Ed. note: This is Vicki Robin’s introduction to the main article which follows from This is Whidbey, written by Kate Poss and with photos by David Welton.
When I lived in a household of 9 people, Mathis Wackernagel came and actually measured every item to derive our ecological footprint. It was 4 planets, untenable for sure, but consider this: when I moved into my own apartment, my footprint increased by over 400%.
That blazened an obvious truth into my mind: a resource shared is an impact quartered- at least.
The average square feet per person of a house in 1950 was 292. In 2014 it was 1046, over 4 times as much.
When I had the good fortune to buy a split entry home in my town, I applied that thinking to the 1900 square feet I then called mine. I turned both the garage and the family room into independent living spaces, each with an outside door, a bathroom and a kitchenette, but shared utilities – and still have 900 square feet to myself. Over 2 dozen local workers, including professionals, have lived in these “suites” over 10+ years, providing much needed housing and supplementing my retirement income.My history makes this choice obvious to me, but not to everyone. We’re asking homeowners in our aging community to consider doing the same with the parts of their home they no longer use.
How do we build enough affordable housing? We don’t. The square footage exists, and is already plumbed, heated, connected and insulated. We help homeowners discover the benefits of In-Home Suites.
Kate Poss of Whidbey Island tells the story:
Seeking remedies for providing affordable rentals on Whidbey Island, a group of innovative folks have formed In-Home Suites.
On its website In-Home Suites are defined as untapped resources such as under utilized spaces in existing houses. By making small changes such as adding a door, kitchenette, or bathroom, semi-independent living quarters can be created.
This could be a family room, a daylight basement, a home’s wing or an over-garage bonus room.
Under the The Challenge section of the website, we learn that:
“We cannot build our way out of the affordable housing crisis. Building material costs have gone way up, land value has increased, but income has not followed suit. Even modest sized homes aren’t affordable. Long-term rentals are converted to short-term vacation rentals or sold. And many of those that are sold are purchased as second- or third-homes and sit empty much of the year
“Building new homes is a long-term, expensive proposition, but we’re losing essential workers and services NOW. Schools, governments, health clinics, restaurants, retailers, even manufacturers can’t staff up because of the lack of affordable housing.
“Beyond this, we are losing our culture and community. We need diversity, theater, arts, groups for every interest, sports, and enjoyment of life. The median age in Langley is 67. We have become a NORC – naturally occurring retirement community. This is not our history, our longing or our future.
We all need a place to call. home–from In Home Suites’ website
“In-Home Suites are the low-hanging fruit for affordable housing solutions in our community.”
I spoke with Vicki Robin, who co-founded In-Home Suites with her friend, artist Deborah Koff-Chapin. The women partnered with Deborah’s husband, innovative architect Ross Chapin, and solution seekers Anne and Don Zontine, all of whom host in-home suite renters in their own homes.
Robin, who co-authored the book, Your Money or Your Life in 1997, and wrote Blessing the Hands that Feed Us in 2014, publishes a blog, and a podcast: What could possibly go right?
She lives debt-free and bought her Langley home in 2009 with no mortgage attached.
“I’m a saver, never had debt,” she said. “I’ve lucked out. Lived here since 2005. Bought my house in Jan. 2009.”
Mentioning that folks like herself bought homes “when the getting was good—[remember when homes were foreclosed upon and real estate values plunged in the Great Recession of 2008?]—” Robin added,
“there’s a certain social glue when you realize I’m one of the ones lucky enough to have a resource. I live in a community I want to flourish. I may need to scooch over and let someone enjoy the banquet.”
“My renter Colton as I teach him how to harvest in the garden I built,” said Vicki Robin, who shared this photo
With experience living communally in the past, Robin was used to sharing living spaces, appliances, meals and tools. So, it was natural for her to open her home to folks who needed housing. She created two in-home suites in her home—one in the family room and one in the garage—and by so doing, provides support for folks whose budgets cannot accommodate the high cost of renting.
“I turned a part of my house into a resource for someone who typically couldn’t afford to live here,” she added. “Another benefit, I have people in the house when I’m away. They can care for my cat, Bella. With some tenants we made a deal for them to do chores, such as house-cleaning for reduced rent. As an almost 80-year-old woman, I get to keep the life I’ve built.”
Robin has hosted more than 20 renters over the past 15 years:
“I’ve had couples, parents and children, a college professor, a doctor, farmers, a financial accountant, an actor at WICA, a Shakespeare actor with a Latina girlfriend who was such a help, and Michael Morgen. We all love him. Lucky duck, Vicki!”
Michael Morgen is a much loved 30-ish man who is known in the Waldorf School and children’s theater circles. He now lives in Maryland with his wife Ray Kathryn Morgen.
To screen her renters, Robin asks for two references of immediately prior landlords and employers, and asks renters to sign a six-month lease.
“With In Home Suites, we’re talking about functional people—a renter who communicates, pays rent, does what they say they’ll do, keeps agreements, and leaves when they’re supposed to. I’ve learned a lot about tenant’s rights,” she said.
Regarding tenant criteria, Robin recalled one tenant she took pity on without checking references. It was soon afterwards that Robin learned the woman had severe emotional challenges, and when she didn’t pay rent, was asked to move, which took the combined efforts of friends, a social worker and the police to get the woman to leave.
Robin charges $925 a month for her two suites, each with 450 square feet of living space. The private-entrance living areas include a studio bedroom, a kitchenette area with induction cook top, a counter top convection oven, plus a bathroom. Laundry is shared by the householders. High speed internet, garbage pickup, electric utilities, plus Langley’s water, sewer and storm drain costs are included in the rent, about $175/month in benefits. That being said, Robin said a third of her income is derived from rents.
