City guide

Building a backyard home in Parker

Parker allows a cottage on acreage — but only for family, guests, or live-in help, never a tenant.

What Parker allows

Lot size

At least 1 acre for an attached cottage, or a full 2 acres for a detached one — the strictest lot-size rule of any city we cover.

Cottage size

The LESSER of 1,000 sq ft or 25% of your home's living space.

Placement

Behind the main dwelling's rear building line (corner lots: no closer to the street than the main dwelling), and still within your zoning district's normal setbacks.

Permit

Both attached and detached cottages need a Special Use Permit — and that approval must be RENEWED every year. An attached cottage must also be architecturally built into the main house; a detached one needs a fire hydrant within 450 ft or its own 8-inch water line.

Renting it

Never to a third party. Occupancy is limited to close family, a short-term (≤1 month) guest, or an unpaid live-in domestic/agricultural worker — and you can't move into the cottage and rent out the main house instead.

The catch most people miss

The rental ban is airtight, and the annual SUP renewal — required for BOTH attached and detached units — is unique among our cities — most places make you get one permit once; Parker makes you re-apply every year. This is a fit for a genuinely rural, multigenerational property, not a rental strategy.

What it costs

The factory price is only part of the real number — site work, utilities, permits, and delivery/crane are the rest. Your Owner's ADU Roadmap gives a specific budget band for your address, plus the exact permit path and everything you need to run the project yourself (or have us run it).

Rules verified 2026-07-18 from City of Parker, TX Code of Ordinances — Ch. 156 Zoning, §156.37(O). General guidance, not a determination for a specific property — zoning overlays, planned developments, and HOA/deed restrictions are address-specific.