There were already quite a few “guests” in the yard, technically speaking: The house shared space on its 7,500-square-foot lot with planting beds, a massive pond and a rear deck. Karen and Mina decided to add a pull-through driveway on the side of the new barn so the yard would still be accessible from the other end of the property.

Demolition for the bonus barn was minimal — Karen planned to place it in the mostly-empty spot at the back of her lot — and immensely satisfying, since both she and Tad got to break up the existing concrete pad with a Bobcat. “I really like operating a jackhammer,” Karen said, “and if we put that on steroids — if we put it on a Bobcat — I’m gonna love it even more!”

Mina was skeptical before construction began: “I don’t even know how you have room for a guest house back here, to be honest,” she confessed to her mom. Karen was undeterred, and she packed everything into a 35-by-36 footprint. “It’s gon’ be snug, but it fits!” Mina conceded.

City officials put the squeeze on Karen’s original plans by denying her permission to build a second interior story that carried all the way to her property line. Ever the optimist, Karen reworked her plans to include a massive upper deck (that just happens to be a perfect place for grandbabies to play). She chose pale grey-blue exterior paint with white trim to match the main house’s color scheme.