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obert Dawson used the coach house behind his Kenwood mansion to put up his
in-laws. Malcolm Morris rents out the cottage in back of his Bucktown home to
pay the mortgage. Though Dawson and Morris said their structures are
"grandfathered" in, living in a coach house in Chicago is not legal. In 1957,
city officials banned living in the buildings that once housed horses, carriages
and drivers, fearing that too many people living on one lot would lower
neighborhood property values.
Housing advocates, however, are lobbying to change that, saying scores of old
coach houses--also known as "granny flats" and in-law apartments--are an
untapped rental housing resource in Chicago's back yards. "They can be a rental
opportunity for people who otherwise wouldn't be able to live in certain
communities and a wonderful opportunity for income for homeowners," said MarySue
Barrett, president of the Metropolitan Planning Council.