Garage with living quarters?

[JMann2380]

Hello all,

I am thinking of buying some acreage and wouldn't be able to afford building a house and garage all at one time. I was thinking of building a garage/barn with living quarters to live in for 5 years or so, then I found this on google. This is awesome, any idea what these would cost to build? Has anyone else done it? I would eventually build a house there too or if the land goes up cash out.

Check this website out...
http://www.archwaypress.com/browse.p...8c7253920.html

A cool one:

 

[HOTFR8]

What a great plan. I wish I had seen that before I built mine. I could have had my office upstairs and had a lot more room in the downstairs area.

I'm impressed with the site you found them on so much I am going to look for some ideas.

 

[V-10 Killer]

It's a sweet idea, but make sure to check your local zoning. Around here, they won't let you have a residency permit (or however they term it) unless there's a house there first.

 

[PAToyota]

Local codes as far as allowable use would be the first step, as V-10 says. Next would be sure to have fire separation between the living and garage spaces. Required by most codes, but also an incredibly good idea for the protection of yourself and family...

 

[JMann2380]

Thanks guys.... now how would a "house" be defined, wonder if it would be seen any different than a house with an underneith garage like my dad has.

 

[V-10 Killer]

That too would be defined by local zoning laws.

 

[1320stang]

I was going to build a 40x60x16 shop with 18x9 doors at each end and a man door on the corner. The end with the man door would have a wall framed in at the 18' door with some windows and a 40x30 apartment framed in with a single bathroom with a standup shower and a kitchen next to the bathroom on an ouside wall. It was going to be designed so that the bathroom was in the very corner, then the man door, then the kitchen. Once the house was built, the rooms would be torn out except bathoorm, 18' door put in and the kitchen would either be an office or just cabinets on an outside wall. This is out in the country in central Oklahome and there are no zoning laws.