Two-Generation Home｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices21Picks Author: Qurasuki Editorial Department

Multi-generational homes accommodate different generations living together under one roof. While sharing life within the same home, creating a comfortable sense of distance where each household can relax is a major architectural theme. While entrance halls and kitchens may be shared or designed as independent spaces for each household, the configuration varies from home to home. The balance between spaces where generations can feel connected and private areas for quiet relaxation is another essential factor. Staircases, courtyards, and shared spaces often play the role of gently linking the family. More than just a residence with an increased room count, a multi-generational house is architecture that gives physical form to family relationships. Through custom-built examples by architectural firms, we introduce spatial compositions that support multi-generational living.

House in Oku-Musashi Mochizuki Architectural Atelier

This two-family home stands in an urban area in western Saitama Prefecture and makes use of a garden passed down through generations. While sharing a single entrance, the living spaces are completely separated, with both households’ living rooms looking out onto the garden, where a wisteria trellis and mature trees have been preserved. The entrance and a built-in garage for two cars are arranged along the west-side road. A large single-slope roof gives the building’s substantial volume a lighter appearance, while the eaves and ceilings are finished with solid Japanese cypress boards made from locally sourced Nishikawa timber. It is a home where the family can spend peaceful time together while appreciating the changing seasons of the garden.

Fan House Yoshihiro Ito Architect & Associates

This is a three-household residence set on gently sloping ground. Taking advantage of its rich surroundings—with rural scenery extending to the south and tea fields spreading to the north—the house adopts a fan-shaped plan that embraces the landscape. Its open composition allows the natural scenery to be felt from anywhere in the home. The three households are gently connected by sliding fittings, ensuring a comfortable sense of distance while allowing the residents to remain aware of one another’s presence. It is a serene home that makes the most of the beauty of its materials, with white plaster walls and beautiful timber framing.

A House with “Ma” Connecting Two Households AtelierMA

Located in a residential neighborhood in Ota City, Tokyo, this two-generation house allows the parents’ and children’s households to live together while maintaining a comfortable sense of distance. By combining multiple volumes, the design gently separates each family’s living domain while creating a sense of unity as a single home. The centrally positioned balcony serves as a shared space where family members naturally gather and deepen their interaction. Balancing independence with connection, the house fosters rich relationships that span generations.

Residence in Nishikyogoku In-Ex Design Co., Ltd.

This is a multigenerational renovation of a 40-year-old timber-framed house, planned for the family and mother returning to the home where they were born and raised. While preserving the sound existing structural frame, the minimum necessary structural alterations and seismic reinforcement were carried out to regenerate the dwelling into a living environment appropriate for a new way of life. The garden, which the father had created, was carefully retained, and the composition allows the landscape and the interior to respond to one another. Reclaimed timber and the existing timber joinery are employed throughout, while the design also provides future adaptability and the capacity to function as the principal family residence, resulting in a home where family memories and new time gently overlap.

Tre volte Takeshi Hirobe Architects

This house preserves as many existing trees as possible while accommodating four cars and an approach to the parents’ residence. Three volumes of different lengths are arranged around courtyards, with a garage penetrating them to transform complex conditions into a clear composition. A “car living room,” where one can spend time viewing the cherished cars, and the Dino, positioned as though it were resting among the trees, incorporate the owners’ attachment to their cars into the scenery of daily life. It is a house with an architectural strength in which a powerful vaulted structure coexists with delicate material detailing.

Miyanosawa House Yosuke Tomiya Architectural Design Co., Ltd.

This is a two-family house located in a residential neighborhood in Sapporo. Taking advantage of the site, which is surrounded on three sides by roads and retaining walls, the house is configured to gently screen views from outside while opening broadly toward the forest of the adjacent park. The living and dining areas are arranged along the south side, allowing the family to share views of the forest and natural light. A cross-shaped layout centered on the kitchen, split levels, and a circulation loop create a gentle sense of connection among family members. High levels of insulation and airtightness, together with a ground-source heat pump, provide a comfortable living environment suited to life in Hokkaido.

Shimizudani House ARCHIXXX Satoru Shinno Architectural Design

This urban residence is home to three generations: a grandfather, a married couple, and their two children. Band-like walls encircle the perimeter in a double-skin-like configuration, giving rhythm to the exterior while skillfully screening the interior from the gaze of passersby. Light spills through openings formed by diagonally cutting the corners, adding a soft expression to the otherwise potentially austere exterior. Two courtyards are provided inside, bringing gentle light into each room while promoting the natural circulation of air through the chimney effect.

Den-en-chofu Two-Family House Atelier Mana

Preserving the more-than-70-year-old Somei Yoshino cherry tree, this house was planned to allow the two households to live together with an appropriate sense of distance. The parent and younger households occupy separate wings arranged around outdoor spaces. While accommodating their differing daily schedules, the second floor includes a Japanese-style room overlooking the cherry tree and a workspace for the family and children. It is a home where the family can enjoy the changing seasons while sensing one another’s presence.

House in Higashi-Ikoma — Two-Family Residence with Three Gardens Tokuhiro Norimatsu Architect

At the early-spring ground-breaking ceremony, I couldn’t help but smile when a migratory bird alighted on the ceremonial sand mound. This is a two-family residence built on a site fronting roads to the east and west, with views of the Yata Hills to the east and Mount Ikoma to the west. We organized the plan around three gardens—the front garden, the inner courtyard, and the rear garden—setting them as the core organizing elements of daily life, and designed a deep, layered dwelling that cherishes greenery, orchestrates sound, and invites people to gather. While carrying forward the family’s past time, it weaves the life to come. Envisioning that day’s Daurian redstart perched on a garden tree, we have shaped a tranquil home.

