This past Spring (2015) we were in the midst of applying for a third year of residency at the Beacon Hill Friends House when another interesting possibility presented itself: Living across the hall from our daughter, Kate, her husband, Marton, and their two children, Leila and Mateo.

Neither possibility was a sure thing.

The Friends House admits new residents for two years, with the opportunity to apply for a third year and then a fourth year, with the total stay capped at four years. We felt we’d been contributing members of the community and figured we’d be able to extend beyond our first two years.

Kate and family, meanwhile, had their eye on a nice old courtyard complex near Coolidge Corner, just a few miles from Beacon Hill. It turned out that two apartments across the hall from each other would soon be available. With the Boston area rental market nearly as overheated as the real estate sales scene, we knew we’d have to act fast. So we did, and here we are.

As much as we loved living at the Friends House, this new adventure in multi-generational living was too good an opportunity to pass up.

As we did with A Year in a Room, we’ll do our best with Across the Hall to address not only the particulars of, well, life across the hall, but some larger questions about how we all live with one another.

We hope you’ll join us along the way.