A New Mother-In-Law Apartment: This project converted an existing garage attached to a traditional Bangor-Box style house into a new mother-in-law apartment. The project also included the construction of a new kitchen/dining area and contemplated the first and second-floor bedroom improvements in the existing house. The project was located in Bangor, Maine.

Program features included a mother-in-law apartment with a living/dining area, kitchen, small library area, master bedroom, master bath, new kitchen, and new laundry area. A new first-floor shower and bath were provided at the front of the house, and the front porch was converted into a guest bedroom. The project also included a large exterior porch that provided a direct connection between the interior and exterior spaces of the building.

The project was notable for several reasons:

• The primary design goal of the project was to combine two households into one, supporting a full extended family (mother, father, children, and grandparents) living under one roof. The building provided spaces for each family that allowed for privacy, while the kitchen/dining room was the shared space for the entire family, and the heart of the home.
• The mother-in-law apartment was self-sufficient, with its own kitchen and bathroom facilities.
• The kitchen was constructed in an existing mudroom which required extensive renovation to serve this purpose. The previous owners of the building had under-designed this space and had not provided a concrete floor slab, using bricks set in the sand as the floor of the room. Obviously, this was not acceptable for full-time occupancy of the space with a kitchen area, so the brick and sand floor was removed and replaced with a modern concrete floor slab.
• The kitchen area provided ample space for family-based cooking activities and shared meals. The dining area provided space for several heirloom furnishings and served as the focal point of the combined home.
• The kitchen in the existing home was renovated to become a new laundry home and ½ bath.
• The front porch of the existing home was converted into a guest bedroom with a full shower and toilet room.
• The upstairs master bedroom in the existing residence was enlarged and provided with its own small bathroom. The space to do this was obtained by enclosing an existing exterior porch.

The total Construction Cost for the project was approximately $750,000. In the end, the kitchen and dining areas were constructed as designed, while the other portions of the project were tabled for another time. The project was constructed by a pre-selected contractor who was part of the design team.