Have some space and ready to consider using it as a hospitality house?

Extend the gift of hospitality.

Before hospitality was a professional industry, it was a way to love strangers and welcome them into your care. Hospitality always comes with some risks. But there are people for whom the potential rewards far outweigh the risks.

Program Overview

  • Concept

    Host small families in a compact dwelling in your backyard (an Accessory Dwelling Unit in zoning language) for up to 2 years over a 10-year period. Provide friendship and support to these families (not case management). After the 10 years, the compact dwelling is yours to keep.

  • Units

    The 2024 model compact dwelling is 24’ by 16’ with an outside dimension of 29’x21’ (includes a 5’ wrap-around deck) and living area of 384’ square feet plus a loft. The unit is complete with an ADA compliant bathroom, bedroom, and combined kitchen, living, and dining area. The permitted structures are built on-site and local building inspectors review the site work and connections to municipal water, sewer and electrical service. The units are permanently installed on a conventional foundation. These are not manufactured homes or Tiny Houses on wheels. The interior space is comparable to a one-bedroom apartment in a modern urban apartment building.

  • Legal Structure

    The program works by the homeowner entering into a ground lease for the small land area in the backyard with Hospitality Houses. Hospitality Houses pays a ground lease payment of $1 per year for a 10-year term. Hospitality Houses technically owns the compact dwelling unit that sits on that land, and is responsible for casualty insurance, unit maintenance and the lease arrangement with renters, and all the details of that person’s eligibility in the program.

Learn more

Some common questions for potentials hosts

  • We are looking for existing attached or detached apartments that can accomodate a family for up to 18 months. Ideally, the space can fit the description of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) with a separate kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.

    We are also building timber frame tiny homes that can be placed in the backyard of single family homes.

  • Placements may extend up to 18 months.

  • Hospitality Houses are initially helping single mothers and refugee families resettling in the US.

  • Potential residents are recommended for Hospitality Houses from a partner program. Following an extensive application and interview process, a potential resident would be recommended to you and you would make the final placement decision.

  • Every resident will have a case manager who will meet onsite with them on a regular basis (e.g., weekly or biweekly). Case management will include a wide range of focus areas depending on the needs and goals of the resident.

  • Host families are asked to extend hospitality and friendship. Case management is handled by someone else. Include them in family meals, introduce them to friends, and build a genuine and reciprocal friendship with them.