Grannies Gone Wild (San Francisco magazine)

Grannies Gone Wild

Concerns over affordability and sustainability are making this the golden age of the additional backyard dwelling unit. A guide to going big by building small.

Could the solution to the Bay Area’s housing crisis be right in our own backyards? That’s where Jake Decker, an Oakland labor union representative, recently built a 392-square-foot one-bedroom cottage that he rents for $1,500 a month to friends who relocated from Washington, D.C. “It’s so darn expensive out here,” says Decker, who is 38 and grew up in Nebraska. “It’s nice to share with other people if you can.”