A woman built her parents a 725-square-foot cottage in her backyard so they could be closer to their grandchildren
· Business Insider
The Picket Fence Projects
- Caitlin Swann lives in Connecticut with her family.
- In 2024, she and her husband built a small cottage for her parents on her property.
- Now, Patti and Gary Christie live steps away from their grandchildren.
Caitlin Swann doesn't have to look far when she needs a babysitter.
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In fact, she can just walk into her backyard and knock on her parents' door.
Swann's parents live in an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, on her Connecticut property. Their one-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage is mere steps away from Swann's home. They see their daughter and her three children daily since they moved in.
"It's the best," Swann told Business Insider of their multigenerational home. "I pinch myself."
In 2024, Patti and Gary Christie were trying to decide where to live.The Picket Fence Projects
Patti and Gary Christie were at a crossroads in 2024.
The 74- and 75-year-olds had lived in their family home for over 40 years, raising their children there. After retiring and becoming grandparents, they were ready to sell their home, but they weren't sure where to go next.
Their three children are spread out across the tri-state area. They liked Fairfield, Connecticut, where their daughter Caitlin Swann, 42, lived, but the houses they could afford there didn't thrill them.
"We looked at houses, but what they would get for what they would have to pay was a little depressing," Swann said.
Then, Swann had an idea.The Picket Fence Projects
Swann had moved into her Fairfield home with her husband and three kids in 2023. Swann is an interior designer, and she has worked painstakingly since they moved in to make the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom house feel like theirs. (It will soon have four bedrooms and three and a half baths when they wrap their current renovation.)
As Swann was chatting with her parents about what to do about their house, an ad for a "granny pod" popped up on her Facebook in November 2024. "Granny pods" are pre-fab ADUs that people can add to their properties, specifically designed with aging parents in mind.
"I had thought, 'Oh, we could probably add on to the house,' but I didn't really think about a separate structure," Swann said.
Swann sent her mom a screenshot of the ad in jest, but to her surprise, her mom took the idea seriously.
"She was like, 'That's brilliant,'" Swann said.
They decided to build a custom ADU for the Christies on Swann's property.The Picket Fence Projects
After seeing the ad, Swann looked into local zoning laws about building an ADU in her area, unsure if it was even possible to add a new structure to their half-acre property. To her delight, it was.
Swann, her husband, and her parents chatted it over and decided that building the ADU, which they call their tiny cottage, was the right move for everyone. The Swanns both have close relationships with her parents, and Swann said her parents' lifestyle felt well-suited to living on the same property.
"My parents are really respectful," she said. "They're not overbearing. They're extremely helpful. They go to bed really early."
"I guess you don't really know until it happens, but I know I had no concerns about living on the same property," she added.
The Christies financed the build, and Swann assembled a team to bring it to life.The Picket Fence Projects
Because the ADU would be their home, the Christies paid for the build, not the Swanns.
"We did not spend a dime of our own personal money," Swann said.
The Christies lived in their home in New Jersey for most of the build, and they then stayed with Swann's uncle for the last stretch.
Swann took the lead on designing the 725-square-foot space, both because of her experience with interior design and her parents' disinterest in that part of the process.
"My mom was like, 'I don't want to make any decisions,'" Swann said. "But of course, I ran a lot of ideas past her to make sure that she liked what I was doing."
Swann collaborated with Eileen Duffy, an architect with whom she frequently works, and tapped Paul Delco Builders as her contractor.
They broke ground in May 2025, and the project was completed in November of the same year.
Swann designed the ADU to blend well with the main house.The Picket Fence Projects
Because the main house and the ADU would be so close together, Swann wanted them to feel like they went together.
"I wanted it to feel really cohesive with our house, especially from the exterior," Swann said.
For instance, Swann based the cottage's exterior design on her house, essentially making the ADU look like a smaller version of it. They have the same roof, copper gutters, and even the same siding.
The exterior also features two Dutch doors for indoor-outdoor living and a brick fireplace.
The covered porch is one of the Christies' favorite parts of their home.The Picket Fence Projects
Swann said she knew a covered porch was a must for her parents' home, as they had one at their old home and loved it.
"Theirs was larger, but they lived on their outdoor porch in their old house," she said.
The porch sits on the side of the house with column detailing. Swann said her parents use the porch, which extends the home's square footage, all the time.
"Because it's a smaller house, if my dad's sitting in the living room watching TV and my mom doesn't want to hear it in the morning, she can go outside and have a quiet cup of coffee on her porch and be outside," she said. "It's almost like an additional room in the spring, summer, and fall."
Although the cottage is small, Swann created distinct spaces within it.The Picket Fence Projects
The ADU may be under 1,000 square feet, but Swann didn't want it to feel like a studio. She created distinct spaces for her parents within the more limited square footage.
For instance, the entryway from the porch leads to a mudroom packed with storage. It has custom cabinetry designed by John Turner of Turnerrosa Designs, which hides a coat closet, a linen closet, a shoe closet, and a washer-dryer.
