garden apartment

Meanings

1. A detached mother-in-law apartment or cottage on the same parcel as the main house.
2. One of a set of low-rise apartment buildings built among landscaped grounds and often arranged around courtyards that are open at one end.
3. An urban apartment in a multistory building located at or below ground level.

Etymology

So called since this form of housing is usually a cottage built in a home's back yard garden area.