by Jane Griswold
An "affordable" house is compact and
simple to build. Wouldn't it be nice if
it were also attractive, easy to live in,
and even spacious in a place or two?
The Greater Lawrence, Mass.,
Habitat for Humanity board asked me
to design duplexes that would be all of
those things. They needed an easily
built (by volunteer labor), inexpensive,
24x40 two-story box containing
two three-bedroom units. Since I had
designed modular housing and variations
for standard subdivisions, this
seemed a straightforward job.
My first design wasn't bad (see Figure
1). It met the criteria and fit the site,
and we figured the layout would allow
a family to use the living room separately,
as an in-law