Affordable Housing Crisis Demands ADUs and DADUs, PDQ
/by Jeffrey Steele for Forbes
Johnston Architects’ Casita and Twisp Cabin were featured in an article about Accessory Dwelling Units in Forbes.
Johnston Architects
Pacific Northwest-based Johnston Architects has addressed the concept with its Twisp Cabin, which was originally designed as a vacation cabin located in the Methow Valley of Washington State. The home design has since proven remarkably adaptable.
It can be customized to almost any kind of home site or individual’s needs and has even turned up as a family home on Orcas Island, Washington. It can also be built from multiple materials, among them Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT). What’s more, it was designed to meet Seattle’s ultra-tough energy codes, the nation’s most rigorous.
the twisp cabin in the foreground and the casita tucked behind it / photography by benj drummond
The 1,300-square-foot Twisp Cabin, whose plans can be bought for $7,000, is one of a number of Johnston Architects’ customizable home designs available for purchase.
“We’ve seen housing prices increase year over year since the recession, to the point where a lot of residents couldn’t even qualify for their homes today if they had to buy them all over again,” says Jack Chaffin, a partner at Johnston Architects.
“With a chunk of their net worth tied up in the value of their houses, some homeowners, especially on fixed incomes, are vulnerable to economic downturns or unexpected expenses, like a health care crisis or increased property taxes. One way to increase affordable housing in urban areas and keep existing homeowners more secure is by building ADUs or DADUs . . . [They] could be a solution to ‘aging in place.’ Build yourself a smaller house to live in and rent out your larger home to someone else.”
Johnston Architects isn’t the only architectural firm getting in on the growing interest in ADUs nationwide. Read on for insights into two others, as well as their ADU plans.
You can read the article in its entirety on the Forbes website.