While 630 square feet may seem compact to some, for Mai Tran and her husband, Le Pham, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) they designed for themselves was a palatial upgrade. In 2015, after an arduous Bay Area house hunt, Mai and Le purchased a single-family home for $695,000 in Albany, California. They moved into the 300-square-foot basement level, while renting out the rest of the house, with the intent to save up to build a tiny home in the rear yard.

“That front house was a test for us to live minimally,” Mai says of the couple’s three-year stint in the main home’s pint-size basement, an exercise that brought them to one shared realization. “We love space, like empty space, to contemplate, instead of an abundance of objects to look at and worry about.” This transitional period also afforded the couple more time to design the ADU, which was critical, since the compact structure needed to function as both their residence and office for their architecture firm, 3R Studio.

At the outset of their home search, the lot’s lack of parking deterred many prospective buyers—giving Mai and Le a fighting chance in a competitive market. As it turned out, the would-be deficiency was a key selling point for the couple, as it meant the existing dwelling was pushed closer to the front of the lot and there was open space in the rear for an ADU. Since Mai and Le didn’t have a car, they were unfazed by the property’s parking conundrum. “I grew up in the city. Le did too,” shares Mai. (The couple were both raised in Ho Chi Minh City and met while working as architects for an American company in Vietnam.) “It’s so walkable in this neighborhood and also bikeable.”

Working from the inside out, the pair ultimately pulled the ADU apart into two smaller-scale volumes—one private, one public—with an internal courtyard. Every room has a connection with the outdoors, bringing nature to the forefront. “Each room has its own retreat for the mind,” says Mai. The courtyard is immediately visible upon entry—drawing the eye to the trees, light, and towering bamboo beyond, and a glass-enclosed bridge connects the volumes. “When I walk through, it just opens on both sides, and it feels a bit like being outdoors,” says Le.

All in, the couple spent about $437,000 to build the ADU. Strategy guided their choices, with the pair deciding to invest generously in infrastructure. “We put a lot of money in the foundation—stuff like drainage—to make sure that this will have a long life,” says Mai. After investing in core systems, they spent less on interior finishes, which they reason can be upgraded later more easily.

$36,000 Site Work	$75,740 Foundation	$81,570 Structural
$16,500 Wall Finishes	$8,000 Flooring	$10,775 Roofing
$300 Hardware	$18,290 Electrical	$24,600 Plumbing
$4,500 HVAC	$7,000 Landscaping	$4,486 Kitchen & Bath Fixtures
$2,650 Lighting	$14,000 Cabinetry	$4,500 Countertops
$8,750 Appliances	$30,000 Windows & Glazing	$20,000 Doors
$4,200 Millwork	$4,100 Tile Work	$1,100 Metalwork
$4,800 Furnishings $ Decor	$4,946 Permitting	$47,381 Contractor Fee
$3,500 Demolition
Grand Total: $437,670

Mai and Le’s tranquil ADU exudes a feeling of impenetrable calm—it takes the rhythmic hum of passing BART trains to provide an audible reminder of the home’s urban context. And beneath the surface of the quiet, contemplative home lies a deeper ethos around small-footprint living. “When we pass away, what we leave on the planet will be our footprint,” says Mai. “I just feel moral or ethical to live in a small footprint and not keep acquiring more stuff.”

“We don’t look to draw attention to something we’ve made, but to an appreciation of nature—the greenery, the breeze, the light.”
—Mai Tran, architect and resident

The ADU is also not just a starter house: Envisioning growing old in the compact space, Mai and Le have already considered aging-in-place measures. The bathroom tub is removable and sits on a shower floor with a shower pan beneath it. So in the future, they can easily take out the tub and convert the space to a wheelchair-accessible shower. They’ve even brainstormed adding lift platforms to enable access to the home’s two lofts. “I think that a successful architecture project is one that evolves throughout time,” says Mai. “We still have room to grow and improve in the future, but we feel very complete.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: 3R Studio

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Budget Breakdown: They Built a Minimalist $437K ADU—to Live and Work Out of Themselves