Is there no provision for a separate building garage to be legally converted to a dwelling? Assuming, of course, that it passes safety, electrical, plumbing, etc. inspections.
A garage is essentially just 4 walls and a roof.
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It depends on the zoning for that property. There are land use permits as well as construction permits and building code requirements have to be met. There have been construction prohibitions in this county based on water availability that have prohibited the conversion of a space into additional bedrooms or bathrooms. Then you have the Coastal Zone vs the rest of the county, in which the Calif. Coastal Commission has to weigh in on what’s being done. Currently, as I read about rebuilding after the Palisades fire, some of the coastal requirements will be waived. There are city codes that are often different from the county codes that cover the unincorporated areas.
Zoning and permits are what I was thinking with my “etc.”. I was just curious, as you said living in a garage was not allowed, but it sounds like a blanket statement like that isn’t really applicable unless you knew all the particulars. I.e. they could have jumped through all the hoops for it to be a legal dwelling.
They said ‘garage’ so I also assumed it was… a garage.
Around my area, building codes allow living in any kind of dwelling as long as it meets the requirements, such as adequate heat/cool, toilet facilities, and sq footage. They are pretty strict around here, so even if they left the old garage door intact, it still would have to meet code for living.
That said, when I wanted to covert MY garage to living space it became much cheaper to demolish and do new construction (and this garage was only 7 years old!) because so much had to be changed for living, such as egress etc.
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We have friends whose garage is two stories and they converted the second floor to a beautiful one-bedroom apartment. That’s the set-up that came to my mind when I read about the daughter living “in the garage”.
When I saw that the daughter lived in the garage, it made me wonder why she wasn’t recruited in this emergency to ensure that the guests had a pleasant and comfortable stay.
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I did too, but many structures or spaces start out as one thing and then get converted to something else.
A friend of mine put a little kitchenette in what had been an upstairs bedroom closet
The room had an ensuite bathroom and a balcony that was accessed from the laneway, to rent out as an Airbnb. She added a wardrobe to take the place of the closet.
There are older homes that have what used to be a “carriage house” out back, back when people used horse and buggy, which were converted to homes, but they are still referred to as “the carriage house”, even though it hasn’t been used for that purpose in over a century.
In California we have a new ADU law (auxiliary dwelling unit). You are allowed to convert garages into living space or build an an additional structure even if not zoned for it. The garage was converted. I didnt know the “girl in the back” was the owner’s daughter until the last day.
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It was a detached garage originally that was converted into living space. I never saw the inside.
The owner (or co-host) should still have brought her into the situation to help a disgruntled (and cold) guest.
Guessing here, but as the owner’s daughter, she is probably not paying the going rate in rent so helping in emergencies with guests should really be part of the deal.
Have to disagree with these “shoulds”. We have no idea what arrangement the owners have with their daughter, and no knowledge about the daughter. For all we know, the daughter may be autistic, or otherwise mentally handicapped (many mentally handicapped people are capable of living alone and looking after themselves) and not the right person to have interact with guests, or be capable of handling complaints or emergencies.
Or perhaps the daughter works and doesn’t have time to help deal with the Airbnb. Or she’s socially inept or tactless and having her interact with guests would be a detriment.
And as the mother of 3 grown daughters, if I had a dwelling and one of them wanted to live in it, I wouldn’t even necessarily charge them rent, nor expect them to look after things in exchange. Families have all manner of arrangements with each other, and as long as it works for them, it’s not up to others to say how things “should” be done.
For all we know, the daughter may have paid to have the garage converted to a dwelling herself. A friend of mine paid for her grown daughter’s unfinished basement to be converted to an apartment for herself. She certainly didn’t pay her daughter rent. She did look after her 2 grandkids sometimes, but that was out of choice and love, not because it was some kind of expected and arranged trade. And the reno upped the property value when her daughter eventually sold the house.
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