By William Weathersby Jr.

Brothers Chung and Chuong Nguyen, of MC2 Architects, designed a residential compound that houses the eldest brother and his family in a two-story house, with a one-story bungalow tailored to their parents, opposite. The Nguyen family’s pagoda-like pavilion is connected to the main house by two wooden bridges, above. On the eastern side, a bridge connects the pavilion to an outdoor kitchen designed for preparing meals for family gatherings. On the western side, the entrance to the main house is across a long bridge floating above the water. To take advantage of the rainy Houston weather, the roofs of the two houses are designed to collect rainwater, which is funneled into the lotus pond. The roof of the central pavilion is inspired by a banana leaf reminiscent of vegetation in Vietnam. To beat the harsh Texas heat, the house features pitched roofs and ceiling fans, with exterior overhangs shielding most windows from direct sun during midday, right. Architects MC2 Architects www.mc2architects.com William Hefner Architecture & Interiors www.williamhefner.com Daly Genik Architects www.dalygenik.com Interior design Cynthia Leibrock www.easyaccesstohealth.com

Call it home design for the post-nuclear family. Houses that accommodate multiple generations of one family (beyond mom, dad, and the kids) aren’t so exotic anymore. “As baby boomers grow older they are living longer, and many custom-building clients are making ‘aging-in-place’ design considerations that will keep their homes comfortable for themselves and other family members later in life,” says interior designer Cynthia Leibrock, principal of Easy Access to Health in Livermore, Colorado.

Called by some professionals “intergenerational design,” the practice of outfitting a home for multiple generations goes beyond creating easily accessible kitchens and bathrooms for the elderly. There is an increase in families creating suites or zones for their own parents or grown children. They may still be called single-family houses, but now such homes sometimes nurture more branches of the family tree.

One remarkable example of such a multi-same-family complex is the Houston home designed by brothers Chuong and Chung Nguyen, partners in MC2 Architects. “In Vietnam, our original homeland, many generations of the same family often live in the same house,” says Chuong. Adapting the customs of their native country to life Texas-style, the Nguyens designed a compound composed of two houses: one two-story structure for Chuong, his wife, and daughter; and a one-story bungalow for his parents. The houses embrace a pavilion placed in a lotus pond, a communal gathering place.

“In our case, the house is a chance for my brother and me to take care of our aging parents, and in turn they can care for their granddaughter while they are still able,” Chuong says.

For a Pasadena, California, family with two sets of aging grandparents, Los Angeles architect William Hefner designed a separate wing as a suite for either older couple to eventually occupy when they might require stepped-up senior care. “The self-contained wing will afford the grandparents privacy while allowing daily contact with the family,” Hefner says. Part of the 9,000-square-foot house, the 700-square-foot suite features a bathroom equipped with grab bars, a roll-in shower, and wheelchair-accessible vanities. A private patio overlooks the mountains.

Meanwhile, a retired citrus rancher near San Diego hired Daly Genik Architects to create a 2,800-square-foot primary residence in the foothills of Mount Palomar that can also accommodate visits by his three grown daughters and their families. Two bedroom wings extend from either side of a glass-box great room, fitted with sliding screens that can change the configuration of the sleeping quarters. The 20-by-32-foot great room can easily host a crowd. Through thoughtful design, such intergenerational abodes stylishly keep things all in the family.