A mother daughter house is a single-family house that’s built to be shared by an inter-generational family, with typically 2 distinct living areas each with their own kitchens.
A mother daughter house is still zoned as a single-family house, and all occupants will usually share the same entrance, the same utility meters and so on.
A mother daughter house can be a great option not just for extended families who wish to live together, but also for couples who wish to save money by renting a house together or college roommates who wish to live off-campus.
Mother daughter houses come in all shapes and sizes. They can be designed by the developer from the get-go to have separate living spaces each with their own kitchen, or a home owner may have renovated their house later on to add in a separate kitchen, walls and so on to create a distinct, separate living area.
Mother daughter houses could come in the form of attached rowhouses or townhouses that are connected on the inside, a duplex or even a carriage house (i.e. often a townhouse with parking on the first floor and living quarters on the second floor).
A well designed mother daughter house with natural, distinct living spaces will often have been built to those specifications from the very beginning by the developer.
As you can see from the above floorplan of a sample mother daughter house, the turquoise shaded area is separate living area complete with its own private bath, living room, kitchenette, bedroom, garage and private entryway.
However, the family member(s) living here can still easily access the rest of the house through their interior bedroom door. In this example, the rest of the house is significantly larger in size with 2 bedrooms as well as large dining and living rooms, a large kitchen, a den, a 2 car garage, a covered patio and so on.
You can imagine in this example grandparents living in the smaller section to be close to a son or daughter’s family. The grandparents would otherwise be empty nesters and don’t need that much space to begin with, and can be close by to help out with childcare while still maintaining privacy between the families.
Pro Tip: In more urban areas like NYC, you might see mother daughter houses being a townhouse with 2 fully functioning apartments sharing a common foyer. For example, the front door might lead to a entrance foyer with stairs. The doors to the left and/or right lead to the 1st floor apartment, and the stairs lead to the 2nd floor apartment.
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A mother daughter apartment can come in many shapes and sizes, but you’re generally talking about a co-op or condo apartment that’s been configured to have 2 distinct living areas, typically in separate wings of the apartment.
Just like a mother/daughter house, a mother daughter apartment will typically feature a communal entrance and a shared set of utility meters. And like a mother daughter house, the living areas will usually be distinct with separate kitchens and living/sleep areas.
The following is a great example of a hypothetical mother/daughter apartment at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort.
As you can see, our editors added in a hypothetical additional kitchen to the northern living room, so that both wings of the apartment will have their own separate living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and even balconies!
Quite conveniently, the entire family can literally meet in the middle for dinner at the dining room that sits right in the middle of the apartment.
Pro Tip: A mother/daughter is different from an in-law apartment as the latter typically comes with separate entrances for each section. An in-law apartment is of course still zoned as single-family, meaning it’s legal for any family member to live there (i.e. in-laws, siblings, adult children etc.). If you wish to rent it out, it might be quite difficult to get your local municipality to grant a variance in zoning just for you.
There is no legal definition for a mother daughter house because it is simply a single family house that’s configured to have 2 distinct living areas, each with their own kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms.
Difference between mother daughter house vs multi-family building
The difference between a single-family mother daughter house and multi-family property is the former will have 1 set of utility meters and a shared entrance or entrances, whereas the latter will have individual meters and entrances for each legal unit.
As a result, you may end up in legal trouble if you rent out the separate living area of a mother daughter house to a 3rd party tenant since the property isn’t zoned as a multi-family residence.
With that said, even if it’s your parents living with you, it may still be wise to have some sort of rental agreement or understanding in place.
So if you own a mother daughter house and wish to start renting out the separate part of your home, you’ll need to consult a real estate attorney to see if you can modify your property’s certificate of occupancy to make it a multi-family residence, and what modifications you’ll need to make to your property to make it compliant as a multi-family property.
Pro Tip: Given the significant wage inflation we’re seeing in the economy, childcare is more expensive than ever. That’s why mother daughter houses are suddenly coming into vogue with either adult children moving back in with parents, or grandparents moving in to help with childcare. If you’re considering buying, make sure to save even more money by working with a buyer’s agent who will give you a commission rebate.
