This Burlingame ADU is the Perfect Blend of Comfort and Space Efficiency

One family in Burlingame, California always had a dream of building an ADU in their sunny backyard. But it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that they started feeling a more pressing need for additional space. With their entire family around the house more often, the homeowners knew an ADU could provide valuable living space for one of their adult children—and down the line, the opportunity for rental income, too. So they began their search for the right ADU provider.

The homeowners were immediately drawn to Cottage because of its custom approach. They knew they wanted to preserve the usability of their patio and backyard, which had a fire pit, BBQ, and lovely dining area. Cottage’s designers jumped in to determine the ideal ADU size and footprint on the property, and quickly navigated the specifics of Burlingame's setback requirements to unlock even more square footage. The result: a perfectly-placed ADU that seamlessly shares the backyard space with the main home. This property-specific design simply wouldn’t be possible with prefab ADU solutions.

Another must-have for the homeowners was to have the ADU match the main home. Thanks to Cottage’s custom design approach, this was easily achieved. What’s more, the homeowners had the ability to tweak the specific details of the ADU design to produce exactly what they were looking for.

In true ADU fashion, the homeowners wanted to make use of every square inch of the unit. Cottage’s designers found creative ways to do just this: in the kitchen, a few inches of extra space between the cabinet and wall became a handy pull-out spice organizer; in the bathroom, the shower size was slightly scaled down to accommodate a linen closet since storage was a priority for the homeowners.

Today, the homeowners’ adult son is happily living in the ADU, where he has his own independent space but is still close to family. Down the line, they know there’s an opportunity for rental income if their son decides to move elsewhere. However they choose to use it, their Cottage ADU has undoubtedly added welcome space and value to this family’s property.

At Cottage, we believe in providing homeowners the best ADU experience possible. From feasibility, to design, permitting, and construction, we're here to guide you through each step of the journey.

Interested in building a similar attached or detached ADU, or converting an existing garage space? Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation & estimate for your ADU vision with one of our ADU experts!