Caitlin Swann doesn't person to look acold erstwhile she needs a babysitter.
In fact, she tin conscionable locomotion into her backyard and sound connected her parents' door.
Swann's parents unrecorded successful an accessory dwelling unit, aliases ADU, connected her Connecticut property. Their one-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage is specified steps distant from Swann's home. They spot their girl and her 3 children regular since they moved in.
"It's the best," Swann told Business Insider of their multigenerational home. "I pinch myself."
In 2024, Patti and Gary Christie were trying to determine wherever to live.
Patti and Gary Christie were astatine a crossroads successful 2024.
The 74- and 75-year-olds had lived successful their family home for complete 40 years, raising their children there. After retiring and becoming grandparents, they were fresh to waste their home, but they weren't judge wherever to spell next.
Their 3 children are dispersed retired crossed the tri-state area. They liked Fairfield, Connecticut, wherever their girl Caitlin Swann, 42, lived, but the houses they could spend location didn't thrill them.
"We looked astatine houses, but what they would get for what they would person to salary was a small depressing," Swann said.
Then, Swann had an idea.
Swann had moved into her Fairfield location pinch her hubby and 3 kids successful 2023. Swann is an interior designer, and she has worked painstakingly since they moved successful to make the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom location consciousness for illustration theirs. (It will soon person 4 bedrooms and 3 and a half baths erstwhile they wrap their existent renovation.)
As Swann was chatting pinch her parents astir what to do astir their house, an advertisement for a "granny pod" popped up connected her Facebook successful November 2024. "Granny pods" are pre-fab ADUs that group tin adhd to their properties, specifically designed pinch aging parents successful mind.
"I had thought, 'Oh, we could astir apt adhd connected to the house,' but I didn't really deliberation astir a abstracted structure," Swann said.
Swann sent her mom a screenshot of the advertisement successful jest, but to her surprise, her mom took the thought seriously.
"She was like, 'That's brilliant,'" Swann said.
They decided to build a civilization ADU for the Christies connected Swann's property.
After seeing the ad, Swann looked into section zoning laws astir building an ADU successful her area, unsure if it was moreover imaginable to adhd a caller building to their half-acre property. To her delight, it was.
Swann, her husband, and her parents chatted it complete and decided that building the ADU, which they telephone their mini cottage, was the correct move for everyone. The Swanns some person adjacent relationships pinch her parents, and Swann said her parents' manner felt well-suited to surviving connected the aforesaid property.
"My parents are really respectful," she said. "They're not overbearing. They're highly helpful. They spell to furniture really early."
"I conjecture you don't really cognize until it happens, but I cognize I had nary concerns astir surviving connected the aforesaid property," she added.
The Christies financed the build, and Swann assembled a squad to bring it to life.
Because the ADU would beryllium their home, the Christies paid for the build, not the Swanns.
"We did not walk a dime of our ain individual money," Swann said.
The Christies lived successful their location successful New Jersey for astir of the build, and they past stayed pinch Swann's uncle for the past stretch.
Swann took the lead connected designing the 725-square-foot space, some because of her acquisition pinch interior creation and her parents' disinterest successful that portion of the process.
"My mom was like, 'I don't want to make immoderate decisions,'" Swann said. "But of course, I ran a batch of ideas past her to make judge that she liked what I was doing."
Swann collaborated pinch Eileen Duffy, an designer pinch whom she often works, and tapped Paul Delco Builders arsenic her contractor.
They collapsed crushed successful May 2025, and the task was completed successful November of the aforesaid year.
Swann designed the ADU to blend good pinch the main house.
Because the main location and the ADU would beryllium truthful adjacent together, Swann wanted them to consciousness for illustration they went together.
"I wanted it to consciousness really cohesive pinch our house, particularly from the exterior," Swann said.
For instance, Swann based the cottage's exterior creation connected her house, fundamentally making the ADU look for illustration a smaller type of it. They person the aforesaid roof, copper gutters, and moreover the aforesaid siding.
The exterior besides features 2 Dutch doors for indoor-outdoor surviving and a ceramic fireplace.
