This successful entrepreneur knows a good opportunity when she sees one. That's why she decided to add an ADU and live in it herself. (She plans to rent out her main house.) While she didn’t feel like she needed the additional income, she knew it would be a great investment.

One of our projects, a hillside ADU, has a large and open backyard, but the setbacks and the desires for views started to limit where and what we could build. We used these limitations to help us create schemes that would create a great home that is unique to its site.

A homeowner in El Cerrito came to New Avenue looking to add a one-bedroom accessory dwelling to her backyard. Here’s the design her New Avenue design professional created.

Amy and Tom owned a 743-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath home that was built in 1943. That’s tiny, and it just didn’t work for the owners and their goals. Those goals were clear. When asked what they wanted, they explained that they wanted a home for “growing old in.”

Here are a few of the requirements related to Second Units for the City of El Cerrito, CA…

A family in El Cerrito wanted to be able to take care of each other and spend more time together. Instead of spending $3,500 or more per month on a nearby apartment, they remodeled their home to include an attached accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Sometimes called an “in-law suite” or a “granny flat,” an accessory dwelling is a place that can truly bring families together to help one another and enjoy each other’s company. Here are the floor plans.

The San Francisco Bay Area local NPR station KQED recently did a piece on livable tiny homes and had a chance to visit one of our accessory dwelling projects, Dennis and Lisa's Paradise in El Cerrito, CA…