Mid-City Two-Story ADU

Quick facts: Two-story ADU, 1,200 SF | 3 bed, 3 bath | Mid-City, Los Angeles | 2022–2024

These clients came to us after their previous architect abandoned the project. They didn’t want a pep talk. They wanted the maximum ADU their lot allowed, finished. We got them to 1,200 SF, the largest ADU a single-family lot allows, by keeping the existing garage right where it sat (12 inches off the side property line, a location you couldn’t permit new today) and building up.

The first floor is an open living, dining, and kitchen with a bedroom that works as an office or guest room, and a stackable washer/dryer tucked under the stairs so no floor area goes to a laundry closet. The kitchen is small but efficient, and the bathrooms are a full 8 by 5 feet; nothing in this unit lives like a compromise. Upstairs are two more bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and closet, and a covered balcony off the main bedroom that gives the second floor its own outdoor room.

The site math was the whole game: 4-foot rear and side setbacks for the new addition, and 13 feet of separation from the main house (code would allow less, but we recommend at least 10 and here we wanted more light and privacy). Every inch was drawn deliberately, and we carried the plans through city permits to approval.