Private Quarters: Adding a guesthouse for mom
Don and Pamela DeLaHunt moved in 1999 from Roswell to Milton with their five children. After eight years, the DeLaHunts added a guesthouse, or “mom’s cottage” as they refer to it, for Pamela’s mother, Willene Smithwick.
“Mom and dad had one house in Georgia and one in Florida, and when dad died in 2007, they sold both their homes and mom moved here. Mom couldn’t take care of the big Alpharetta house by herself and she didn’t want to be in Florida alone,” Pamela says.
Don and Pamela, wealth advisers for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, added a guesthouse onto their 7,000-square-foot home in 2007 with the idea to bring Pamela’s parents closer to home.
“The idea was Don’s. At first, when we got started, we were going to do the typical convert the garage and bonus room into a suite, but then it just evolved,” Pamela says.
Tim Bryan, of Bryan Residential Planning Company, was called to help in the addition process, but suggested it would look more appealing if Don and Pamela did an entire guesthouse.
Tim, who designed the original home eleven years ago, says, “I had just gone through the same thing with my mom before working with Don and Pamela.”
“The addition was more economically feasible than some of the alternative living facilities in the area,” Pamela says. The new addition has one bedroom, large master bathroom, front and back porches, kitchen and living area with a fireplace.
“During the addition everything was run by me,” Willene admits. “I was always asked if I liked something or I didn’t. I was very active in the process. I even picked the paint and appliances. I spend most of my time in the new part of the home, but the doors are always open.”
