Work is underway on two common-wall homes at NE 90th Avenue and Everett Street, each with an attached Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). The residences feature unique floor plans with a split-level layout over three floors. A single-car garage and driveway in front of each house offer some onsite parking for the residents.

Unlike many common-wall developments, 8955 NE Everett Street and 8957 NE Everett Street do not share a similar floor plan, although they have roughly the same features. The garage and entryway are at grade level, and the owner’s suites sit above. Those large bedrooms feature tray ceilings, double vanity ensuite bathrooms, and walk-in closets. A short flight of stairs leads up from the entryway to the open-floor-plan main level that stands six feet above the ground floor in the back half of the building. Stairs leading up to the top floor have a mid-rise platform allowing access to the owner’s suite. Two bedrooms and a full bathroom occupy the uppermost level of both homes. One unit has a full laundry room, while the other offers a side-by-side laundry closet.

Below both houses are daylight basement ADUs, built only two and a half feet below grade. These one-bedroom units have a stacked laundry closet, a full bathroom, and a single-wall kitchen. With most of the ADU unit’s walls above ground, they support many full-sized windows that should offer natural light. Discrete ADU side entrances should give those tenets privacy and autonomy from the residents above. The architect’s placement of large back decks six and a half feet above the backyard, and staggered from north to south, also adds to the separation of living space.

The architect on this project, Thogerson Designs, has drawn from mid-20th century inspirations while using modern shifting of design elements to break up the building’s massing. The common-wall structure will share a cohesive appearance but still clearly define each residence. The number of stairs residents must traverse in a day is perhaps the only detractor from the chosen layout. Otherwise, it offers a creative way to blend housing density into a traditionally single-family area of Montavilla.

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