Design a home around the life your parent wants to keep, build it so it holds up as needs change, and pay no more than it should cost.
We’ve built dozens of ADUs for every application. This guide is our team’s compilation of thousands of hours of ADU design and building — everything we know about building for an aging parent: how to plan it, design it, and build it right.
ADU built for aging parentsIn the order a builder would walk you through it.
An honest look at the alternatives, and a calculator that puts a one-time build against years of senior-living costs.
The three questions we ask every family, a life-first worksheet, and a priority picker that shapes your plan.
The entrance, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom — the construction details that decide whether someone thrives there.
How much space you really need, and the septic and electrical questions that quietly make or break a budget.
Privacy, entrances, fencing, shared or separate utilities — with a decision helper for your property.
Where to spend, where to save, and the nearly free choices that transform a small home.
All fourteen stages from feasibility to move-in, with realistic timeframes.
The questions to ask before you sign, the common financing paths, and a payment estimator.
Families who built for this — what they wanted, what we built, and what it did for them.
Everything you marked, assembled into one printable page for your builder.
Enter your real figures and see the difference over the years you expect to need care.
Tap what matters most. It carries straight into your brief.
Your answers, assembled into one page any builder will understand.
One couple sold their home and built a 700 SF one-bedroom ADU on their daughter’s property instead of buying a larger house to age in. They left the wasted space behind — and kept the family next door.
Names and details are withheld for privacy. The full story is in the guide.
The design, construction and cost guidance applies anywhere. Zoning and permitting vary by city, so the guide shows you exactly which questions to ask your local building department and your builder.
Yes. The guide doesn’t replace construction plans — it makes sure the plans are right. You finish with a one-page brief that tells any builder exactly what you want and which details are non-negotiable.
Yes — this guide is built for exactly that. It shows how to design for independence today and build in the details that matter later, while they cost the least. If care is needed now, the In-Home Care guide goes deeper.
Right after checkout you get access to the guide in your web browser — on a computer, tablet or phone. Your answers in the calculators and worksheets save on your device as you go, and your brief prints or saves as a PDF.
If the guide doesn’t leave you with a clearer, more confident plan, reply to your guide email within 30 days for a full refund. You keep everything.
