“Lets see, my wife and I have 3 kids, then we want 3 more, my dad will be living with us, and possibly my wife’s grandmother, my wife’s family lives within an hour and will be over A LOT, that is parents and 8 brothers and sisters, dozens of cousins, and 9 uncles/aunts. Put it this way, our leading candidates so far have guest houses, and one of them has 2 guest houses!”

OOPS! I forgot about that.I remember seeing it and had the thought that maybe you are LDS. In any case, your reasons are the best. If you don’t go for the guest houses you might look at a place with multiple private entrances to bedroom/bath combos. In my experience it makes long term visits more comfortable, depending on the guest. Once I added a little kitchenette to a room like this. Same thing as an attached guest house and you don’t have to rule out a property you otherwise might like, for lack of a guest house.The connection to house could be an advantage for the elderly family member scenario. Actually My favorite is a Spanish courtyard style with access from sleeping quarters to common areas from indoors and access directly to the court yard.The courtyard accesses kitchen and family rooms. I think I would need 6,000 sq. feet+ the courtyard to do it right and …I wouldn’t have that even if I could afford it;).