“A sense of expansive space and careful use of light and color are things that make our ADU designs feel large, even when most of them are under 800 square feet,” says designer Bo Sundius, who co-founded Los Angeles–based Bunch Design and Bunch ADU with his wife Hisako Ichiki, also a designer. “The result is that the people who live and work in these small homes never feel like they’re in a small space,” he adds.

$10,000 Demolition	$7,560 Site Upgrades	$20,000 Foundation
$44,000 Framing	$11,200 Stucco	$17,580 Windows & Doors
$6,200 Roofing	$3,660 Gutters	$15,600 Drywall
$11,200 Flooring	$7,400 Paint	$13,600 Electrical
$14,600 Plumbing	$13,200 Mech & HVAC	$24,000 Kitchen & Equipment
$17,958 Bathroom	$4,500 Permits	$6,000 Fees
Grand Total: $248,658

The surprisingly lofty, 850-square-foot home that Sundius and Ichiki designed for a backyard in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles is a prime example of how small spaces don’t have to feel so small. As such, the design is one of Bunch ADU’s prototypes. “Anyone can purchase the design for a reduced fee, and we can work with them to build it in their own backyard more quickly than they’d be able to build a custom design,” Sundius says. “It’s an off-the-shelf approach with known costs.”

To make the two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath dwelling look and feel as large as possible, Sundius and Ichiki maintained sightlines from one end to the other. “We didn’t want to disrupt the flow of the stepped ceiling as it runs the length of the building,” Ichiki says. The designers placed the bathroom and the water closet in box-like volumes that are inserted within the house’s overall volume. The bathroom and water closet inserts separate the kitchen and the living area from the bedrooms.

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The designers used the long lines of the stepped ceiling to make the space feel more expansive than its 850 square feet. The inserts, too, contribute to the home’s spaciousness. “Space is defined by how walls meet ceilings and floors,” says Sundius. “If you pull the wall back from where it meets the ceiling, you blur the way you visually read the space.”

When it came to color, form, and materials, Sundius and Ichiki took inspiration from iconic architectural designs. “The color and gradients of the interior were central to our concept,” Sundius says. “The white-painted, stepped ceiling has this playful formality that reminds us of Italian modernists like Ettore Sottsass and Gio Ponti, who were never fearful of color and oversize gestures.”

The work of Mexican architect Luis Barragán also proved inspirational. “His designs seeped into our thoughts,” says Ichiki. “The stepped ceiling takes on such great shadow and light.” The designers employed skylights—one of which they accented with a hot pink tone—and a bright shade of yellow on one of the walls and a floor-to-ceiling door to one of the bedrooms. “The effect is wonderful,” Sundius says. “Sunlight casts pink and red hues onto the white, stepped ceiling. With the ADU being a small space, we wanted to use aspects of nature, like sunlight, to change the space throughout the day so you’d never get bored or feel cooped up.”

The skylights punch through the stepped ceiling and expose large blocks of bright blue sky that pair well with the sunshine yellow tone of the wall and the door. “We had fun balancing the yellow, blue, white and reddish pink as sort of an abstract artwork that you get different glimpses of as you move through the house,” Sundius says.

The brilliance of the interior contrasts with the more subdued look of the exterior, which Sundius and Ichiki clad with sand-colored stucco. “All of the nearby houses are stucco, so we decided to go with that aesthetic and keep things unified,” Sundius says.

Sundius and Ichiki’s design is as artful as it is practical. “The house takes time to experience,” Sundius says. “When people come through, they kind of loiter around like they’re in a gallery, taking in all of the different moments. It feels great to demonstrate that a home can be a work of art, and that architecture doesn’t have to be a privilege for only an elite group.”

More Budget Breakdown:

A Laser-Cut Steel Addition Sharpens Up a Michigan Home For $85K

A Designer Couple Revamp a Tiny Seattle Condo For $13K

Toronto Architects Make a Historic Brick Home Whole Again For $572K

Project Credits:

Architecture: BunchADU by Bunch Design / @bunch_design

Construction: Lightning Construction and Design

Structural Engineer: Craig Phillips