The Extended Family Home: A New American Suburban Type
A Thesis presented at the Princeton School of Architecture

Within Skokie’s “R-2 Single Family” zone, the late modern “split-level house” emerge as an opportunity for innovation, by connecting 3 adjacent lots across their shared back yards. A heavy timber post and beam system introduces versatility in spatial arrangement through a 9 square grid. Collective spaces share a singular elevation while bedrooms are positioned at varied elevations allowed by varying the beam height along the column (Fig. 7). This crafts a fragmented yet shared domesticity, echoing the rhythm of polynuclear families.

The design strategy, as sculpted by the system, carves out an occupiable roof landscape, and shared sunken back yard in the underbelly of the extension pushing boundaries of conventional wooden frames and utilizing spaces both diasporic and westernized families recognize.