Rethinking the American Home: Expandable-Life-cycle Houses in Suburban Context

Abstract

The range of typical single family houses available in the market today does not respond well to the ever changing size of the family, first expanding then contracting. Ideally, a house should be flexible throughout the household's life cycle and respond to its owners' ever changing needs. A life-cycle-family house could grow and contract with the family and meet any new functional needs, such as accessibility for the elderly. Could a new house type allow each household to stay in residence longer, ease the financial trouble of purchasing new houses as aging precipitates changes in lifestyle? This thesis will explore the possibility of ways to provide a new house type, one that can expand and contract with the needs of a typical family.