The Globe and Mail

Modernist houses - with their sleek horizontal profiles, glass walls and open plans - were among the loveliest accomplishments of 20th-century architectural design. But they always had one shortcoming. They were typically fashioned with a single person or couple in mind, or, at most, a small family - the kind of sophisticated people who appreciated life in a glass box. There wasn't a place in such homes for anything old - not a grandfather clock, nor even a grandfather. But times are changing. People live longer nowadays than they used to, and some older couples want to live out their lives in the company of offspring and descendants. It may be only a matter of time before numerous architects are challenged by intelligent clients to bring forth contemporary multigenerational houses that are comfortable without being throwbacks to the ancien régime or faux-whatever monster houses.