The covered structure is 1 of the Christies' favourite parts of their home.
Swann said she knew a covered structure was a must for her parents' home, arsenic they had 1 astatine their aged location and loved it.
"Theirs was larger, but they lived connected their outdoor structure successful their aged house," she said.
The structure sits connected the broadside of the house pinch file detailing. Swann said her parents usage the porch, which extends the home's quadrate footage, each the time.
"Because it's a smaller house, if my dad's sitting successful the surviving room watching TV and my mom doesn't want to perceive it successful the morning, she tin spell extracurricular and person a quiet cup of java connected her structure and beryllium outside," she said. "It's almost for illustration an further room successful the spring, summer, and fall."
Although the cottage is small, Swann created chopped spaces wrong it.
The ADU whitethorn beryllium nether 1,000 quadrate feet, but Swann didn't want it to consciousness for illustration a studio. She created chopped spaces for her parents wrong the much constricted quadrate footage.
For instance, the entryway from the structure leads to a mudroom packed pinch storage. It has civilization cabinetry designed by John Turner of Turnerrosa Designs, which hides a overgarment closet, a linen closet, a footwear closet, and a washer-dryer.
There's besides a chair pinch hooks supra it for storing jackets, and the herringbone ceramic level matches the ceramic successful Swann's eating room for continuity.
The open-concept surviving area houses the room and surviving room.
One of the cottage's entrances leads straight into the kitchen, which has cathedral ceilings covered successful shiplap.
Swann wanted gangly ceilings in the space to make it consciousness bigger, and ample windows successful the ceiling to bring successful earthy light.
The room has a ample land alternatively than a table, truthful the seating area doubles arsenic storage.
"In an perfect world, we could person gotten successful a eating array aliases thing for illustration that," Swann said. "When they person immoderate group over, it's not for illustration you tin group a array for six, but thankfully, we are very close. They tin usage my eating room anytime they want."
Built-in cabinetry helps the Christies make the astir of their storage.
The civilization taupe cabinetry, which includes shelving built into the room island, matches the entryway color, keeping the abstraction cohesive. The retention is simply a immense perk of the cottage for the Christies.
"They really person much retention successful this room than they did successful their aged house," Swann said.
They besides went for high-end appliances, including a 36-inch Sub-Zero fridge and a 30-inch Wolf range.
The room is Patti Christie's favourite room successful the house, Swann said. As an avid baker, the travel and retention activity good for her.
The open-concept abstraction leads to the surviving area.
The precocious ceilings proceed into the surviving room, which features a chromatic fireplace framed by built-in bookshelves.
"We built it from scratch pinch Connecticut section stone," Swann said of the fireplace. "We did an over-mortared look. I wanted it to intentionally look for illustration it was original to the house."
Windows statement the acold wall of the surviving room, bringing successful much earthy ray to the mini space.
Swann put her ain twist connected her parents' interior creation style.
Swann said taking connected the creation of her parents' space was an absorbing challenge, arsenic she wanted it to harvester their location aesthetics.
"I still wanted it to consciousness for illustration them, because I wouldn't opportunity needfully my interior creation style is the aforesaid arsenic theirs," Swann said. "But my mom was unfastened to benignant of reinventing their style a small bit."
"Once we brought successful definite pieces from their home, for illustration their art, it instantly felt for illustration their style," she added. "It's their style, but my twist connected it."
The location has 1 bedroom.
The chamber has abstraction for a queen-sized furniture and a nightstand connected each side. The windows place the property's backyard.
Rather than a accepted closet, Swann decided to create further built-in cabinetry to maximize the room's space.
"Every inch is really utilized," she said.
The hardwood floors proceed successful the bathroom.
The en suite bath has a double vanity packed pinch retention and a walk-in ablution pinch a bench.
Because of the bathroom's wood floor, the ablution has a measurement up, which isn't an perfect creation for group readying to age successful place. The Christies don't person immoderate mobility issues astatine the moment, and Swann said she and her parents preferred to creation the location to suit their existent needs. The one-level location wouldn't require drastic changes if it did request to beryllium much ADA-accessible astatine immoderate point.
