What can an ADU do for you? One Senior’s Story, Part 1
Sally Anne Rudloff enjoying a break on her front porch. All photos courtesy of Shannon Reese
Meet Sally Anne Rudloff. A resident of Alameda for the last 50 years with many personal accomplishments: she’s raised two children, been a successful local Realtor®, has a budding acting career, and is now embarking on yet another new adventure – building an ADU.
An ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) is a relatively new choice for Californians looking to downsize, ease their mobility issues, and/or generate revenue during retirement. There are other reasons, but we’re going to focus on these as Sally’s journey of getting an ADU actually built unfolds over the coming weeks. From solving how to pay for it, then deciding what it is that she wants in her new home, and a multitude of questions in between, we’ll see one woman’s story of how this went from a dream to a new reality. We hope you’ll come along and learn from Sally’s story so that you might be inspired to do the same.
I recently sat down with Sally and we talked about her goals, struggles, and how step by step she keeps pushing ahead.
What led you to consider building an ADU?
“I have lived on the Alameda lagoon for 50 years - I bought the house in 1972 because it had such an incredible view, and I always wanted to live closer to the water. Many years ago, my cousin who is an architect, drew up a plan for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath single-level home cantilevered out over the lagoon. However, at that time, I didn’t have the resources to build such a house and even though I have two lots (10,000+ square feet together), the city probably would not have allowed me to build my ‘dream house’. Fast forward to 2016, when the State of California began passing legislation for homeowners to build accessory and junior units in their backyards. This included both single residential districts and multi-family districts. When this legislation was first passed, the catch-22 was that even if you were in a multi-family district, your house had to be a single-family house.”
Sally’s charming Victorian triplex
“OOPS!!! My Victorian was a triplex so I either had to convert it back to a single-family house or simply not build a backyard Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). Finally, in 2020 the law changed so that you could build an ADU in a multi-family district with a triplex. My prayers had been answered!!!”
You said before that you considered doing it many years ago, what were the reasons why you put it off for so long?
“Finances, zoning restrictions, a little bit of inertia with being a single mother raising and supporting two children, and just trying to live my life without any added hassle.”
How did your perception of issues match the reality of the ADU design/build process? How did you decide who would be your architect and builder?
“Originally, I worked with a marvelous designer who listened to me and drew up my ideas for the ‘Cadillac’ of ADUs. It had two large bedrooms, and two bathrooms (I didn’t want anyone to “share” my bathroom). Suddenly, my dream house was 1000+ square feet in size. Reality finally set in when the designer said a “conservative estimate” of $500,000 is what it would cost to build. WOW!!! I then sat in my backyard and realized that my dream ADU would make the entire view of the lagoon to the left disappear and the other half of my property would be left looking at a straight-ahead limited view. Right now, you can see that my view is 180-degrees, to keep that all for me and not allow the tenants to also enjoy the view would be a shame and a horrible waste. So back to reality and the drawing board.”
Enjoying a view of the Alameda lagoon from her current back deck
Cleared area (previously garage) for future ADU with view of Alameda lagoon
ADU builder research process
“So I started thoroughly researching different ADU builders. We looked at prefab units that could be lifted onto your property and set on a foundation. These options were immediately discarded by me because of aesthetics (too modern to sit behind my 1895 Victorian) and logistically because they had to come down my driveway and they were too wide to fit. Only a few preset models were available and they could not be adapted to take advantage of the lagoon setting (Google Mighty Buildings, or ‘Oakland prefab 3D homes’ to see what I encountered. However, this might be the right solution for your situation).”
Narrow drive leading to future ADU
“We also contacted Alameda Tiny Homes, which at the time had 4 models available. Alameda Tiny Homes offers very nice models of homes ranging from 1 bedroom – 2 bedroom models and various other sizes of homes. Again the modifications to accommodate my lagoon view would not be feasible because the footprint of the ADU I wanted was more of an L-shape and their standard designs simply didn’t fit this type of footprint. So I settled on a stick-built model that would include a design team to meet with me and learn what I wanted. They would survey my site and offer the best use of the site for building.”
ADU builder decision made
“With all I learned in mind, I started discussions with Cottage. The great thing about Cottage is that they have a construction company, Venture Construction, working directly with them. These two companies lead you hand-in-hand through the entire process: from design and permitting, then on to building and completion.”
“If I’d stayed with the first designer I dealt with for my 1000+ sq. ft. building idea, then I also would have had to interview and hire the contractor to build my unit. The whole idea of that task was very daunting.”
“My timeline so far has involved the demolition of my pre-1942 garage and now the submission of the permit to build the ADU. Because the garage was sitting on the site of the proposed ADU, it was necessary to demolish it and then start the ADU permit process.”
“I would say that this part of the ADU process was quite time-consuming and a bit frustrating. It was partly because it was during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years and also partly because of COVID limited access to City of Alameda personnel.”
Want to know more?
Check back soon to learn more of Sally’s story and how the ADU building saga continues. In the next post, you’ll learn more about the costs involved, how budget decisions were made, and how to finance such a project.
Yes, it’s challenging to actually create and get an ADU built, but the rewards are really worth it.