There's also a bench with hooks above it for storing jackets, and the herringbone brick floor matches the brick in Swann's dining room for continuity.
The open-concept living area houses the kitchen and living room.The Picket Fence Projects
One of the cottage's entrances leads directly into the kitchen, which has cathedral ceilings covered in shiplap.
Swann wanted tall ceilings in the space to make it feel bigger, and large windows in the ceiling to bring in natural light.
The kitchen has a large island rather than a table, so the seating area doubles as storage.
"In an ideal world, we could have gotten in a dining table or something like that," Swann said. "When they have some people over, it's not like you can set a table for six, but thankfully, we are very close. They can use my dining room anytime they want."
Built-in cabinetry helps the Christies make the most of their storage.The Picket Fence Projects
The custom taupe cabinetry, which includes shelving built into the kitchen island, matches the entryway color, keeping the space cohesive. The storage is a huge perk of the cottage for the Christies.
"They actually have more storage in this kitchen than they did in their old house," Swann said.
They also went for high-end appliances, including a 36-inch Sub-Zero fridge and a 30-inch Wolf range.
The kitchen is Patti Christie's favorite room in the house, Swann said. As an avid baker, the flow and storage work well for her.
The open-concept space leads to the living area.The Picket Fence Projects
The high ceilings continue into the living room, which features a stone fireplace framed by built-in bookshelves.
"We built it from scratch with Connecticut field stone," Swann said of the fireplace. "We did an over-mortared look. I wanted it to intentionally look like it was original to the house."
Windows line the far wall of the living room, bringing in more natural light to the small space.
Swann put her own twist on her parents' interior design style.The Picket Fence Projects
Swann said taking on the design of her parents' space was an interesting challenge, as she wanted it to combine their home aesthetics.
"I still wanted it to feel like them, because I wouldn't say necessarily my interior design style is the same as theirs," Swann said. "But my mom was open to kind of reinventing their style a little bit."
"Once we brought in certain pieces from their home, like their art, it instantly felt like their style," she added. "It's their style, but my twist on it."
The house has one bedroom.The Picket Fence Projects
The bedroom has space for a queen-sized bed and a nightstand on each side. The windows overlook the property's backyard.
Rather than a traditional closet, Swann decided to create additional built-in cabinetry to maximize the room's space.
"Every inch is really utilized," she said.
The hardwood floors continue in the bathroom.The Picket Fence Projects
The en suite bathroom has a double vanity packed with storage and a walk-in shower with a bench.
Because of the bathroom's wood floor, the shower has a step up, which isn't an ideal design for people planning to age in place. The Christies don't have any mobility issues at the moment, and Swann said she and her parents preferred to design the home to suit their current needs. The one-level home wouldn't require drastic changes if it did need to be more ADA-accessible at some point.
"If we have to add railings at one point temporarily or a ramp outside, we could," Swann said. "Everything's on one floor, so there are no stairs in the interior."
Swann said the biggest challenges of the project stemmed from the size of her property.The Picket Fence Projects
Although the cottage isn't huge, Swann said it was still a challenge to add a whole new structure to their existing property, since the original house wasn't built with a second one in mind.
"I didn't want it to feel like I look out my window, and I'm staring directly into their house," Swann said. To give both homes space, she said she and her team had to make sure they were "hugging the corners of the ADU tight to the property line."
They also had to follow zoning laws about the minimum floor elevation of the home because their property is on the edge of a flood zone, and Swann said the design had to be precise to ensure it adhered to local codes while matching the look of the main house. They pulled it off, but it took time.
Though they've figured out most of it, they're still working on adding a second driveway.
"We're working with the land surveyors and the engineers to hopefully get something figured out," Swann said.
So far, the Christies love their cottage.The Picket Fence Projects
The couple was able to move into their cottage in November 2025, a few weeks shy of Thanksgiving.
Swann said there was a sense of relief when they initially moved in, and as the months went on, her parents have started to really feel at home.
"They've just been so happy," Swann said. "I feel like we've fallen into a really nice routine. My mom's joined pickleball groups. My dad walks to the beach every day."
The Christies spend their winters in Florida, and they take short trips to visit Swann's siblings. For the bulk of the year, though, they're living in their little Connecticut cottage happily.
Swann said being able to see her parents daily is a "blessing."The Picket Fence Projects
When the Christies are at home, Swann sees them daily.
"My mom and I went for a walk on the beach this morning," Swann said. "We're constantly seeing each other all day long."
They often eat together, and the Christies can walk over to the main house to babysit their grandkids. They also offer Swann additional support while her husband works, as he commutes into Manhattan and has to leave the house at 5:30 every morning.
Swann said she feels "so lucky" to see her parents every day.
"Having that time together with the grandkids and little moments throughout the day are so special," she said. "I've been two hours away from them for about 15 years. So to have them 20 steps away when you realize how short life is and you don't know how long you have together, it's been such a blessing."
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