Adus offer options for homeowners to age in place

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A NEW HOME FOR DAD When Walt Drake decided to downsize in 2013, he sold his house in Decatur, Georgia, to his son Scott. But Walt, a 75-year-old practicing attorney, couldn't find a


condo he liked. So Scott, 44, built a detached 800-square-foot ADU for his dad. "It has worked out great,” Scott says. “It's very private. I can go a few days without seeing him,


or I can see him five times a day if I want to." The ADU was built on ground level to eliminate steps. Walt is in good health, but his son says having the ADU has made it simple to


check on Walt when he has had medical issues. The arrangement has also allowed Scott's two daughters “a whole new level of interaction with their grandfather." Scott said it cost


around $350,000 to build. Several friends, after seeing the ADU, are planning to build one as well. “We got kind of lucky,” Scott says. “This worked out as a perfect solution." FREE


RESOURCES Interested in an ADU? AARP has free resources, including a design catalog, technical drawings, resources about financing and budgeting, and a video library. Visit aarp.org/adu and


  aarp.org/futureofhousing TYPES OF ADUS • Detached backyard cottage • Attached addition to existing home, with separate entrance and kitchen • Interior (upper level) attic apartment •


Interior (lower level) basement apartment • Above-garage addition that serves as an apartment over the garage • Garage conversion; an attached or detached garage made into an apartment