Planning your custom home and choosing between floor plans, designs, and the like is necessary, no matter your lifestyle. With a multigenerational home, it becomes even more essential due to the number of people and differences between needs. Talking with family members is crucial because children, young adults, and aging parents have different needs that must be considered.
To help families outline what they’re looking for in a multigenerational home, we’ve identified the areas a family should especially consider and take into account.
What is a Multigenerational Household?
Before discussing the factors of multigenerational homes that a family should look for, let’s define what a multigenerational household is. When a home has two adult generations living under the same roof, it is considered a multigenerational home and is divided into three primary categories:
- Three Generations: this is the most common type of multigenerational household due to adult children taking care of their parents. It includes grandchildren, adult children, and grandparents.
- Two Adult Generations: this style of multigenerational living grew enormously through the COVID-19 pandemic, where adult children lived with their parents or vice versa.
- Grandfamilies: the least common form of multigenerational life, it is where grandparents live with their grandchildren.
Families that live in the same home aren’t often grandparents, parents, and children. Other multigenerational living includes extended family or close relatives such as aunts, in-laws, and cousins.
House Plan Design Factors to Consider
Planning a multigenerational home is much easier when broken down into the factors that affect daily living. Talking with your family and putting together a list of must-haves is helpful, as well as talking about financing and why a custom home is a better option. When everyone is on the same page, you can then discuss the following:
- Number of bedrooms
- Who needs close access to bathrooms, and should they be full bathrooms or half?
- Is an open-concept home better for your family, or would more individual rooms be better?
- What should the layout be? Would a two primary suite home be needed, or how many stories?
- Should there be an Additional Dwelling Unit on the property for any family member to live in instead?
- What plan best balances the need for privacy and large enough common spaces?
Let’s break down each factor and include examples of floor plans that reflect each area discussed.
Bedrooms for Family Members and Guests?
The number of residents in the home must be considered to determine how many bedrooms are needed.
For example, kids below a certain age could share a room, but older adults and their parents would each need their own.
One of the advantages of a custom multigenerational home is having control over the number of bedrooms and how spacious they can be. Explore these floor plans and see which would best accommodate your family’s sleeping needs.
Close Access to Bathrooms
Bathroom placement may seem like an insignificant factor when planning a multigenerational household, but it makes sense when you think about who needs easy access to it.
Beyond wanting privacy and not splitting one or two bathrooms with the whole house, seniors may need more accessible routes to the restroom due to having less mobility or having frequent need for it. Therefore, floor plans with dual primary suites, and bedrooms with bathrooms connected to them, would be ideal.
Explore these floor plans and see which would work best:
- 4 bed
- 3 Car Garage
- 4.5 bath
- 3295 sq ft.
Family Mobility
Choosing a plan with your family means making sure the home is accessible for everyone living there. For example, if an older adult or senior struggles with stairs, you could choose a floor plan with a primary bedroom on the first floor or avoid the issue altogether by selecting a single-story home.
Explore this floor plan to view a different flow.
Separate House?
Children grow up and want more independence and privacy. But aging parents may also enjoy greater freedom and live separately from the main house.
Some multigenerational families look into tiny homes, but an Additional Dwelling Unit (ADU) could be a better solution. An ADU is a small house that includes all the features of a larger one, from laundry to shared space and storage.
This is an excellent way for your parents to maintain their independence, save space in the main house, or give older kids a taste of living on their own while still under the care of their parents.
Take a look at these ADUs and see what would be best for your family
- 1 bed
- 1 bath
- 800 sq ft.
- 1 bed
- 1 bath
- 500 sq ft.
Privacy and Common Spaces in the Plan
Everyone needs their alone time and privacy, though spaces that accommodate everyone being together are essential too. In this area, it’s good to consider where the bedrooms are. The bedrooms must not be too close to common spaces to ensure no one is disturbed in their rooms.
Favorite group activities must also be considered when it comes to common spaces. For example, if cooking is usually a family affair everyone enjoys, then a more extensive kitchen would be a good idea. The same concept applies to a dining area or family room for television or movies.
Design for the Family
The top thing to remember is that you’re choosing a home that considers every member of your family. Talking with everyone is the best way to know how to plan a multigenerational home that works for all of you.
We at HiLine Homes provide our clients with Home Consultants to help navigate that journey. We’re happy to discuss floor plans that best fit the needs and wants of the family. Furthermore, we’ll guide you through the home-building process from financing to construction.
Having this guidance and knowing that the home you’re moving into is built according to your family’s needs is one of the primary reasons you should go with a custom home instead of looking for an existing one. So schedule your home-building consultation today.
