Not two people – two families! Long time friends Dawn and Judy and their families split the purchase of this 1928 beach house on Lake Michigan in Indiana.
The families put a lot of work into fixing up the house. It’s now open and bright and and is dressed up in a pretty palette of pale blues, greys, greens, and white.
The house can play host to a whack of people – there’s sleeping accommodations for up to 19, with three over-sized bedrooms and four pull-out sofas.
The living room and kitchen are located at the back of the house and look out over the lake.
I love pretty blue dishes and glasses displayed on the open shelves.
The lucite chairs in the eating area don’t obstruct the view to the outside.
This family room is where the kids watch TV. When I was a kid, I watched TV in the basement ;-)
How do two families makes one house work for them?
- Set up a calendar. Sit down together before the summer and decide who gets the house when.
- Share everything – except closets. The master bedroom features two separate moveable closet units, one for each family.
- Split the chores. Dawn is the decorator and Judy is the bill payer and keeps the house stocked.
- Have an exit strategy. If one family wants out, the other family has the option to buy them out at a certain price. If the other family doesn’t want to buy them out, they’ll sell the house.
Have you ever thought about sharing a house? Is it something that you would be interested in doing?
To see more pictures and read more about this shared beach house, check out Midwest Living.
Happy weekend!
Thanks to everyone who commented on my Whose design is it anyway post. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about whether or not anyone can actually “own” a design. Everyone is in agreement – nobody can claim ownership of a design, and no design is truly original. It’s how we interpret and execute an existing design that makes each design unique to each of us :-)
