The generation game

For a young, growing family, moving in with, or adjacent to, the grandparents could be just the thing

- Madeleine Silver

MID renovation, with no working cooker and 10 arriving for dinner, the safety net of deciding to live next door to her mother in Wiltshire became obvious for insurance broker Annabel Rees. Supper appeared as if by magic for guests, a sticky toffee pudding landing on the table still piping hot, having been rushed 30ft along the lane in November drizzle from her mother’s Aga.

Putting a pin in the map next to the village of Tisbury in the Nadder Valley, Mrs Rees and her husband, Tom, had decided to hunt for a multi-generational set-up back in the summer. This would be the solution for her mother, who was looking to downsize and be near her daughter and grandchild; and a childcare lifeline for Mr and Mrs Rees when they are in London for work.

‘The estate agents called what we were looking for a “unicorn” house—it was pretty hard to find the right thing,’ she recalls. ‘Most of the houses we saw had a main house with an inadequate-sized annexe. We were pooling funds, so I didn’t think it would be fair to put my mother in a glorified shed. We’ve ended up with separate houses next to each other, which is great in lots of ways and means my husband doesn’t feel as if he is living with his mother-in-law.’