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Somewhat conceptually related from almost the same era, the Vancouver Special:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Special

Take a long, thin lot in a rapidly redeveloping inner city area, put a conventional home sideways onto the lot with scarce room to spare, change the entrance ways to suit, and bob's your uncle. Unlike the L.A. Dingbats, the Vancouver Specials usually had the parking overhang at the back, if at all.

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I think another notable difference is that Vancouver Specials are nominally single family detached homes, but the design does lend itself to turning the main floor into a decently sized, above ground rental suite. All without requiring the kind of major renovations that cause city inspections.

Agreed, and a permutation of what you describe is the conversion of side-by-side duplex Vancouver Specials, particulary in Burnaby, into four-plexes by doing the same upstairs-downstairs split.

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