Backyard ADU for Multigenerational Living and Aging in Place
A new building on her daughter’s property gives a mother warm minimalist spaces and a beautiful private garden
This backyard ADU, or accessory dwelling unit, in Portland, Oregon, was a very special project for a mother and her daughter. Adding the structure to the daughter’s property set the family up for multigenerational living. They envisioned a modern box where the mother could age in place, having her own space while remaining close to her family. The daughter also has in mind that eventually she might be the grandmother living in the ADU while her own grown child and their family live in the main house. She and her mother hired designer Lucas Gray to create an efficient, minimalist, customized home with views of a peaceful and private Japanese-inspired garden.
The overhang has a large opening to the sky. The black object seen above the opening is a scupper. All the stormwater from the roof drains into the scupper. Then it cascades like a waterfall through the opening and down to the gravel, where it spreads out to the rest of the garden.
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The interior is flooded with light from windows and doors. Gray made sure there were no curbs or thresholds in the house, keeping all the flooring at one level. This prevents tripping hazards and will facilitate ease of movement should the mother ever require a walker or a wheelchair.
The clients liked the minimalist look of concrete, Gray says, and they used it for the floors, where it serves as a thermal mass that helps regulate temperature fluctuations throughout the days and nights. Cork flooring can be installed on top of concrete if more softness is desired, he says.
Gray also installed more insulation than required by code, including a rigid layer beneath the rooftop to increase energy efficiency.
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The clients liked the minimalist look of concrete, Gray says, and they used it for the floors, where it serves as a thermal mass that helps regulate temperature fluctuations throughout the days and nights. Cork flooring can be installed on top of concrete if more softness is desired, he says.
Gray also installed more insulation than required by code, including a rigid layer beneath the rooftop to increase energy efficiency.
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The living room is open to the kitchen. To get the minimalist look the clients wanted, Gray limited the material palette. He used natural maple on the cabinetry for a warm and light look and added contrast with a dark porcelain backsplash tile. They chose 12-by-24-inch Evoque tile in Carbon by Verde 1999 with black grout. The countertops are concrete-look quartz.
Gray created an alcove for the fridge on the left, maintaining this pleasing view of the kitchen from the living room. The door on the right opens toward the daughter’s house.
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Gray created an alcove for the fridge on the left, maintaining this pleasing view of the kitchen from the living room. The door on the right opens toward the daughter’s house.
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Gray made the most of every inch in the cabinetry, including adding deep drawers with second drawers inside for items like utensils and spices. He also used 24-inch appliances to save space.
Both mother and daughter are shorter than average, and need to use a step stool to wash the dishes at a sink in a standard-height counter. “Using a step stool can become a hazard as someone ages, so we customized all the counters to be a few inches lower than standard height,” the designer says. “This project was about designing everything to meet their needs and easing their lifestyles.” The height of the counters makes doing prep work and washing dishes much easier for them.
Both mother and daughter are shorter than average, and need to use a step stool to wash the dishes at a sink in a standard-height counter. “Using a step stool can become a hazard as someone ages, so we customized all the counters to be a few inches lower than standard height,” the designer says. “This project was about designing everything to meet their needs and easing their lifestyles.” The height of the counters makes doing prep work and washing dishes much easier for them.
The bedroom has a large closet with a 24-inch stacked washer-and-dryer unit inside. Reading sconces save room by the bed. High windows let in the light while providing privacy from the main house.
On the opposite side of the room are the large windows and door seen in the first photo. This photo picturing the mother who lives in the space was taken during construction. Refer back to the first photo to see the lovely private garden view that exists today.
“In the bathroom, you can push boundaries and be more bold. We decided to go cave-like with the black tile to provide contrast to the other spaces in the house,” the designer says. The view of the open sky also provides contrast to the dark walls. “We wanted a natural look for the tile, not a solid black,” Gray says. He chose a low-maintenance durable porcelain that looks like natural stone.
The bathroom floor slopes imperceptibly toward a linear drain at the back of the shower, allowing for a curbless entry. Other aging-in-place elements include a toilet paper holder that doubles as a grab bar and a handheld wand in the shower. The mother wasn’t ready to install grab bars in the shower just yet. But Gray had the walls behind the shower blocked so that if she needs them in the future, they will have proper support behind the walls.
The bump-out in the shower stall is the back side of the fridge alcove in the kitchen. “A lot of this project was about playing with geometry to make the space as efficient as possible,” Gray says.
He also added a mini-split HVAC system in an attic cavity above the bathroom.
A wall-to-wall mirror visually expands the space. It’s illuminated from above by an LED strip light that’s recessed into the bottom of the cabinets.
The bathroom floor slopes imperceptibly toward a linear drain at the back of the shower, allowing for a curbless entry. Other aging-in-place elements include a toilet paper holder that doubles as a grab bar and a handheld wand in the shower. The mother wasn’t ready to install grab bars in the shower just yet. But Gray had the walls behind the shower blocked so that if she needs them in the future, they will have proper support behind the walls.
The bump-out in the shower stall is the back side of the fridge alcove in the kitchen. “A lot of this project was about playing with geometry to make the space as efficient as possible,” Gray says.
He also added a mini-split HVAC system in an attic cavity above the bathroom.
A wall-to-wall mirror visually expands the space. It’s illuminated from above by an LED strip light that’s recessed into the bottom of the cabinets.
While additional windows were added later, this plan illustrates the layout of the ADU as it was built. The private garden is on the bottom of the plan; the daughter’s house is located off the top of the plan. Gray specializes in ADU design, and the floor plans are available for purchase.
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ADU at a Glance
Who lives here: A mother whose adult daughter lives in the main house
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: 625 square feet (58 square meters)
Designer: Lucas Gray
“It’s not often someone comes to me wanting a modern black box, but that’s how this project started,” Gray says. However, as the design evolved, everyone decided that natural exterior materials would be a better fit for the surroundings. “Hardie board or metal would have felt too cold,” Gray says. The siding is a mix of natural cedar and dark stained cedar, a species that can stand up to Portland’s climate. The result is a building that is modern and minimalist but also has warmth.
The four glass panels seen here mark the bedroom, while the doors to the right open to the main living space. This side of the building faces away from the main house, making this a private garden just for the ADU. The overhang provides protection from the elements. Remember how pretty this garden is while reading the rest of the story, as most of the other photos were taken before it was planted.
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