Growing up in Santa Cruz’s Seabright neighborhood, therapist Melissa Virostko spent long summer days with other kids on the block riding bikes, running in backyards, and playing at the beach. It was the kind of idyllic childhood she wanted for her children, so after living in San Francisco and Berkeley, she and her husband, architect Brian Friel, set their sights on returning to the small seaside town at the north end of Monterey Bay.

“We really wanted to be in Seabright,” Melissa says. “My whole extended family is there, and my mom still lives in the house I grew up in. Financially, however, it wasn’t going to work out for us to buy a home.” Adds Brian of their experience looking at listings, “The Santa Cruz real estate market is incredibly expensive and highly competitive.”

As it happened, the family’s solution to moving back arose in Melissa’s childhood backyard. After discussions with her mother, she and Brian, who cofounded multidisciplinary design firm Young America Creative, decided to tear down the existing single-car garage in the back and build an ADU for their family of four. They loved the idea of a multigenerational situation—the kids could spend quality time with their grandmother—and living with a minimal footprint.

Brian and Melissa built a 600-square-foot ADU, doing what they could to keep it from feeling like a tiny home and staying close to their budget of $275,000. “We tried to maximize each space to make them feel appropriately sized,” Brian says. The living space on the main level (which includes the kitchen, living room, primary bedroom, and bathroom) extends outside with French doors that open onto a deck, flagstone patio, and grassy yard where the family can hang out year round—a possibility thanks to Santa Cruz’s mild weather. A second-level loft is the kids’ sleeping area and playroom. Across the board, Brian was thrifty with the floor plan. “There’s not much transition space between anything—no hallways, extra cabinets, or closets. I spent time on a design that kept the footprint relatively open.”

$15,000 Site Work	$12,000 Foundation	$52,000 Structural
$5,500 Flooring	$8,500 Roofing	$2,500 Hardware
$21,000 Electrical	$18,000 Plumbing	$5,000 HVAC
$8,000 Landscaping	$2,000 Kitchen & Bath Fixtures	$3,000 Lighting
$15,000 Cabinetry	$6,000 Countertops	$10,500 Appliances
$15,000 Glazing	$4,800 Doors	$6,000 Wall Finishes
$8,000 Millwork	$6,200 Tilework	$2,500 Metalwork
$10,000 Furnishings & Decor	$9,500 Permitting	$10,000 Labor
$4,000 Demolition	$5,000 Waste & Debris Removal	$3,500 Soils Report
$2,800 Structural Engineering	$1,450 Survey	$4,100 Fire Sprinklers
Grand Total: $276,850

The home’s expanded proportions make it feel larger than it is. Walls clock in at eight-and-a-half feet, while windows and door heights reach seven-and-a-half. Five skylights and vaulted ceilings capture and disperse light. “They make the space feel more open,” Brian notes, adding that the glazing was a project splurge at $15,000.

The front of the house faces the back of the main residence, but according to Brian, even with the large windows, “you can’t see it from the main house” because of how it’s positioned on the property. This was a purposeful move to give them flexibility if, in the future, they want to rent out the ADU.

For the kitchen, which is combined with the dining area and open to the living space, Brian spent $15,000 on Ikea cabinetry and custom plywood doors. A sliding barn-style door separates the public zones from the private. Brian and Melissa kept the material and color palette neutral (oak flooring and trim, white paint, plywood) to prevent visual clutter and let furniture, art, and decor, a $10,000 spend, add color.

The primary bedroom has a wall of built-in storage and a large window looking into the yard. “We can see the kids from anywhere in the house,” Brian says. “We’re lucky to live in a climate where they want to be outside all the time.”

In the home’s singular bathroom, one must-have was a two-sink vanity. Since a standard five-foot vanity was too long, he installed one custom-made with a white countertop and dark wood base. Most of the house’s exterior is stucco (all wall finishes, including paint, wallpaper, stucco, and plaster were $6,000), but Brian covered a couple of the walls, both interior and exterior, in shiplap—as seen in the bathroom—to aesthetically connect it with the main house, which is around 100 years old.

The project took just under a year to complete, with the biggest expense of $52,000 coming from the foundation and framing, including drywall and insulation. According to Brian—who did all the painting, acted as the general contractor, and, of course, designed the home—taking on tasks themselves and getting help from family and friends (Melissa’s uncle is a plumber and helped them install pipes, sinks, and toilets) cut down on costs without extending the project timeline.

“I love waking up in our bedroom and looking out the picture window into the yard,” says Melissa. “My favorite part is our two fruit trees, which have likely been on the property for 80 years or more. Our kids love to climb the plum tree, which was a favorite activity of mine as a kiddo.”

More from Young America Creative:

Samin Nosrat’s Kitchen Is a Small and Efficient Dream

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Young America Creative / @youngamericacreative

Builder/General Contractor: Brian Friel

Structural Engineering: Fletcher Waggoner