Converted garage now a home at Vicki Robin’s. Photo by Vicki Robin
Imploring folks to raise their awareness and address the need to house island workers, Robin asked,
“What if there was available housing in the underutilized spaces in people’s homes—in daylight basements, family rooms, garages? What if people could see their way to making a space for making a separate bathroom and kitchen?”
Aside from the income and community benefits In Home Suites offer, Robin said she enjoys the company of her renters who often bring a new energy to her life. They might play games of Scrabble, garden or enjoy meals together, for instance.
Original garden designed by Barbara Simons, replacing Robin’s back lawn. The garden has since been expanded. Photo by Vicki Robin
Vicki Robin’s garden designed by Barbara Simons, pictured with her daughter Sam. The garden was installed on Robin’s back lawn. Simon added her chicken coop. “I have vastly upgraded the garden, but have had chickens ever since,” Robin said. Photo by Vicki Robin
Neighbors of Robin’s also had the idea of sharing their home as they aged. Jane Spalding and Nick Fowler converted a former Amway storage space in the back of their home into a 400-square-foot suite with a macerating plumbing system, kitchenette, bedroom and view of the backyard.
“When we first looked at the house, we thought it could work for us,” Spalding said. “We certainly didn’t want to move again. Perhaps we could create space out of the former warehouse for someone to live in our home when we need help.”
Thus began a two-year search for a contractor. Bringing water into the space was daunting and several contractors were booked two years out. Fowler and Spalding finally found Darren James, a contractor with Quick Silver Construction, who advertised on drewslist. He brought in a Mukilteo-based plumber and together they imagined and installed a macerating system for the bathroom.
Anacarey Clark, who moved to Whidbey Island in 2005, works at Prima Bistro and is friends with Fowler/Spalding’s next-door neighbors. She clicked with the owners right away when they discovered a shared concern about the need for affordable housing. She had already been in touch with Ross Chapin and planned to volunteer with Home on Whidbey.
As they discussed a work/trade arrangement for rent, Spalding, who worked for nonprofit organizations for 30 years, had the idea of creating an internship for Home on Whidbey. She and Chapin explored the idea and are in the process of creating an internship to include learning about affordable housing solutions, and about nonprofit management.
Jane Spalding, Anacarey Clark, and Nick Fowler in the new In Home Suite. And the star attraction, Lady Anastasia, the owners’ Goldendoodle, who will give Anacarey her dog fix.
“The idea began with not just housing, but community building,” Clark said of her internship. “I thought of the benefits of intergenerational living. Older people need younger people around. Young people need coaching. Surprisingly this is an under-talked about topic between the young and old. Younger people can be anxious and have the expectation we have to solve everything now. The older generation says you’ll get there. It takes time.”
Interested in being part of the internship? Contact Jane Spalding [email protected]
Interested in learning more about affordable housing solutions? Contact Anacarey Clark [email protected]
Anne and Don Zontine, mentioned above, are partners in In Home Suites.
Anne and Don Zontine–sharing their home with tenants since 1978. Photo shared by Anne Zontine
Zontine’s tenant Kirsten, gathering calendula flowers for soap making. Photo shared by Anne Zontine
“We built our home on the island from recycled materials and included space for others to rent,” Anne Zontine wrote in a recent text. “We value building community, collaborating on projects, and sharing resources. More than 40 different sets of folks have shared our space since 1978. It works for us when we are flexible, have clear expectations, and reciprocal respect and gratitude for the exchange.”
Meanwhile, Vicki Robin has written to Island County commissioners about promoting the concept of In Home Suites.
“We need to reduce the number of non-owner occupied vacation rentals,” Robin said. “Owner-occupied Airbnbs as part of retirement strategy are OK.”
Absentee owners with second homes could be taxed a surcharge used toward a fund for building affordable housing, Robin noted. And awarding incentives to creating new housing from existing homes is high on Robin’s list.
“The county could reward people who are willing to do In Home Suites,” Robin added, suggesting streamlining permits for renovating existing homes to include In Home Suites in exchange for guaranteeing the landlords will not use the space for short-term rentals. “Take out the barriers for people doing the right thing,” Robin noted.
She dreams of the Whidbey Community Foundation creating a revolving fund using grants to fund loans for conversions to in home suites. Attracting contractors committed to building a community resource could follow.
“A project that takes a week or a month.. suddenly you have an engine, you have rewards, you take away the barriers,” Robin said. “Our community can do this. Me and Deb [Koff-Chapin] won’t let this die.”
Ross Chapin emailed two not-to-be missed documents which answer questions you may have about In Home Suites. Read about them here:
One of Vicki Robin’s Coming of Aging blogs addresses “Where will all the people go?” In it she cites there were 2.5 billion people worldwide when she was born in 1945, and the Earth supports 8 billion+ humans now. She writes:
“I wonder if humanity could squeeze through this tight spot of population pressure plus climate change plus resource depletion by a breakthrough in sharing spaces we own but do not use. Generosity is helpful but not needed, because property owners get plenty of tangible and intangible benefit. Even in my community I notice ever more people multi-solving for rising costs on fixed incomes and loneliness as we outlive our mates and friends and the need for a helping hand and listening ear. We are finding elegant ways to share what we have without sacrificing quality of life.”
Patio and entrance to 450 square foot guest suite at Vicki Robin’s Langley home. Photo by Vicki Robin
Finally, I wish to add Lynne Donnelly’s latest favorite word, meliorism. Donnelly is a healthcare practitioner, and president of the Whidbey Island Holistic Health Association. The word describes the work and intention of In Home Suites.
Healthcare practitioner Lynne Donnelly’s favorite word in these days. Apropos for In Home Suites’ mission. From Lynne Donnelly’s FB page
