Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

House Tour Will Feature Accessory Apartments

November 4, 2010

SHEFFIELD, MA—Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation announced today there will be a free house tour of homes with accessory apartments in Cornwall on Saturday, November 13 at 10 a.m. The Tour will start at the Wandering Moose Café, just across the Covered Bridge in West Cornwall. Carpools will be formed to visit three homes. They will return to the Moose about 12 p.m.

The tour is sponsored by HousingUs, an initiative of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. The Tour is open to anyone, not just Cornwall residents, and there is no charge. Contractors who might be interested in installing accessory apartments for owners are also welcome.

The tour will be led by Patrick Hare, a Cornwall resident who has owned and written books on accessory apartments. He is a national expert whose has done studies for organizations like AARP and the American Planning Association. The Tour will visit a home with a newly installed apartment, a home where there is a “service exchange” between the owners and the tenants, and a home with a long history of accessory apartments in a variety of configurations. At each home, both owners and tenants will be available to discuss how the accessory apartments work for them.

Jocelyn Ayer, coordinator of the HousingUs accessory apartment program, will also be on hand to discuss the support available to homeowners considering an accessory apartment. Attendees will receive a step-by-step guide on creating and renting accessory apartments, written specifically for the towns of Kent, Salisbury, Sharon, Cornwall, CT and Sheffield, MA. Guides are also available at town halls and by visiting housingus.org. A guide for Falls Village, CT will be completed shortly.

“Accessory apartments have been part of my family’s homes in both Cornwall and Washington, DC.” said Patrick Hare. “The rental income helped us to buy the houses, and has seen us through periods of unemployment and illness. They have also brought us many friends.”

Registration is free and can be made by emailing Pat Hare at hareplanning@yahoo.com or by leaving a message at 860.672.2315. Callers should leave a phone number in order to be contacted if the Tour is postponed to the rain date on Sunday, November 14th.

For more information about the HousingUs accessory apartment program, please visit housingus.org. HousingUs is a tri-state collaborative effort of nonprofit organizations and community leaders to promote broad-based affordable housing options in towns throughout the northwest corner of CT, northeast Dutchess and Columbia Counties in NY and southern Berkshire County.

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation builds stronger communities and improves the quality of life for all residents of Berkshire County, MA; Columbia County and northeast Dutchess County, NY; and northwest Litchfield County, CT. Berkshire Taconic connects donors with causes they care about by administering and investing their charitable funds. Thanks to its generous donors, in 2009 Berkshire Taconic distributed nearly $7 million in scholarships and grants for programs in the arts and education, health and human services, and environmental protection. Berkshire Taconic is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

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