To help their kids afford housing in the Vancouver area, John and Kathleen Higgins demolished their family home of three decades to build 4 homes on the same lot for their kids, grandkids, and 94-year-old great-grannie.
In 1988, John and Kathleen Higgins bought a modest 1,300-square-foot rancher on a cul-de-sac in Delta, British Columbia, where they raised their seven children. Convinced that the typical 66-foot suburban lot was a waste of land, they began dreaming up alternatives, envisioning smaller homes clustered together to maximize space and community.
After years of pitching the idea to neighbors and local officials, the couple finally gained unanimous approval from the city in 2016 to demolish their old home and replace it with two duplexes—four homes in total—each with its own land title.
The new homes, two at 830 square feet and two at 1,150 square feet, provide a fresh start for the entire family. John and Kathleen now live in one unit, staying rooted in the neighborhood they’ve loved for decades.
Their sons, James and Patrick, each own a unit, a lifeline in a region where homeownership often feels out of reach. The fourth unit belongs to their daughter, who rents it to her 94-year-old grandmother, now surrounded by two great-grandchildren and one more on the way.
https://www.instagram.com/mysmallerhouse
John Higgins (architect) [email protected]
Thanks to Patrick Higgins for additional footage: Higginsfilm.com
https://www.instagram.com/higginsfilm/
On *faircompanies: https://faircompanies.com/videos/4-generations-4-homes-1-lot-vancouver-family-builds-own-private-neighborhood/
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Now this is my definition of the american dream.. 🙏
An incredible amount of space is wasted for two driveways to the rear houses. Could have been solved much more efficiently.
I love this!!!!🙏🏾💕
This is a dream to have 4 generations on one property yes I’ll say it again this is a dream💖💖👌🏻👌🏻
Kudos to Kathleen Higgins. She is a very forward thinking and strong individual with future plans for her mother, kids and grand-kids.
This is how family should be.
This is what they call community!! Families living together❤❤❤❤
Great family !
What is it appraised at now compared to what it was before and compared to the house next door?
Omg!! This is AMAZING!!! I love this.
This is so inspiring to hear as someone born/raised here…Maybe I won't have to move out of the lower mainland after all 🙂
I'm seriously surprised by these comments! It seems like this concept of housing is completely foreign to them! In Asia, South-America and parts of Southern Europe this concept of housing is completely normal!
Sad, but I think the West is way too individualistic!
That woman doesnt keep quiet
This is great!
Where is this? In N. Delta?
I like that they understood that everyone wants and needs to have their owe space.
My parents bought their house around the same year in the 80s, but the small East Van lot could never do this 😭 well, at least my sister got something like this… In Lethbridge with her in-laws nearby (they're good in-laws)
I got an experience similar to this with 4 generations living in one big home. This is almost my dream model for housing, as I'm always imagining making a 'compound' of my own
This is how it must be. Good to have the immediate family around for anything and everything. What's life without family around. Sense of safety and security. Really nice to see this.
Absolutely love this! I wish we did this more in America.
My only Gripe is that there is no garage, meaning no shop. If you could have designed it to somehow have at least one garage you could all share when the need be it would be a big big win for me
Love this!
This is so freakin cool
The largest benefit of this is too the children. They will grow up being so loved, with the best start in life they could possibly have. The splitting of families has always been so tragic to me for that very reason. I also hope to make this arrangement for my family one day, on a bit more land and with common areas, but the philosophy is the same. 'Till death do us part' should apply to the entire family.
If one wanted to follow similar idea for one’s own family. Would be great to have blue prints on how to get something like this done.
This is outrageous. The Liberal/NDP's that don't live anywhere near here need to put a stop to this before it happens again! One of those units needs to be set aside for a migrant! Four separate units=four times the carbon footprint! Look at all those cars on this lot…it was made for 2 cars…now it has 6! No solar and none of those cars are electric. Outrageous. These people are out of control.
More property tax, though. So that's good.
I love this for their family. Especially with the housing crisis alot of families could benefit from this. This is exactly what I was talking to my mother about on 2 of our properties. I'm definitely sharing this video with her.
Beautiful Family, Beautiful people, Love ur spirit and Unity.
God Bless ya'll.
There are a few things I would change to the design, but I generally like it.
nice job, i tried to explain something like this to my dad but hes an idiot. smh.
Love it 😍 ❤
The fact they have a fence saids it all lol
This is the norm in many underdeveloped countries
This is Americas worst nightmare. A healthy and active family living close to each other😂😂
I Love this very smart, love the closeness of the family.
this is amazing
What a wonderful family and story. This home design deserves an award.
And they always wonder why natural fire is demolishing entire cities😂😂😂. The distance between the houses is a joke😂😂😂
That is so cool!
I absolutely love this idea. I’d love to have my family near me 🥹
My father bought his first investment house in 1971 for 20K in West Vancouver, sold 2022 for 17 million. Vancouver is great place for realstate investors. He has still 5 houses.
Such a BEAUTIFUL IDEA!
(I hope these kids know how lucky they are…my son rarely ever sees his cousins!)😢
😮 Being generational rich must be cool… im well off but my kids will have this by time im gone or in a home hahah
That’s the European way, multi generation homes.
What’s going on with the audio
Eventually, multiple random people will live there. nothing is forever.
What a blessing!!
Seems like the only way young ppl could own in Vancouver
I absolutely love this. And what a blessing to have 4 generations not only living but living together yet separate. I absolutely love this. Beautiful homes. Beautiful family.
This is amazing ❤