The Accessible Dwelling Unit (ADU) and Tiny Home Movement

For the last year I've been studying the ADU and Tiny Home movement in the US. Being that my career in engaged in educating people on how to stay at home for as long as possible, why not look at another view as an option outside of the standard such as assisted livings, nursing homes, CCRS's and so on.

In NC, a ADU is a version of a tiny home around 300 sq/ft. NC ruling states no larger then 300 sq/ft while other areas in NC are allowing up to 800 sq/ft.   Each state writes their standards/rules and then each county can write their own version if they choose to. A typical ADU built and delivered at 300 sq/ft costs around $50K. Then you need a GC to connect the lines (water, electric etc) at an additional cost between $5-10K.  ADU's sit on the land of a primary dwelling. So if I wanted to care for my mother, I can build the ADU in my backyard with a path created to connect both houses.

A Tiny Home is just that - a small house. It can be 550, 650, 1000 sq/ft and it's treated like any other building of a house on land, inspections and all.  ADU's currently have less restrictions on the building of the unit and installations. 

Like in most things, the west coast seems to be the trailblazer here as well. Portland OR not only sees the ADU's  as a way to promote caregiving in a very affordable way, but opens the doors as seeing these units for other purposes such as affordable housing, additional income, college kids who want independence but have no change in their pockets etc.

Having an ADU on your property allows you to care for someone close by. You can bring in services for help such as homecare, home health, PT/OT, nursing or whatever you need. There are local chef companies to prepare meals fresh or pre made for the week. Sound expensive? It's not.  Compared to the cost of living in a community, care home, nursing home and others - this option seems to be doing very well in it's infant stage.

ADU's are a long way off from being mainstream but little by little each state is making their overall ruling on the requirements. I'm currently in multiple counties at the zoning departments explaining what ADU stands for, never mind hoping to get them to write local requirements. ....... I'm close.

A Tiny Home - a ADU - What works best for you?

I personally decided to become a consultant to residential and community builders, designers and families in the ADU and Tiny Home arena. Current designs need to be worked on when engaged with the aging population as most designs are not for every ability. I'm currently designing a signature series with a modular home manufacture so future ADU's and Tiny Homes will be forever homes. I started to consult in conjunction with my current company Freedom Frogs because finding affordable housing and ways for people to stay connected in their house - IS my job.  Anyone who has an interest personally or in business to learn and create this type of housing,  reach out to me and I will share what I am doing. 

The link below has a lot of ADU info coming out of Portland. Look at the left side tab and check out the different sections.

Cheers!