Dave and Lana were ready to settle down. After a decade living in Brooklyn, and previous travels abroad, the couple, who work in animation and healthcare, respectively, were hoping to buy a property with their infant daughter and start their next chapter. New York City was ruled out as an option—it was too far from family and much too expensive—but Lana’s hometown of Los Angeles was a financial challenge, too. They wanted to be near her parents on the Westside, but every For Sale sign exceeded their funds. In the end, they decided that the best thing was to move home—well, sort of.

“My parents had a pool in their backyard that was rarely used and needed to be retrofitted,” Lana says. “We thought, Why don’t we just get rid of the pool and build a home instead?” At the time, the couple had recently met Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki of Bunch Design at an ADU festival in downtown L.A., as they were seeking out more budget-friendly alternatives to single-family properties in the city. “An ADU can be more bespoke, and seemed like a no brainer,” adds Dave. “It started off as a financial decision, but then expanded into a bigger net-positive for our family.”

The couple sought a home design that was modern and bright, with an abundance of windows and skylights that would capitalize on sunshine and ocean breezes. Lana’s mom is Japanese and they both lived in Japan, so they envisioned a similar ethos to the style of homes there, which often feature natural materials, clean lines, and thoughtful spatial planning. That last point was particularly important because of their budget and footprint: Their ADU had to be no more than 1,200 square feet per the city’s limitations, and cost comfortably less than a million dollars.

“The pool was about four to five feet higher than the rest of the yard, and we had to figure out what to do about the grade change,” Sundius says. “Lana wanted to keep the grade change, so Hisako came up with the idea of two boxes set at a slight angle to each other with a box of glass in between. The angles create these shared spaces that the family can enjoy together or separately.”

Their ADU has two entrances: one on the side that feels more secluded, with a dedicated entryway. Then there’s a secondary entrance beside the patio that’s steps from the front house by way of new ramps—a clear meeting place between the households. Sundius and Hisako made sure to prioritize this project as the couple’s, but found ways to serve the grandparents’ present and future needs, too.

“My dad uses a wheelchair, and part of this project being mutually beneficial was making sure it accommodated him,” Lana says. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms are surrounded by four courtyards, with an outdoor shower in the bathroom off the living space adding yet more outdoor access. Every detail is straightforward yet thoughtfully considered, and that’s exactly the tone Sundius and Hisako wanted to strike.

“We were always thinking about how a room felt when walking through it,” Sundius says, adding that Dave was very involved in the design process, drawing on his animation career. “By creating that corner of glass beside the staircase in the living area or boxing in the entryway so there’s a window above, we made corners disappear. And that makes the home feel larger.”

Permitting, construction, and sourcing challenges were solved patiently—the project got underway in 2020 at the start of the pandemic and finished three years later, after Lana and Dave welcomed a second child. Everyone involved says it was all worth the wait; they built a home that can grow with the family as their lives continue to change.

“Before our kids go to school in the morning, they’re up and playing with their grandparents. Then after school, they’re with them getting a snack,” Lana says. “I don’t think I could fathom what this would be like on a daily basis when we made the decision to build an ADU. But now that we’re supporting one another, it feels really special.”

More from Bunch Design:

A Color-Blocked ADU in Los Angeles Takes a Cue From Talking Heads

This Bright and Airy Backyard Cottage in Los Angeles Feels Like a Cabin in the Woods

Clerestories and a Pitched Roof Cap This $330K Garage Turned ADU in Los Angeles

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Bunch Design

Structural Engineer: Craig Phillips Engineering & Design

Landscape Design: Agence Ouvray

Skylights: Sun Valley Skylights

Appears In

This Couple’s L.A. Starter Home? A 1,200-Square-Foot ADU in Their Parents’ Backyard