from having good friends, running the family checkbook, entertaining, cooking, shopping, exercise classes....to: The very sweet lady whom we called "mom" and lived with dad. Sitting for hours, drumming her fingers on the kitchen table, staring at the neighbors home. Meals eschewed for chocolate covered graham crackers!

When dad became ill, requiring lengthy hospitalization/ rehab in a horrific winter of in/out/in/out in/, dialysis and more, Mom at that point, was unsafe alone in their home. It happened overnight, literally, in a sub zero blizzard- three daughters all working, and a sudden OMG, what about MOM?! when the ambulance arrived for dad. Thus began "the schedule." The who, the when of who stays overnight, who gets her settled in the morning, who spends the day, the weekend. At first a neighbor pitched in, ( mom decided she didn't like her, never had ) we tried the agency as supplement. Twenty an hour, and I arrive one day to find Mom had spent 2 hours of her care time in a plastic chair at the DMV, while our "help" took care of her personal auto issues. We tried another. She dozed off midday, woke to a "conversation", and found mom - confused, giggling, chatting in the kitchen with a gypsy in her attempt to rob our home, among others already invaded. Meanwhile, dad was still in very bad shape, the dialysis to/from travel late in evening, arrival home at midnight via yours truly. One sister helping, the other unwilling to alter her life, and me at . wits. end. They finally went together to a lovely but tiny assisted living situation, we continued the very close monitoring, found ONE adjunct / supplemental care giver for Mom, 3 days a week at their new home. A very mutual love affair developed,( Laurie and Mom) and it saved my life. Those 12 hours a week, saved all our lives.

Friends? J an J :

Multiple homes. An enviable life of travel, success, friends, you name it, and major resources. J, my lovely client of good times, fun projects, a million laughs included and especially when she bummed a ciggy. A beautiful woman who'd never had an awkward day in her life - a "Liz Taylor Blonde" if you will.

At first, she is just a wee bit daffy. Then, the loss of friends and activities. ( even good friends often find it terrifying, too unwatchable, too annoying, too..............?) The pace of mind demise quickens, her drivers license is gone, she's in the full time care of hubby with far flung grown children. His patience is more than remarkable, but his depression is equally evident and he's exhausted. Yours truly is at work on the home being built next door for his son living in another state. How many loving "pity dinners" did I eat with them that summer? I lost count. I could not leave that site without hearing "Jan!, Jan! Come over! Have dinner with us! I'm making.........." Why? Because J chattered non stop all day, followed him all day, and when I say she chattered, think of an all day water torture. An incessant, and unstoppable drip. No matter you love deeply for all the 60 years together, you'd feel your own mind will soon leave you. That you must find a place to .........scream. Thus I became the buffer, the good chat w/ hubby on those summer evenings, and three hours later at my departure? I was at.........scream. out. loud. They had a single "care giver"; she was a doll, patient, and she loved to cook. Four days a week, always on time, always with a treat of some baked goods in hand. But?! There was this:

" She's fat, I don't like her, why is she here?"

"She's very FAT!" Why is she here, and why is she so FAT?"

J's now in a memory care, luxury in nature. They feed her, dress her, engage her in activities, and she has a stuffed Siamese to baby as she did her own beloved cat.. Blond Liz is gone, and on her own long journey.

If anyone might believe that the first worry is about making the help, (rotating help) comfortable has not lived this type of care. Unless that help is staying multiple days or living in, or is very close family, he or she needs to leave, wants to leave. Might even leave with hair askew, teeth needing a brush: ) a coat tossed over the jammies. They need to go home and will want to go home, to their own "suite" home.

To the op? May you have the wonderful experience of finding however many "Lauries" you need. Cherish them for the rarity they are.

Jan, no one is dismissing your lived and professional experience and all the emotions and ways that impacts you. No one. However, this personal experience doesn’t give you the right to suggest the OP won’t be able to find quality care for their loved one. They aren’t seeking support in how to find quality care for their loved one but how to create a space for care providers. I standby what I have said, this is a design forum and the feedback should be about the space not if the OP can find suitable caters.

That^^ is as logical as suggesting a kitchen design is not about the number of cooks, or the number of meals prepared therein.

It's as logical as a bath design that would not consider who and when and how many use it.

I didn't suggest or imply the "impossibility" of care, I did absolutely say that a rotating care CAN be and often is, quite difficult to find and maintain. I have every right to point out that which is far too often factual. That is not a criticism of all care, or of the op, nor his attempt to make them comfortable in their stay. I have the right to suggest what I deem to be relevant to the post. You have whatever (odd) need you have, to "police" the commentary, especially mine. Curious, indeed.

( Care givers, not "caters)

You told the OP they were living in a dreamworld and the problem was scheduling the care and then provided examples of folks saying they can’t come and why. You critiqued him as not paying for downtime and questioned if he understood what he was paying and told him he was focusing on the wrong things. But I guess that is all design feedback in your world. And just as you can comment layers of personal experience that aren’t design related I can suggest we keep it to focusing on how to make a comfortable space for care providers.