The home you love isn't quite big enough. In many Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette neighborhoods, families genuinely love where they live. They appreciate their street, their proximity to Purdue University, the character of their home, and the sense of community that comes with it. Children grow. Parents move in. Remote work becomes permanent. Storage disappears. A once-comfortable home begins to feel tight and limited.
When that happens, homeowners are typically faced with two options:
S. Brown Construction helps Greater Lafayette families create well-designed home additions that allow them to remain in their desirable neighborhood while creating a home that truly supports the way they live today.
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A traditional room addition, often called “building out,” extends your home’s footprint to create entirely new living space at ground level. This is one of the most versatile and widely requested types of home additions in Greater Lafayette.
A room addition involves expanding outward from your existing structure to add:
In established neighborhoods throughout Lafayette, especially where lot sizes allow, building out can dramatically improve how a home functions without altering its overall character.
We often see this type of addition in:
A successful room addition requires careful architectural integration. Key factors include:
In Greater Lafayette, thoughtfully designed room additions typically begin around $80,000 and increase based on size, finishes, and structural complexity. Larger additions with kitchens, bathrooms, or complex roof modifications will naturally require a greater investment.
View our cost guide for detailed local cost information.
In West Lafayette and newer subdivisions near Purdue University, one of the most popular ways to gain space is building an addition over the garage.
Many homes in these neighborhoods were built with efficient footprints, often three bedrooms, limited flex space, and no dedicated bonus area. As families grow or work-from-home needs increase, the lack of flexible square footage becomes noticeable.
Building up over the garage works especially well when:
In Purdue-area homes, we frequently design these spaces as:
Not every garage is automatically designed to support living space above. Before proceeding, we evaluate:
Homeowners often ask whether it’s less expensive to build up instead of out.
The answer depends on structural conditions. In some cases, building over an existing structure can be cost-effective because foundation work is minimized. However, if reinforcement is required, the investment may be comparable to building out.
Over-garage additions in the Lafayette market often begin in the $120,000–$250,000+ range, depending on complexity and finish level.
For homeowners who love their lot but feel limited by a small footprint, adding a second story can completely transform the property.
A full or partial second-story addition may be ideal when:
We’ve seen many families choose this route when moving would mean giving up a highly desirable location.
A second-story addition is one of the most complex residential projects a homeowner can undertake.
It often requires:
Because of the scope, the design phase becomes even more important. Proper planning reduces surprises and ensures the final home feels cohesive and balanced.
In Indiana, full second-story additions typically begin in the $250,000–$350,000+ range, depending on size, design complexity, and finishes. Explore more details about factors influencing cost in our blog here.
View our portfolio to see beautiful projects executed to perfection.
For many homeowners in Greater Lafayette, the need for space isn’t just about square footage — it’s about livability.
We are seeing an increasing number of families choose to add a first-floor primary suite. Sometimes it’s part of a long-term aging-in-place plan. Other times, it’s about creating privacy in a busy household. In both cases, the goal is the same: comfort and flexibility for the future.
Homeowners who plan to stay in their home for the next 10 to 20 years often realize that navigating stairs every day may not always be ideal. Others simply want a more private retreat away from children or guests.
A well-designed first-floor primary suite addition typically includes:
In established neighborhoods, the challenge is ensuring the new suite integrates seamlessly with the existing structure. The addition should feel intentional — proportioned correctly, balanced with the home’s rooflines, and aligned with existing windows and materials.
When planned carefully, a primary suite addition enhances both the daily experience of the home and its long-term value.
We frequently work with homeowners who are welcoming parents into the household, supporting adult children, or simply planning for greater flexibility in the years ahead. An in-law suite addition allows multiple generations to live comfortably under one roof.
Unlike a simple bedroom expansion, multigenerational additions require a higher level of planning. These spaces often include:
In rural properties and farmhouse-style homes throughout Tippecanoe County, this type of addition can be beautifully integrated into the architecture. In more compact neighborhoods, careful design ensures privacy without overwhelming the original structure.
Sometimes the issue isn’t the entire house, it’s one room that simply doesn’t function the way it should.
We often meet homeowners who have already updated cabinetry or appliances, yet the kitchen still feels tight and constrained. In these cases, remodeling alone isn’t enough. Expanding the footprint becomes the real solution.
A kitchen bump-out or expansion addition can dramatically change how a home lives, even if the increase in square footage is modest.
Even extending the kitchen by a few feet can:
Many older Lafayette homes were built with compartmentalized layouts. Opening the kitchen to adjacent spaces and adding square footage transforms the home from segmented to connected.
In rural areas surrounding Lafayette and West Lafayette, garage additions with living space above offer exceptional flexibility. These projects are especially appealing for homeowners with larger lots who want to expand without disrupting the original footprint of the home.
A garage addition can provide:
When designed with care, carriage-style architecture can enhance farmhouse properties and create a sense of continuity between the original structure and the new addition. Because these additions often involve new foundations and framing from the ground up, they allow for a high degree of design freedom. Ceiling heights, dormers, and rooflines can be tailored to complement the existing home.
If your home no longer supports the way you live but you still value your neighborhood, your lot, and the character of your property, a thoughtfully designed addition may be the right next step.
At S. Brown Construction Co., we begin with a qualification call to understand your goals, your timeline, and whether we’re the right fit for your project. From there, we guide you through a detailed design process, so your addition feels integrated, intentional, and built to last.
If you’re planning a home addition in Greater Lafayette, West Lafayette, or the surrounding communities, we invite you to contact us here to explore what's possible.