Last year, the real estate site Zillow said ADUs were having a “rock star moment.”
By Jason Nark, Philadelphia Inquirer
In planning and zoning terms, the postcard-perfect building in Maryellen Paget’s backyard by the bay is called an accessory dwelling unit.
But for longtime Jersey Shore-goers, these little houses have had a litany of cozier names, including mother-in-law suites, granny flats, bungalows, shacks, and guesthouses. At Paget’s home in North Wildwood, the little house in the backyard was always known as the ‘birdhouse” for the little, wooden bird-shaped door knocker that still hangs on a bedroom door.
“We know at one point, and we’ve been here for decades, that it used to be a garage,” Paget said recently, outside the home behind her home. “It used to be rented to school teachers.”
Today, Paget’s “birdhouse” still has beautiful, exposed rafters from that garage, plus two small bedrooms, a small bathroom, and a small living room.
There’s a loft too, where a few kids could cram together, if needed. On this day, some beach chairs and coolers were up there.
The American Planning Association defines an ADU as “a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a stand-alone, single-family home.” They’re not duplexes, though the two homes will share some common space in the backyard. They have become more popular, nationwide, as both a way to create more housing and as short-term rentals.
Last year, the real estate site Zillow said ADUs were having a “rock star moment,” noting “scores” of cities and counties in at least 35 states have “adopted laws that make it easier and more attractive for homeowners to build ADUs.”
At the Jersey Shore, where lots are smaller and space and parking are rare, many new homes are multi-floor duplexes or even triplexes, but, for the most part, that’s not how homes were built there in the 20th century. Paget’s main house on the street, built in 1930 with about 1,000 square feet, would also be considered a quaint bungalow by today’s standards. It’s the kind of house a new developer might knock down to build something much larger. Sadly, that happens more often than not at the Jersey Shore.
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