Compound interest

Although compounds appear on the market occasionally, he said, it's unusual. The most effective way to sleuth them out, he added, is by being persistent and by eyeing properties with contiguous parcels or zoning for more than one building. Weiss currently has a compound listing in Venice that has three units on the property. It includes two modern, three-level lofts and a two-bedroom cottage -- plus a saltwater pool -- for $2,995,000.

Regina Petterson, a psychologist with Specialty Depression and Anxiety in Los Angeles, thinks that the interest among some in housing such as compounds reflects their desire to recapture the same sort of social change they witnessed or were a part of in the 1960s. "The difference is that it's more structured and less about experimentation."

Living together in a compound, she added, can not only increase the time a family spends together but also enhance the traditional nuclear family. "The family now lives among other families that promote common goals of strengthening the unit by working together as a whole," Petterson said. "Sharing chores, bartering goods, providing child care when needed allows families that live in a commune type of community to spend more time with their nuclear family unit."

For some buyers, a compound is one way to get some help paying the mortgage. Chad Parsons, a film and television writer, along with his partner, Wolfgang Bauer, an artist, paid $399,000 in 2002 for a multiunit zoned gravel lot with a 1,000-square-foot cottage in Venice. They moved into the property after the original space, a 1920s cottage, was renovated.

Two units added

Over the next two years, they planned the design for a loft-style townhouse, whose two units were to be erected side by side. In 2004, they started building it with the help of a silent partner, dermatologist Peter Goldman. Each unit, which consists of three floors, is about 1,650 square feet. They reside in one of the units; the other and the cottage are rented out. And though the two rentals don't cover the entire cost of the mortgage, insurance and taxes, they come close, Parsons said.

It wasn't an easy decision, however, to go the compound route. Parsons and Bauer were concerned that doing this, instead of building a single-family home, might interfere with the solitude and privacy they value. But Parsons, 37, says that when he and Bauer, 42, are inside their unit, they feel as if they're living in a single home. They credit their architect, Magdalena Glen-Schieneman, owner of MGS Architecture in Venice, who persuaded them to build the compound.

Glen-Schieneman said clients seeking a compound setting were often young, well-heeled and financially savvy. "They're looking to maximize their real estate assets by generating revenue with outlying structures. The multiple residences also allow clients to live on site in comfort while a main house is being built or substantially remodeled."

Parsons and Bauer finished their 6,000-square-foot compound by adding a swimming pool, which the tenants can use too. The pool is in the middle of the residences and is surrounded by bamboo, lending the area a sense of privacy.

"Although the tenants are around," Parsons said, "you don't often see anyone else on the property."

Parsons thinks properties like theirs could become increasingly popular in overpopulated areas. "I think as the population grows and the space disappears in Los Angeles and other metro areas . . . it's less realistic for people to have large pieces of property with a single home."