House on the North Side of Chigasaki East Coast Tada Architectural Design Office

This is a two-generation house built along Yūzō Street in Chigasaki. It was planned with the theme of integrating nature and family connections into daily life while providing security and structural robustness. At the center of the residence a courtyard-house configuration is adopted, enclosing a central courtyard. Trees transplanted from the existing garden and a wood deck gently connect the parent household and the child household. Openings placed throughout admit light, breeze, and greenery, achieving an appropriate sense of distance between households while enabling rich communication. The dwelling harmonizes functionality and comfort.

Kujo Residence Abax Architects

Built in a densely packed residential area of Nishi‑ku, Osaka, this project is a two-family dwelling with fully independent units. Set among three-story houses, the design minimizes openings on the street-facing façade and introduces an internal courtyard, from which both the first and second floors draw natural light and cross-ventilation. In response to the owner’s profession working with sound, the second floor incorporates a soundproofed music studio, creating a residence where quiet and sound coexist.

Sun and Wind Mitsuhiro Kojima Architects

This is a two-family house situated on a site with expansive rural scenery. To admit the fields spreading to the south and abundant daylight into the living spaces, the building is arranged elongated on an east–west axis so that each room can enjoy views and natural cross-ventilation. The parent household is located on the first floor and the child household on the second; by sharing only the entrance, an appropriate balance of separation and independence is achieved. Each floor is provided with an extended terrace to deepen the connection with the garden and the surrounding landscape. A green front yard open to the neighborhood is also included, creating a residence where the changing seasons can be appreciated and a relaxed pace of life prevails.

Two-Generation Residence Under One Roof | House at the Foothills of Mount Katsuragi Yoshihiro Yamamoto Architects Associates

A house set on the eastern foothills of Mount Yamato Katsuragi, crowned by a simple pitched triangular roof. Inhabited by a married couple, the mother, and two cats, the dwelling zones partially overlap to preserve a balanced distance between two-family separation and single-house cohabitation. The couple’s LDK on the ground floor connects to the second-floor landing, bedroom, and wet areas via a double-height stair with large windows and bookshelves. The mother’s program places the bedroom and wet areas on the ground floor and a compact LDK on the second floor. Outside, fields and the seasonal expression of Mount Katsuragi frame a slow-paced atmosphere.

DOG COURTYARD HOUSE JYU ARCHITECT

This two-family courtyard house is planned on a flag lot and designed for a household living with five pet dogs. The long approach is designed to be enjoyed as an integral part of daily life. Interiors are grounded in natural materials while selectively employing odor-resistant and scratch-resistant finishes and surfaces to accommodate cohabitation with pets. The courtyard functions as a "dog yard for five dogs," gently dividing yet connecting the households, and serves to secure daylighting, natural ventilation, and privacy even in a densely developed residential context. Photovoltaic panels are installed on the roof, reflecting consideration for reduced environmental impact.

Kaleidoscope Masahiko Sawamura Architect and Associates

A two-family courtyard house featuring an inner courtyard and a roof terrace.

friends *studioLOOP Architects

This house for a couple and the mother balances family connectedness with rich, personal time for each resident. The LDK and second-floor loft are integrated, while large openings facing the south garden and windows framing views of the sky draw in natural light and create a sense of openness. A road-bike maintenance space is provided near the entrance. Alongside the cherry tree in the garden, the house will grow over time, adding a new scene to the surrounding townscape. The low-eaves white exterior quietly expresses harmony with the town.

Residence Living with Weeping Cherry Trees Archiplace

A residence for three generations—a family of five—located in the hilly and upland interior of Hiroshima Prefecture, where gentle mountains and pastoral fields spread. In the garden is a large weeping cherry that, as a regional symbol, is loved by the family and neighbors; in the cherry season acquaintances and friends visit for viewing, hold banquets and stay overnight. How to incorporate, harmonize with, and pass on this cherry—which has witnessed the family's growth and life, connected people, and lived with the town's changes—into the new home became a major theme.

Fproject Naoko Matsumoto Architects & Associates

A mixed-use complex of a two-family residence and rental housing in reinforced concrete. By placing a courtyard within a deep lot, natural light and greenery reach the shared areas and the deep parts of the units, creating a pleasant urban environment. A stainless steel mesh stair and cast-concrete balcony parapets formed with cedar boards of varying profiles produce a façade rich in light-and-shadow. The plans, tailored to each household's lifestyle, keep the courtyard and garden close at hand and include amenities such as a tea room and an extensive workspace to nurture residents' hobbies and rich daily life.

Kamiooka Nagaya Takayoshi Nakamura Architects & Associates

This fully separated two-family house stands on a site with significant changes in elevation along a railway line. Taking advantage of roads on both the east and west sides, the entrances are separated, with future conversion to rental use also considered in the planning. The parents’ household on the first floor has an LDK connected to the garden, while the younger family’s second floor features a spacious deck with views. A device that allows the parents’ light to filter through a skylight in the deck conveys a sense of the other generation’s presence and nurtures a considerate way of living together.

House on a Sloped Site with a Bridge 12mm Architects

A rebuilding project for a two-generation residence in Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Prefecture. The site has very good views, but significant elevation differences within the site and with adjacent properties, and an aged cobble/river-stone retaining wall, made planning how to handle the grade differences a central concern.

A House That Shares Light and Air Troom

This is a fully independent two-family house planned on a narrow flag lot. Large openings are provided in the small terraces to the north and south and positioned at an intermediate height between the first and second floors, allowing the residents’ sightlines to be controlled to a comfortable degree. At the same time, the openings draw in as much light and air as possible to both levels, creating a home where parents and children can comfortably share light and air while maintaining their respective lifestyles.