I’ve been working on this accessory dwelling unit (called a Secondary Dwelling Unit in Oakland) for a while now. We ran into problems with the pandemic supply chain, and labor shortages and PGE hookups and any number of other things, but it is now habitable. The only thing that remains […]
Secondary Dwelling Unit
18 posts
One of the most common reasons my clients chose to build an accessory dwelling – either a backyard cottage or in-law unit, is for either their elder parents, or for their adult children with kids of their own. Building an accessory dwelling on their property allows them to have two […]
I’ve written about this secondary dwelling unit in Oakland before. About a month ago I posted on the progress. This past week I stopped by again to check on the progress. Since the last time I was there, they have started on the underlayment for the green roof assembly, and […]
In California, it is easier than ever before to add an accessory dwelling to your property. Whether you want to add an in-law unit in your basement, convert a free standing garage into a small cottage, or build a new backyard cottage from the ground up, the state has loosened […]
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 68 into law. AB 68 addresses Accessory Dwelling Units, specifically addressing planning and zoning regulations in order to make them easier to design and build.
This week I visited this project in Oakland which converted an existing detached garage into a studio cottage. We started this project a little more than a year ago and now it is very near complete. The owners are waiting on the Murphy bed to arrive, and they want to […]
Recently AlamedaMagazine.com published a great story about how Accessory Dwelling Units are allowing families to accommodate extended, intergenerational, living. This is a fancy way of saying, you can live with your adult children, or your parents, but with each of you having a private living space. Which is pretty cool, […]
The sister website to DSLociceroArchitect.com is MyAccessoryDwelling.com. At MyAccessoryDwelling.com you will find all kinds of information about accessory dwellings, and how to go about building one on your property. For those of you with existing un-permitted in-law units, there is also information about legalizing existing in-law units. It’s a pretty […]
One of the things that architects do is provide site inspection services. In most cases, when we go to visit a project under construction, we are there to observe. If we see anything that is not according to the documents, we raise the issue with the contractor and with the […]
Currently, there is a lot of interest in building accessory dwellings. Accessory dwellings are smaller cottages or apartments built on a property that already has one dwelling. They are also known as back yard cottages, in-law units, granny flats, and a host of other names. In the last few years […]
Are you considering building a granny flat, in-law unit, or backyard cottage? These are all names for what governmental jurisdictions are calling Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs. There is so much interest in these small, secondary dwellings, that I am launching a new website: MyAccessoryDwelling.com to provide information about the […]
You may have heard about accessory dwelling units – sometimes referred to as ADUs, Secondary dwelling units, or in-law units – and you’ve been wondering if you could build one at your property. But you don’t know where to start. Here’s what you can do: Call your local Planning or […]
The following images were made this week as I was working on a small cottage project that was recently re-started by the clients after a break of almost 2 years. In the intervening years, the building code changed and the Oakland’s planning regulations changed, so we had to make some […]
In California right now, there is a significant amount of interest in “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs). These used to be called “granny flats”, “in-law units”, or “back yard cottages”. Now they are most commonly called “accessory dwelling units” or “secondary dwelling units”. By definition, an ADU is a smaller dwelling […]
Every project has it’s own pace. Some are quick. Some are slow. Some hit road blocks. Some are paused and come back. One of my projects, which had been put on “hold” back in December, has come back to life. The project is in Sunnyvale. It was a project that […]
San Francisco has a program, the purpose of which is to encourage landlords to improve the earthquake safety of their properties. If a landlord voluntarily performs a seismic upgrade to a building meeting certain specific criteria, the City allows the landlord to add one or more rental units to the […]
Oh, heavenly day! We got the permit! Pardon me while I dance a little jig in celebration. You see, this is a small San Francisco project legalizing an existing secondary dwelling. We are doing this through a special program San Francisco offers, which allows owners of houses with unpermitted second […]
Every project has it’s own challenges. Sometimes it is the siting. Sometimes it is the budget. Sometimes it is a tricky space planning problem. This project, currently in the office, is to add a new Secondary Dwelling Unit to a single family house in Danville. The challenge on this project […]