Daily life of a multigenerational family

Bringing families closer together and keeping costs down are two of the biggest benefits of intergenerational living, one family who bought a multi-generational home told us a year ago.

• Also Read: Multigenerational home: An increasingly popular housing type

• Also Read: Creating your own multigenerational extension

Chantal Ladouceur and her partner Jacques Riopel live in a multi-generational home extension at L'Assomption in Lanaudière.

Mathieu Ladouceur-Proulx, Mrs. Ladouceur's son, and his partner Marie-Christelle Houde live in the main part (equal to about 60%) with two teenagers.

Old garage

The extension was formerly a double (almost triple) garage converted by the previous owners in 2015.

An extension to a multi-generational home where Chantal Ladouceur and Jacques Riopel live.

Photo by Simon DESSUREULT

“For 17 years we've had the opposite formula, which means Jacques' parents have an apartment downstairs from our house,” Ms. Ladouceur explains. That's us kids. »

Now, the sixty-year-old can see her grandchildren almost every day.

“Emotionally it's a huge gift, there's a lot of things I wouldn't have experienced if I hadn't made this choice,” Ms Ladouceur added.

“It's a big help for us with the kids,” says Marie-Christel Houde, whose youngest, Malik, is 3. Sometimes, they go to fetch children along with others. »

The extension essentially has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a common door down to the main house space. Ms. Ladouceur and Mr. Riopel also own part of the basement.

An extension of a multi-generational home seen from the courtyard.

Photo by Simon DESSUREULT

thrift

The family told us that the cost of the house is often shared 50-50. “But at our age we're definitely not in the same place financially as the builders,” Ms. Ladouceur qualifies though.

“Savings have to be made with internet, electricity, food and even snow removal,” says Mathieu Ladouceur-Proulx. We've weighed the pros and cons, but there are still plenty of benefits. »

instances

And the day-to-day life of intergenerational life can sometimes be funny. “If you have a pizza delivered, the delivery guy doesn't know which door to choose,” says Jacques Riopel, because there's only one address.

“We tell them about the door on the right or the door on the left and sometimes we look for our packages,” adds Marie-Christel Haude.

“And when Mathieu runs out of beer, he comes to see me,” jokes Jacques Riopel again.

And Matthew humbly agrees: “I can sometimes get a pound of butter from him,” he says with a laugh.

insurance

As for the insurance, everything is in Matthew and Marie-Christelle's name. There was a specification for a multi-generational home, but they had to send a lot of documents to justify the purpose of the home.

“Marie-Christelle and Mathieu are the carriers of the insurance, but I still insist that my name be there if there's ever a problem or anything,” Ms. Ladouceur noted.

“I was assured that I could sue if necessary,” she adds. No separate insurance is required as the insurance is part of the whole house. »