We’re buying a house in Maine, and will need to build a separate house for my mother to live in. We’ve spoken with the appropriate officials regarding permitting, so we understand that process. What I’d like to know is how you went about finding an architect, builder, etc. and how much the thing actually cost to build. I see estimates all over the internet for as low as $80K, and that seems awfully unrealistic to me. We’re hoping to do this for less than $200K, including everything.
How tiny or big are you talking?
If the estimates you are looking at aren’t located in northern New England, they might be too low as building in New England requires good insulation, heat, roof load for snow, etc. When we lived down south, the quality of construction just wouldn’t hold up to New England standards and needs. Of course, level and quality of finishing will drive up costs a lot.
I remember seeing ads in Down East magazine for interesting architectural plans for tiny homes. Here’s one reference:
http://www.creativecottagesllc.com
http://downeast.com/tinyhouses/
Thanks for the links @doschicos. We are looking for something small, about 900 sq. feet, all on one level.
Some of your issues will revolve around how you’ll heat and cool the separate structure, and also whether you can connect to town sewers or the existing septic system.
I frankly wonder if the idea of a granny cottage ever works. Presumably the idea is that grandma mostly stays in her own place, yards away from the house where everyone else is, and shows up from time-to-time when invited.
Does anyone have experience that shows that that works at all? Obviously the alternatives are under the same roof, or up the road a ways. All with different trade-offs.
Why don’t you ask the local officials about local properties that have added additional dwelling buildings. They are probably aware of a handful just from memory, and you could take a look at what was done, and then ask the owners. At least you’d be working with local facts.
@dadx wrote
I can speak to this aspect of this thread. Our neighborhood was built with many of these types of buildings, although we call them “detached studios” (although they may have 1 or 2 bedrooms). They’re usually located above the detached garage, and a lot of the people who live here either rent them out or have a family member living in them. For rental income they are super desirable here (usually rent for between 900-1500 a month depending on the size).
We actually looked for a house in this neighborhood that didn’t have a detached apartment/studio because we have extended family notorious for bottoming out and showing up on doorsteps needing a place to stay. If word got around that we had an apartment above the garage, hooo, I’d lose my art studio in no time.
My friends in the neighborhood who have their relatives living in the apartments are pretty happy with them (the apartments, and usually the relatives, lol). So it can work, especially when you consider things like view, comfort, covered walkway from the apartment/garage to the main house, and making sure the apartment is as self-contained as the main house so the tenant/relative has everything they need in the apartment.
No, but I was looking into this exact idea but more for an office for my husband, with flexibility to be living space down the road as a rental or adult kid crash place. You’re right; the pricing does seem to be all over the board.
This sounds great in a lot of ways, but how well do they work as homes for seniors?
“Above the detached garage” means up a flight of stairs. That could become a problem as granny grows older. I’ve seen older people in my own family become extremely isolated because getting up and down stairs had become an ordeal to be faced only when absolutely necessary.
@Marian a lot of them have elevators, and some have the chair that goes up the edge of the stairwell. Elevators have come down in price a lot, especially since they’re going only 1 flight (no huge elevator shaft). I know at least 4 houses here that have elevators in the main house (a lot are on 3 or 4 levels-tall and narrow), and I know of 2 studios that were built with an elevator that opens in the garage, goes up to the living area, and opens onto the studio.
Doing a little digging it looks like you can have one retrofitted for about 10-15k in a residential application. That is not a lot when you’re considering a 200k detached garage/apartment outlay, and (at least for resale) that opens the accessibility up a lot.
In my neck of the woods, about 10-15% of homes have a detached ADU. Attaching an ADU to the existing septic/sewer is more complicated than adding a bedroom because ADU has a kitchen. It is hard to predict how much the addition will cost without getting a local, house-specific estimate.
Several years back, This Old House did one of these and I loved seeing how that planned that small, but efficient, structure. I wonder if it’s possible to access those episodes. I think it was 5-6 years ago, which probably means it was longer:)
I just had the thought that you could consider a modular-built Tiny House (like on HGTV). Then you’re just dealing with sewer/septic, water and electric hookup, and possibly a concrete pad.
https://padtinyhouses.com/how-much-does-a-tiny-house-cost/
http://www.curbed.com/2015/8/18/9929218/where-to-buy-tiny-houses
If the local code allows that. Not gonna fly where I live! It has to be stick-built.