"If we person to adhd railings astatine 1 constituent temporarily aliases a ramp outside, we could," Swann said. "Everything's connected 1 floor, truthful location are nary stairs successful the interior."
Swann said the biggest challenges of the task stemmed from the size of her property.
Although the cottage isn't huge, Swann said it was still a situation to adhd a full caller building to their existing property, since the original location wasn't built pinch a 2nd 1 successful mind.
"I didn't want it to consciousness for illustration I look retired my window, and I'm staring straight into their house," Swann said. To springiness some homes space, she said she and her squad had to make judge they were "hugging the corners of the ADU tight to the spot line."
They besides had to travel zoning laws astir the minimum level elevation of the location because their spot is connected the separator of a flood zone, and Swann said the creation had to beryllium precise to guarantee it adhered to section codes while matching the look of the main house. They pulled it off, but it took time.
Though they've figured retired astir of it, they're still moving connected adding a 2nd driveway.
"We're moving pinch the onshore surveyors and the engineers to hopefully get thing figured out," Swann said.
So far, the Christies emotion their cottage.
The mates was capable to move into their cottage successful November 2025, a fewer weeks awkward of Thanksgiving.
Swann said location was a consciousness of alleviation erstwhile they initially moved in, and arsenic the months went on, her parents person started to really consciousness astatine home.
"They've conscionable been truthful happy," Swann said. "I consciousness for illustration we've fallen into a really bully routine. My mom's joined pickleball groups. My dada walks to the formation each day."
The Christies walk their winters successful Florida, and they return short trips to sojourn Swann's siblings. For the bulk of the year, though, they're surviving successful their small Connecticut cottage happily.
Swann said being capable to spot her parents regular is simply a "blessing."
When the Christies are astatine home, Swann sees them daily.
"My mom and I went for a locomotion connected the formation this morning," Swann said. "We're perpetually seeing each different each time long."
They often eat together, and the Christies tin locomotion complete to the main location to babysit their grandkids. They besides connection Swann further support while her hubby works, arsenic he commutes into Manhattan and has to time off the location astatine 5:30 each morning.
Swann said she feels "so lucky" to spot her parents each day.
"Having that clip together pinch the grandkids and small moments passim the time are truthful special," she said. "I've been 2 hours distant from them for astir 15 years. So to person them 20 steps distant erstwhile you recognize really short life is and you don't cognize really agelong you person together, it's been specified a blessing."
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Samantha Grindell Pettyjohn is simply a Senior Reporter astatine Business Insider pinch much than 7 years of acquisition successful the manner space.At Business Insider, Samantha's sum focuses connected unsocial surviving situations, interior design, style, and books. Her activity includes features connected multigenerational surviving and one-of-a-kind houses, timely articles connected personage fashion, unrecorded sum of grant shows and pageants, and nosy pieces astir celebrated book series. Samantha besides loves reporting connected celebrities connected her beats, from HGTV stars Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa to authors specified arsenic Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros.Samantha appeared connected Scripps News and CBS successful 2022 arsenic a consequence of her sum of the royal family, and successful 2023, she won an Anthem Award for her activity connected Business Insider's package "Better Me."Samantha received her B.A. successful English from Birmingham-Southern College successful 2017, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She later earned her M.S. successful Publishing from New York University successful 2019. Samantha was antecedently a unit writer astatine Romper, and her penning has appeared successful Cosmopolitan, Mic, and Oprah.com. Today, Samantha lives successful New York.Email her astatine [email protected] and travel her connected X.ExpertiseHomes, personage style, the royal family, interior design, and multigenerational living.Popular ArticlesA family spent $69,000 turning their car shed into an flat truthful their boy could unrecorded rent-free while launching his startupA family ditched their eating room and added a superior suite supra the car shed successful a $1 cardinal renewal of their homeShe moved crossed the state erstwhile her hubby sewage into Harvard. Starting complete was hard.Rebecca Yarros is moving connected the 4th 'Empyrean' novel. Here's everything the 'Fourth Wing' writer has said astir the book truthful far.Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network pulls show aft homeowners allege that makeovers ruined their houses
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