ADUs

The new prefab unit is located just a few meters from the main home—a thatched-roof cottage that dates back to the 1950s. “The dark color of the cladding blends into the dark hedges in the garden, so the unit doesn’t attract too much attention,” says Vriesema.

The two new buildings create a courtyard-like feel in the small urban backyard.

Brian and Melissa's two young children spend hours playing in the yard. With Melissa's mother in a house on the same property, the kids have easy access to Grandma whenever she's in town. "It's such a unique experience having multiple generations together," Brian says. "If the kids get up early, they can just run over to Melissa's mom's and spend time with her."

The 900-square-foot prefabricated backyard ADU in Los Angeles, California, that Cover designed to bring a family closer together features bright white composite exterior siding and a deck made from thermally treated ash.

Thompson, a founding principal of Assembledge+, had recently participated in a Los Angeles Magazine project to imagine solutions for those who lack housing in the city. Their notion was for public agencies to subsidize building ADUs in backyards along alleyways, dovetailing with existing alley revitalization initiatives

A Seattle couple built their own backyard house with a city-sponsored design—and then rented out their old home on the property to friends.

The owner and architect chose to outfit almost every aspect of the studio in Douglas fir plywood.

The Kleines Haus was thoughtfully designed to maintain its own sense of independence from the main house.

The new, attached ADU is rented out as a passive source of income that is helping Amanda finance the project.

A dilapidated garage in Los Angeles becomes a whimsical backyard dwelling.

Cornuelle, who’s from Hawaii, chose both older and contemporary Hawaiian art for the walls.

Custom cabinetry, countertops, and a dining table were crafted from salvaged wood.

The 1000-square-foot ADU is two levels with a footprint that allows the owners to retain plenty of outdoor space for their dogs to play. The façade “is a rain screen system, so the heat gain on the Brazilian hardwood is minimized by being physically separated by an air gap between it and the membrane behind it,” said Knight. “So, the wood heats up when sun hits it and this is not directly translated into the wall on the interior; it is instead buffered by this air gap.” The large doors and second-story skylights then work together to pull a nice breeze through the house.

The 750-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki of BunchADU designed in Los Angeles’s Atwater Village is filled with bright colors that help to designate the spaces within the small backyard home.

"It looks like an ordinary home, but there are decisions here that are out of the ordinary,

Exposing structural materials as finish materials created valuable cost savings. The structural concrete floors and exposed second floor framing strengthen the overall aesthetic, while eliminating the need for drywall or additional flooring.