Affluent families are moving back toward one another. Sometimes by choice. Sometimes because a compound in Aspen is easier than coordinating three separate holiday houses. Turns out the modern family compound—once mainly associated with dynasties, succession battles and the occasional Kennedy—is becoming one of real estate’s more strategic plays. Where a family heirloom once meant silverware or art, it increasingly looks more like acreage.

According to the National Association of Realtors, a record 17% of homebuyers purchased a multigenerational home in 2024, up from roughly 11% in previous years.

Needing to be nearby plays a role, particularly after the pandemic. But at the upper end of the market, sentiment alone rarely drives property decisions. “It’s a real estate play,” says James Harris of Carolwood Estates in Los Angeles. “If you can accumulate land with contiguous properties, it’s more valuable down the road.”

In Europe, where land is significantly scarcer than in the United States, that strategy has become especially pronounced. Families are assembling adjacent estates over time, creating compounds designed to remain within clans for generations. The appeal is partly emotional, partly financial. Land, after all, embodies the true luxury of being finite.

For architects, the challenge lies in balancing connection with independence. Together, but not too together.

For architects, the challenge lies in balancing connection with independence. Together, but not too together.

That shift is reshaping how multimillion-dollar homes are being designed and built. In Los Angeles, buyers are snapping up neighboring lots and combining them into private compounds with multiple self-contained residences. Eager developers are responding with detached guesthouses, accessory dwelling units (standalone structures on the same lot, commonly known as ‘granny flats’) and increasingly flexible floorplans designed to accommodate several generations without requiring anyone to sacrifice privacy.

For architects, the challenge lies in balancing connection with independence. Shared gardens. Separate entrances. Private wings positioned just far enough apart to preserve domestic harmony. Together, but not too together.

There is one complication: planning regulations have not entirely caught up with how affluent families now want to live. One recently approved Ben Callery Architects project in Sydney includes a private wing for an aging grandparent, though technically the........

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