SHARED HOUSING
Articles
Empty Garages: The Answer to California’s Housing Shortage? Garage conversions, granny flats, backyard cottages, in-law apartments, guesthouses, crash pads: In California as of 2017, they’re all “accessory dwelling units,” or ADUs, and state laws regulating their construction have been relaxed. – NewYorkTimes.com
Rosehill—Shared Housing for Seniors by Design “Thrilled!… What a great idea!” is the response Debbie hears when she proposes her alternative to independent retirement living or living alone. She’s offering Rosehill Heights, shared housing for seniors. Before she bought the property, she did lots of research. She held focus groups. She learned about insurance and city regulations. She spoke to senior groups. The response and feedback were all positive, so she has taken the plunge. – sharinghousing.com
Letting Go of Good Housemates For a good percentage of my adult life I’ve lived in a shared housing environment–platonic and romantic–where in all cases it didn’t turn out to be a permanent solution. In this post, I’ll share my experience of what happened with the platonic shared housing experience and the reasons my home-mates moved. – sharinghousing.com
Moving In With Them Saved My Life Joanne used to live in the Woodstock, Vermont area where she was married, raised a son, and was very active in the community, especially politics. After her husband died, she moved to subsidized housing for seniors and the disabled, which she qualified for as a disabled person. Though the housing was fine and she loved Vermont, her community, and her neighbors, after a few years she knew she needed something different – sharinghousing.com
Sharing a Home with a Friend A few months ago a close friend and I discussed the possibility of sharing a home together. At first it seemed like a good idea, but as we talked more about it, I came to realize that it probably wasn’t a great idea. So what happened? – sharinghousing.com
Invest in Shared Housing (How Jude Does It) Shared housing may be one of the most viable alternatives, especially for low/mode income people as they age. If they can set aside complete independence and learn new tricks. (i.e., referring to teaching old dogs…) – sharinghousing.com
A Home-Mate Is Not A Caretaker (But Can Make a Difference) A home-mate is a person who shares the home and has an independent life. While home-mates may help each other out, it is a reciprocal relationship where each gives and receives. – sharinghousing.com
Good Hearts, Crowded House There are all sorts of ways that people share housing. This article is about people sharing because they can. It’s not an economic decision, there’s no money exchanged. – sharinghousing.com
Getting a Roommate in Your Golden Years Today’s home sharing is as likely to be among those of the same age as it is to be intergenerational. The crucial thing is that it involves two or more people sharing an apartment or a house to their mutual benefit. And finances often play a big role. – New York Times
Welcome to “Bestie” Row: Lifelong Friends Build Row of Tiny Houses in the Middle of Nowhere Four couples who had been best friends for 20 years decided they were going to trump living in the same town. No way were they going to let the business of life keep them from enjoying that special connection that they’d grown to love. So they decided to literally create their own “Bestie Row.” They all were fans of the tiny house movement, and decided to build their own little compound based around that idea. Because when you can say, “We’re going to be grey-haired friends,” you know you’ve found a bond that can only strengthen. – LighterSide of real estate.com
Senior Care: Golden Girl Homes – A New Lifestyle —Sequoia Senior Solutions Home Care Information Louise Machinist, a clinical psychologist, was ready to move out of her house now that her children were grown. Jean McQuillin, a case management nurse, had just moved into a rental apartment from the home she had shared with her then-husband. Karen Bush’s job as a corporate consultant required her to travel often, which meant making arrangements for her cat and fish — and returning to an empty house. For the women, buying a home to share made sense. — Mill Valley, CA Patch
Baba Yaga House, The Sequel Named for the fiery witch of Slavic folk tales, the six-story building was set to be a women’s only seniors’ home. It was the brainchild of 85-year-old Thérèse Clerc, who along with a group of aging feminist activists, convinced the local Green government to spend six million dollars putting it up. The Baba Yagas – as they call themselves – fought for change all their lives and for the right to make their own decisions. Now in their 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, they weren’t about to give that up. – CBC Radio
Boomer Housemates Have More Fun Today more than 1 in every 3 baby boomers — that huge glut of people born between 1948 and 1964 — is unmarried. And those unmarried boomers are disproportionately women. As this vast generation rushes into retirement, there’s a growing concern among experts on aging: Who will take care of all these people when they’re too old to care for themselves? It’s a question many of the experts take personally.— NPR
Roommate wanted: Must be clean, courteous and over 65 Six years ago, Bonnie Moore and her husband built the kitchen of their dreams. They designed it to be bright and big enough to host dinner parties but also intimate enough to be able to pick a corner — preferably one near the windows overlooking the garden — to relax in with a glass of wine. It was the perfect addition to their home in the leafy bedroom community about half an hour outside of Washington, D.C. But things didn’t work out for the couple, and after a five-year marriage, they divorced. – PBS News Hour
Looking for a Housemate, Not a Mate, in Later Life Ms. Kilkenny, now 64, moved to Asheville a year later with a plan to create communities like the fictional one that had captured her attention: three women in their 60s living together in a farmhouse in North Carolina. Today, not only has she succeeded in living that very life, she is also determined to help other women (and men) arrange shared housing as they grow older while avoiding some of the potential downsides of such a move.— NPR
Books
The Home Stay Guide: Practical advice for Airbnb and homeshare hosts Home Stay, also known as Homeshare, is a global phenomenon whereby ordinary people share their homes with strangers. On Airbnb alone there are now three million hosts around the world, one million more than a year ago. This book offers frank, practical and hands-on advice for those who are considering or already offering their home, or investment property, as short-term accommodation. Written by self-taught hosts who are dedicated to providing the best possible guest experience, this book provides real-life insights into the day-to-day experience of running a homeshare, and the lessons the authors have learned along the way. You can contact their advisory service with any questions regardless if you have the book or not.
Other organizations
