When I was young, I remember thinking that my grandma’s house was kinda wrong. I mean, it was not that big but maybe a litte big for 2 people, her and my great aunt; and even weirder, why would they want 4 bedrooms and 2 kitchens, one of them in a small room where there were stairs?

Then I learned that in that space used to live my great grandmother, my grandmother, a single great aunt, another great aunt with her husband, 3 kids, and in the stairs kitchen there was a bed where my father used to sleep. They were not poor, it was just some life events like my grandma’s divorce made them go temporarily to that house, and they ended up staying because families stick together. The stories I know about multigenerational homes are somewhat like that, with a few outliers that were really rich and had big homes.

So I don’t think the challenge is really architectural but the mindset. I certainly don’t feel comfortable more than a few days living with my parents when I come back to visit and they have a bigger home than my great grandmother.