Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
When Chuck Wolfram heard his brother, who’s living with Parkinson’s disease, had fallen in his Seattle apartment and remained on the floor for a day and a half before he was able to call for help, he knew something had to be done.
Chuck Wolfram, 88, commissioned an accessory dwelling unit to be built next to his home on Stevens Avenue in Portland. His 75-year-old brother, Bill Wolfram, moved into the one-bedroom, one-bathroom home last year.
The solution has allowed Chuck Wolfram to keep his brother close while still allowing Bill Wolfram to live independently, access medical care and maintain the hobbies he loves.
“He’s absolutely happy about it, and we are too,” Chuck Wolfram said. “It’s great to have him here.”
The brothers are among the handful of households that have built an accessory dwelling unit in Portland in recent years, but the state and a Portland nonprofit are hoping a new website encourages more Mainers to consider adding the alternative form of housing.
Accessory dwelling units have gained statewide attention in recent years as Mainers have become increasingly aware of the state’s housing shortage, which will take new construction to fix. While the accessory homes won’t solve the crunch alone, they can add more units without vastly changing the makeup of a neighborhood.
“In California, 20% of all new residential construction are ADUs,” said Tom Bell, communications director for the Greater Portland Council of Governments. “Maine is behind other states, but that means there’s room to grow in this sector.”
The Greater Portland Council of Governments created the website last week using funding from the Maine Department of Economic & Community Development’s Housing Opportunity Program.
The new website offers a host of resources for those exploring whether an accessory dwelling unit is a good option for them, including a list of companies that make them, mock floorplans, guidance on how to get local approval and cost estimates.
The resource also features a statewide tool called the ADU Wizard that shows what kind of structure is allowed on any given property.
The campaign comes in the wake of a new law, which went into effect in July 2023, that allows any lot with a single family home to have one accessory dwelling unit. While the legislation opened new opportunities for more Mainers to expand their properties, much of the public were unaware of the possibility, Bell said.
“This campaign is about helping people understand what these new rules are,” Bell said. “They offer more flexibility, so people can start thinking about whether this is something that might be suitable for them and their families.”
Accessory dwelling units can be created inside the footprint of an existing home, such as an in-law apartment above a garage, remain attached to the home as an addition, or be an entirely separate structure.
While converting part of a home into a separate unit could cost anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000, the new website estimates a new freestanding structure can cost as much as $500,000.
Building accessory homes has become more popular in states and regions with high land costs because “ADUs take the land costs out of housing construction,” Bell said.
Bell said many stories he has heard of people building accessory dwelling units are giving family members a place to live. In some cases, an aging parent sells the large home they don’t need anymore to move into an accessory home next to their child’s house. This allows them to be close to their children and grandchildren while still living independently.
“A lot of these ADU stories are heartwarming because it brings families closer together,” Bell said. “At the same time, people still have privacy because they’re in a separate building.”