She’s in Maine. They may be less fussy thee about how buildings get to the property as long as they meet code.
We couldn’t have one in our neighborhood. Our HOA for things you can’t do, and the hoops you have to jump through to be able to do anything (including trimming trees and bushes!) is over 85 pages long.
If she’s got acreage out in the country, she may be fine with a tiny house built and moved to her site.
In our town you couldn’t do this unless you were zoned for two family and only had one. In fact one of my current projects is dismantling the granny apartment. (It was legal when it was the chauffeur’s space over the garage without a kitchen, but not when they expanded into one of the garage bays to put in a separate kitchen.) I have done projects where we were allowed to turn the garage into a massage studio with full bathroom and were able to hook everything up to existing sewers and electrical. It was not expensive at all. I don’t know infrastructure costs at all, but $200,000 seems like more than enough for a small house with no basement.
Modular housing may not be a bad deal if local code allows it, in many cases they are better made than stick built, and generally are lower cost overall. In my area, the current rule of thumb on building costs are 150-200/square foot, it likely will be much less in Maine.
Here is what I have learned, from my own experiences, hope it helps:
1)Think about what you want first for her, what she wants, what is important. Does she want big windows? Does she want some sort of porch? What kind of kitchen? It pays to use an architect, but you should go in knowing roughly what you want, what you absolutely need, what you might like, dream list items, etc.
If you go the modular route, you can see if any of their models works for you, there are a ton of options out there, and it may work out for you and knowing what you want helps.
2)Finding an architect you can work with is important, it is why it is important to go in with your ideas, and see how he/she runs with it. Do they make suggestions? Do they explain why one option is better than another? The architect is going to design the house and usually (unless you want to do it yourself) submits out the plans for bids from contractors, and also with the contractor will be responsible for getting the permits pulled and so forth. Some people to save money do that, but especially if you aren’t in the area to supervise, paying the architect to supervise may be worthwhile. As with any thing you are doing, try and find an architect local to where you are building, and talk to people he/she has worked with, to find out how they feel about what the person did/didn’t do for them.
Architects should be careful to specify the materials, used, for example, with windows, specify windows by a name brand manufacturer by model number, and not the ones you get at Home Depot (the Anderson and Pella windows you get at Home Depot and the like are not top quality, they are made for HD and are not great IME).
It is really important to get this done and into the plans before putting it out to bid. Any changes you make later are going to cost you a lot, contractors often bid low with the knowledge people often change their minds, and they make their money that way.
3)With the contractors, try and find local people to where you will be living. If something goes wrong, they are local and accessible, plus if they do a lot of local work, they will be mindful of what kind of impact it will have if they do a poor job.Don’t go for the cheapest bid, and be careful of contractors with the low bid who push you into starting work fast, those guys have an angle. For one thing, if they submit a low bid, they likely are going to nickle and dime on things like materials (unless you specify them), and they will have an incentive to rush because likely they have a bunch of jobs scheduled, or worse, they will be doing so many jobs they likely will not show up on some days, delaying the work. Not to mention that the cheapest bidder likely is going to be using the cheapest labor they can find, and I can tell you from experience that leads to big problems down the road. Find a local guy with a reputation for decent work who has a solid bid, who tells you when they can start, when they plan on finishing, and pay the premium over the cheap guy, it is worth it I have found every time. If the architect is any good, they usually can tell you which are realistic, and often know from the grapevine who are the good guys and who are bad (plus with the internet, you also have search capability I didn’t have when we did our house).
Hopefully this helps a bit:)
Thanks for your input, everyone. We are looking for a standalone, single-story unit, not anything above the garage or that would require stairs. She can do stairs now, but we need to plan for the future.
We’ve done additions on previous houses and had great architects and contractors, but this will be a new area for us, and it will be our first from-scratch building.
Thought this could be a good resource .
http://www.countryliving.com/home-design/a37788/granny-pods/
@Massmomm, what part of Maine? Since DH and I are structural engineers, we know of some excellent architects in southern Maine. They could probably help you even if you’re building in a different part of the state.
@MaineLonghorn, thank you so much! We will be moving to Knox County. We are buying an antique house (Federal period) and want a cottage that fits in well with the existing house, barn and landscape. But we don’t want something over-the-top luxurious, just appropriate for an older person.
@Massmomm I recommend a call system, walk in shower with a handheld shower .