A woman built a $400,000 ADU on her property so her parents can live rent-free - Business Insider

What the report says

Business Insider reported that Hana Brown and her husband, James Brown, built a $400,000 accessory dwelling unit on their property so Brown’s parents, Azra and Jasmin Catak, can live near them without paying rent. The Browns bought a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home on two acres in Damascus, Oregon, in 2020 for $945,000 with the idea that the property could also accommodate Brown’s parents.

According to the report, Brown’s family left Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992 during the civil war, lived as refugees in Germany, and later resettled in Washington state. Brown said her parents supported her and her brother through that upheaval, and she wanted to help them as they aged. The Cataks spend part of each year in Bosnia, but Brown wanted them close when they are in the United States.

The couple moved ahead with the ADU project in 2021. Local rules limited the unit to 900 square feet, and Brown told Business Insider she wanted to give her parents as much space as the code allowed. The Browns financed the build themselves, hired an architect, and placed the ADU toward the back of the property, where it has privacy and views of surrounding trees.

Business Insider described the ADU as a separate, luxury-style home with white siding, a metal roof, a mudroom, laundry area, large kitchen, open living space, covered deck, and one bedroom. The story fits into a broader housing trend: homeowners are increasingly using ADUs for multigenerational living, especially as families look for ways to support aging relatives while preserving independence.