In-laws, Outlaws, and Granny Flats: Your Guide To Turning One House Into Two Homes

by Mike Litchfield. Taunton Press, 2011. Paperback, 224 pp., 200 color photos, $24.95

Mike Litchfield has just written a very important book on building, not just for its subject matter, but for its timeliness in this era of tightening incomes. The subtitle says it well: “Your guide to turning one house into two homes.”

There’s a growing need for sensible and affordable shelter in North America these days, and Mike, the first editor of Fine Homebuilding, and the author of the bestselling book Renovation, has put together an immensely useful book here.

The book addresses a real need. For one (big) thing, baby boomers’ parents are aging, and a cottage in the yard or an apartment above the garage beats a rest home or a retirement condo in both financial and human terms.

In many cases, for the cost of renting a house or apartment for a few years, or for the cost of an elder and/or loved one in a rest home, you can create a rent-free or mortgage-free home. The book covers, in this order:

1. Is an in-law right for you?

2. Design of in-laws

3. Choosing appliances, fixtures, and materials

4. Plans and permits

5. Methods of construction, and the pros and cons of each:

a. Basement units

b. Garage conversions

c. Stand-alone units

d. Bump-outs, carve-outs, and attics

6. Current sources for finding architects, green materials, and products

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Visitors from France on Tuesday, before I left on trip. There will be 8 pages on their rustic commune in France in the small homes book. Check out the homemade bike. On their way from LA to Oregon. Kindred spirits seem to abound these days.

Whew! Where to start? I left home early Wednesday and drove up to the Sierras with my son Evan to meet with the star of our tiny homes book, a world champion snowboarder who has built a most incredible house in the wilderness. We had been struggling with the layout — a huge number of great photos — and lo and behold, our builder had done stunning layouts, 10 pages in all, of his creation and its spectacular mountain surroundings. Yes!

This book has its own life. It’s like a living organism right now, changing and assembling itself. We’re just there to help. No kidding. It started slowly, and now it’s roaring along like a locomotive. Stuff is pouring in. We’re already beyond our (224) page count, and it’s obvious this is going to be a series (we’ve got tons of material for another book). It won’t be out until February — such is the reality of our slow production process and the logistics of printing and shipping from overseas.

Then back from the Sierras through the heat of the Sacramento Valley. In Auburn we stopped to shoot photos at a place that sold a variety of Teardrop trailers (popular in the 40s-50s, being rediscovered now). In Fairfield I dropped Evan off at his car, and proceeded westward to the coast. By the time I got to the Russian River, there was a cool freshness in the air, and I drove along the river out to its mouth at Jenner, then headed north in the night along the foggy coast.

Yesterday I went into Gualala with Louie for breakfast at Trinks, a triple threat cafe — excellent lattes, breakfast, and speedy wi-fi. I downloaded a ton of email. Hoo-whee,things are popping right now, on all fronts. Sunday I spent 5 hours getting filmed and interviewed about skateboarding for AOL. It’s for a series of 1-1/2 minute videos they run on their website, called: “You’ve got…” There seems to be a lot of interest suddenly in someone of my, um, age, skating.

Click below for rest of post.

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“16 Years of custom building, located in central Minnesota, The Rustic Way offers a custom service to create your eco-friendly personal dream in cabinetry, furniture, picture framing, buildings and an asortment of speciality items. All of The Rustic Way’s products have the warmth, character and lustre created by using wood that has experienced decades of aging; before it was carefully preserved from buildings that date back generations.”

“…Dan Pauly has a passion for old wood – its warm luster, tight grain and fascinating, unique history, first as trees harvested from old-growth forests in the 19th Century and then as lumber from old structures – barns, granaries, grain elevators, warehouses, stores. ‘This wood reflects our natural heritage,’ Dan observes, ‘and has a much richer and more attractive patina and grain than modern wood.'”

https://rusticway.com

Sent us by Irene Tukuafu

I’m about to write a review of this great new book by Mike Litchfield. In the interim, check out Mike’s website Cozy Digz for photos from the book: 

Also click on “Cool Stuff” in the left hand column for small house appliances. fixtures, and hardware.

Mike is a former editor of Fine Homebuilding, and author of the best-selling encyclopedic Taunton book, Renovation.

The day before I left, Lew made up this tiny little book, about 1½” x 2″ and it’s been a huge (sic) hit with everyone I’ve shown it to. When I showed it to publisher/media guy Richard Nash a few hours ago, he was delighted and said, “Dude, that’s publishing!

We’re going to print up a passel of them when we publish the book.