A garage apartment is an apartment built within the walls of, or on top of, the garage of a house. The garage may be attached or a separate building from the main house, but will have a separate entrance and may or may not have a communicating door to the main house. A garage apartment is one type of "

accessory dwelling unit Secondary suites (also known as accessory dwelling units, ADUs, in-law apartments and granny flats) are self-contained apartments, cottages, or small residential units, that are located on a property that has a separate main, single-family home, ...

" or ADU, a term used by architects,

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

s and in

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

ordinances to identify apartments smaller than the main dwelling on one lot or parcel of land. Other examples of ADU's include

granny flat Secondary suites (also known as accessory dwelling units, ADUs, in-law apartments and granny flats) are self-contained apartments, cottages, or small residential units, that are located on a property that has a separate main, single-family home, ...

English basement An English basement is an apartment (flat in UK English) on the lowest floor of a building, generally a townhouse or brownstone, which is partially below and partially above ground level and which has its own entrance separate from those of the ...

s, mother-in-law suites, and auxiliary units. In the U.S., garage apartments are frequently found in older urban areas, either in secondary buildings designed for such purposes (sometimes called ' guest' or '

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

' houses), or converted into residential units from their original use. ADUs may be regulated by size, occupancy, lot size, core features (such as kitchens or bathrooms), other building codes and parking allotment. In Canada, they can also be referred to as ''coachhouses'' and in Australia, ''

Fonzie Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lea ...

flats''. The idea of integrating garage apartments into urban planning is a key aspect of

new urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually inf ...

, although many jurisdictions in the U.S. prohibit new construction of or occupancy of ADUs except for relatives.

References

External links

* {{cite newsletter , url=https://archives.huduser.gov/rbc/archives/newsletter/vol3iss1more.html , title=Accessory Housing is Part of the Solution , volume=3 , issue=1 , work=

Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse The Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse (RBC) collects, processes, assembles, and disseminates information on existing barriers that inhibit the production and conservation of affordable housing. RBC is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urba ...

newsletter , publisher=

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

, date=January 2004 Apartment types