Family Matters - A confluence of factors makes an old trend new again— multiple generations living together under a single roof.

The quintessential American dream may still be a single-family house with a private yard. But now, growing numbers of families are living with multiple generations.

Even though the numbers are small, the increase is noteworthy. Multigenerational households, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as those with three people in three generations who are related, rose 38 percent, up from 3 million in 1990 to 4.2 million in 2000, according to a Census 2000 Special Report, “Examining American Household Composition: 1990 and 2000” by Frank Hobbs, a demographer in the Population Division at the bureau. The number of generations living together also increased,and almost two-thirds of the generations included a grandchild.

The different generations recognize the intangible rewards that come from living together. “They realize the richness of caring for the next generation,” says Donna M. Butts, executive director of Generations United, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization that promotes programs and policies to connect generations.

Numerous reasons account for the changes:

  • The growing immigrant population continues to follow homeland cultural traditions.
  • The increased cost of housing makes it smart for families to share expenses.
  • The larger senior population wants to age in place at home rather than in a facility
  • The “sandwich generation” lives with parents who help watch grandchildren;
  • Increasing numbers of grandparents have legal responsibility for their grandchildren.

All these factors provide an important demographic opportunity for developers looking for viable niches in a slowing housing market. But a challenge for them is that no single type of housing or layout works for all because many variations exist,from different numbers of generations living together to different family sizes, cultural traditions, and economic levels.

FOLLOWING TRADITION

The country’s swelling immigrant population, which is at an all-time high, illuminates the variations. The extended family may include grandparents as well as cousins, aunts, uncles, and godparents, says Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, co-director of the Immigration Studies Center at New York University and author of Latinos: Remaking America (The University of California Press, 2008). The largest group among the immigrant wave is Hispanics, who numbered 44.3 million last year and 27.5 million 10 years earlier.

Within the Hispanic sector, cultural and economic differences have spurred different behaviors, but even these may vary by where people live, says Joseph Salvo, director of the population division at the Department of City Planning in New York City. “We know that Mexicans drive the Hispanic trend nationwide and that those in New York pool their incomes and tend to live together,” he says.

Angie Moncada, who grew up in Atlanta in a traditional singlefamily household,has experienced multigenerational living firsthand by residing with her husband Eduardo’s South American-born parents. She and her husband and their 7-month-old son moved into his parents’ ranch-style home in Providence, R.I., in 2007 to save money.

“We refinished the basement but didn’t put in a kitchen or full bathroom, so we eat every meal with them. Also, I have to go upstairs to shower, which means a cheerful greeting to my motherin-law at 6:30 a.m.,” she says.

Developers should take note of this increasingly common arrangement so they can build in greater privacy for familial harmony, namely in the form of separate quarters, even if small, and with a separate entry for the second family.

AFFORDING TOGETHERNESS

Developer Orren Pickell of Orren Pickell Designers & Builders in Lincolnshire, Ill., is doing this already at the upper end of the single-family housing spectrum due to more requests. “We’ll build a separate ‘apartment’—a bedroom, sitting room, kitchen, and bathroom—on a third floor with an elevator or on a lowerlevel,” he says. “Or, sometimes we’ll put a second master suite on the first floor by the kitchen and the first master on the second floor. That way the owners can take the second-floor master for themselves and have the firstfloor one for older parents.”

What Pickell is now developing for multigenerational,wealthy homeowners is a compound of multiple houses on a large piece of land. One development in Long Grove, Ill., includes four homes on 15 acres. He views this as a healthy arrangement for those who can afford it. “The younger generations have the energy. The grandparents have the wisdom,” he says.

GRANDPARENTS STEP IN

Today, more grandparents are raising their grandchildren under the same roof, which offers developers another opportunity. The 2000 U.S. Census found that 5.7 million grandparents lived with their grandchildren and almost half had legal custody. Designing housing for them requires special attention to each generation’s needs. The children or young adults need room to play and hang out; the grandparents may need universal design features such as grab bars, good lighting, and nonslip flooring.

These features and good design can be achieved—even affordably. Nonprofit social service agency Presbyterian Senior Services in New York, for example, demonstrated innovative design with its 50-unit “grandparent family apartments” building in the South Bronx. Executive Director David Taylor recognized the need for safe homes for those 62 years and older who have legal custody of their grandchildren and a monthly income at least 50 percent below the area average.

Over the last 12 years, Taylor had seen an increasing number of grandparents and their grandchildren use his center’s resources, such as its after-school study and recreation programs. As the facility became more crowded, Taylor decided to raise funds through a partnership with the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing to build a residence with a resource center.

The $12.9 million, energy-efficient building designed by Goshow Architects opened in 2005 with two- and three-bedroom apartments. “It represents the first of its kind in the country,” Taylor says. “Apartments are bigger than most senior units since families are involved.”

Architect Eric Goshow created units with open living and kitchen areas so family members can cook and eat together, as well as wider hallways with railings where kids can run and grandparents can follow. The project also features rooms on the main level where grandparents can meet, kids can be tutored and counseled, and teens can hang out.

Demand is high. “There are 89,000 seniors raising grandchildren in New York alone. We’ve only accommodated 50 with 92 grandchildren,” Taylor says.

AGING IN PLACE

Other families live together when seniors age and can no longer care for themselves and do not want to enter assisted care facilities or nursing homes. Creighton Gibson built his ranch-style home in Statesville, N.C., with an extra bedroom and bathroom for his or his wife’s parents.

Gibson’s father moved in after a fall at age 68, so Gibson added grab bars in the bathroom and brighter lights to accommodate him. After his father died three years ago, his wife’s mother moved into their home.

Homes with certain altered layouts, such as a converted basement, attic, or garage, offer an additional benefit—the potential to increase a home’s value, says John Gilderbloom, professor of urban and public affairs at the University of Louisville and author of Invisible City: Poverty, Housing and New Urbanism (University of Texas Press, 2007), which discusses housing the elderly, disabled, and poor.

Whatever the situation, NYU’s Suarez-Orozco offers this advice to developers considering this market: “New flexibility is required in imagining the needs of the next generations. We’re moving toward a new definition of family that’s different from anything we’ve seen in the last 20 years,” he says.