living space for mother in single family house

[quinn sjoblom]

Hi everyone,
New to this forum. Im looking to build a house for my family of 3 as well as my mother so we can quit throwing money away on rent. This house needs to be built on a minimum budget. I have located a possible lot for our house but have some questions about restrictions in the covenants. I want to have about 1100ft space for my family of 3, 650ft for my mom including her own kitchen and laundry, and a 2 car garage. The lot im looking at has a slope to it so im thinking the most cost effective build will be a walkout basement of 650ft next to a 450ft garage on same level, full 1100ft floor above basement and garage for my family. Heres the specific restrictions in covenants that concern me:

1. no 2 story building shall be erected, 2 story building defined as habitable space above ground floor, including, but not limited to a loft, den, or internal balcony.

2. No structure may be erected, placed, or allowed to remain upon any individual lot except one single family dwelling house of no less than 900 sg ft finished ground floor living area. Ground floor area is defined as that which is measured from the exterior of the ground floor. This does not include a second floor, basement, balcony, mezzanine, loft or any other self contained area. Ground floor means a surface area on a single plane, measured between exterior walls. A residential, single family dwelling is defined as as a single building, containing one dwelling unit, containing facilities for cooking, living, sleeping and designed for permanent occupancy for one family.

So first of all, does my house classify as single story? the walkout and garage will be on same level, and both partially below grade with my main floor of 1100ft being above. Will the main floor above basement and garage be considered my 900ft minimum "ground floor"?

Also, does my house classify as one single family dwelling house even though i have a separate living area in basement for my mother with her own kitchen and laundry? The lot is specified as no zoning, so the covenants are the only thing of concern. If this is allowed, are there any specific requirements for my entrances? There will need to be either interior or exterior stairs, or a rear entrance to the main floor above.

Any advice is very much appreciated. Im trying to avoid wasting time and money by paying architect to design my house for this lot just to have it denied by ARC.

 

[quinn sjoblom]

one thing id like to add, if the separate full kitchen for my mom in the basement draws the line between 1 and 2 units, she is open to the idea of a more basic wet bar with no oven, just small fridge, couple hot plates, microwave, sink

 

[cda]

Sounds like you meet requirements for not being a two story

I would label the lower area just bedroom, and not identify it as an in law room

 

[e hilton]

Item 1 says nothing above the ground floor, doesn't mention going down. Would the walkout basement face the back of the lot? Less visible that way. If the lot slopes to the front, that could be a problem.

 

[quinn sjoblom]

Item 1 says nothing above the ground floor, doesn't mention going down. Would the walkout basement face the back of the lot? Less visible that way. If the lot slopes to the front, that could be a problem.

Walkout would face forward. The lot slopes upward from the curb. We looked at another lot that slopes downward from curb with walkout facing back, but this would require an enormous amount of fill for garage since that one immediately slopes like 20% right off the curb all the way down. It would have to be garage in front, then both floors behind. Much more expensive build. With this upward sloping lot/forward facing walkout, it becomes a very efficient build for the space we need. Only 1100ft of foundation and roof. The downward slope configuration would be more like 1600ft of foundation and roof since the garage foundation and roof is on its own. This budget is gonna be tight, so we need to do things as efficiently as possible.
What would be the specific issue with forward facing walkout? The main entrance not being down at ground level?

 

[cda]

My guess if it looks like a two story house from the street, it is a two story house.

Have you driven the covenant area, to see if there are a few houses built like you want to???

Good idea, can help your argument.

 

[Msradell]

My guess if it looks like a two story house from the street, it is a two story house.

Have you driven the covenant area, to see if there are a few houses built like you want to???

Good idea, can help your argument.

I'm assuming the covenants are set by a HOA, just find out who the president or other officer HOA and see what they consider what you are proposing. That's the only way to know for sure.

 

[e hilton]

I agree with cda. If it looks like 2 floors from the front, its probably going to be a red flag waving at the hoa.

 

[quinn sjoblom]

I found a contact email for HOA, so I'll see what they say about it.

Just curious, how else would you build a house on an upward sloping lot like this? I thought a walkout basement was a pretty standard method. The main reason they aren't allowing 2 stories is to not block the view of neighbors up higher on the hill. They also add that 35ft is max height for house and I would be well under that. Im not sure the 2 story appearance is really the main concern, more of the view blocking problem. I would think no matter what, a house would end up at similar roof height whether it had a really inefficient crawl space, or dug down a bit deeper with some dirt removed in front for walk out. Either way, the back corner of main floor is just a bit above grade. I have no idea though, maybe they don't like the 2 story look, not sure why that would be the case. I was a bit more concerned with the fact that it would be stairs up to my main floor entrance

 

[cda]

“”They also add that 35ft is max height for house “”


Sounds like that is your answer

 

[quinn sjoblom]

“”They also add that 35ft is max height for house “”


Sounds like that is your answer

Yeah I should have included that in first post. If they do allow it, what do you think is the best way to handle the main entrance? I think that's gonna be the hard part for the house to look right. I was planning on doing a deck for upper level, which becomes cover for walkout. I could have stairs going up to deck for main entrance, but not sure that's the best way to go. Could also have main entrance down at walkout level with stairs going up inside.

 

[ADAguy]

Use a LULA elevator and a high ceiling entry connected to the upper floor.

 

[my250r11]

In our state the building dept. doesn't enforce covenants, only the building code. So as stated before need to see if the HOA will except your plan.

 

[e hilton]

In our state the building dept. doesn't enforce covenants, only the building code.

Good point. The city could issue a building permit, later when you’re ready to move in some unhappy neighbor is going to raise a stink with the hoa and they are going to threaten you with a lawsuit and daily fines because you didn’t follow the rules. If you get approval from the hoa, get it in writing.