See How 2 Families Make Life Work Under 1 Roof
Sisters Cathy Surianello and Debbie Scofield spend a lot of time together, which means their husbands and kids spend a lot of time together. So after years of joint vacations, holidays and weekends, the two families thought that living in separate houses was a bit inefficient. “All of a sudden you say, ‘We’re always together — why are we going to separate houses with cars at night? We could just go to separate bedrooms,’” says Debbie’s husband, Douglas.
That realization sparked an idea to have Cathy and her husband, Frank, and Debbie and Douglas and two of their kids live under one roof. The Scofields’ oldest child is in college and comes home for holidays and weekends, as do the Surianellos’ three kids. In 2017, the couples pooled their money and found a property in Buffalo, New York, and spent about eight months remodeling to make the home more cohesive and functional for what often ends up being 10 people living in one house.
Love this so much!
Cheers to you all!
Can I move in, too?
Such an interesting, fun story and what a stunning home! The organizational components are beyond!
I'm SPEECHLESS!!!! How fabulous!!!!!!!!
I LOVE generational homes! Thank you for sharing.
Heart-warming ...love this <3
Best Houzz story ever!! Beautiful home and family. I want to be at their table for Sauce Sunday!!
Wow!!! That story was amazing!!! It is true about generations of families living under one roof. Unfortunately, not everyone gets along with their family members. I believe this type of living provides all kinds of support in so many ways. Once again, it is not for everyone.
Made me cry. Amazing! Your family is very blessed.
This is wonderful. Beautiful family and home.
Congratulations to all of you for making this work. It is of course, not a new concept in many areas of the world, for generations to share a home. Instead of worrying about why it might not work, the husbands in this story looked for ways to make it work and to know each other well. There are many bonuses for this kind of living arrangement, not the least being based in love and resilience. The beautifully designed house is a bonus, but it can be done with less.
More families should do this. It brings people together and gives everyone a better quality of life.
Fabulous - you don't have to be related by blood to do this.
I lived in an extended family situation for decades. We co-owned our home. It takes a village to raise kids and the perks financially, socially, psychologically speaking far outweigh the cons, especially in this day and age with rising housing, food & medical costs. Great video and concept for Americans to look at! In so many other regions of the world, it is totally natural to live together and take care of each other.
Wow, this is both amazing and wonderful!
Awesome living situation and folks. Enjoy to the fullest. Wait till those grandbabies come - what fun!!! :-)
We 3 have shared co-owned homes for 14+ years. Best way to live--far better for far less. Community.
This is home and two families is exceptional! So happy to see two families who are able to live together and celebrate the families and launching of their children. These parents are great role models! Love the kitchen and balcony retreat!!!
Totally need to see more pictures and a floor plan would be fantastic. But at 5,800 square feet - it is like living in 2 homes & then some. Sweet that they can make it work. I would like a family compound - separate homes on one property. :)
no amount of square footage or amenities can account for the one component that makes this work, imo a singular rarity amongst siblings: they get along.
I love this but few families could afford a home large enough where they have their own retreat space.
Incredible on so many levels. A reminder of what family should be.
There is lots of info available online about different models of shared housing and how to make it work
beautiful family
That's awesome! I have several times had two families living in our house..fortunately it has a really large kitchen. That way we can work around each other,and eat together or separately. I loved having them living here.
I LOVE IT!!!
It great and sad to see what has been lost in North American lives that people are shocked that families can live together. Albeit these sisters obviously have a lot of love for each other and this has spread to their husbands and children. Just as conflict is contagious so too love is contagious and these two families are a wonderful example of that. I don't actually think this can be fully achieved by having 2 separate houses on one property (as someone suggested) but it would be a start. It clearly shows how self oriented we have become in that we must have our own everything and find it difficult to comprehend anything else. Incidentally there are many couples who live in houses this size, so the bonus is that they can share in the cost and have quite a nice home. Wonderful and inspirational!
It is not easy to live together so many people but I think they did it:)
Houzz: The comments to this article suggest more features on cooperative households of all kinds. Including how they combine their decor items to make it work harmoniously?
Looooovvvvve this home and family situation. I always wanted to be the Waltons, so this works for me big time. My only request is that my husband learn to cook. Anything. Anything at all.
So inspiring! I also think the doggies are cute! Does anyone have an idea on breed(s)?
were can we found the lamps from the kitchen ?