I find it interesting to hear people from the US talking about living small. The way they talk it sounds so sensational. Meanwhile, in large European cities some 50% of the people live like this. (I’m exaggerating and have no idea how many we are). I live like this too, with my wife and children. 🙂
I love this ADU. The way everything is laid out makes it feel larger than it is. I also like the way the ADU mirrors the exterior design of the main home.
Only thing I would have done is a proper bathroom. Really dislike wet rooms and no matter how small, there must be a sink. That space is larger than many nyc studios!
At first I thought it was odd to not have any windows on the sides (granted I realize it's probably so they aren't looking into the neighbors yard), but when the inside was shown then it made sense why there was only windows on one side side, since it was just one room. And then it turns out there is windows on the other side for the kitchen and bathroom too, so it's actually really well done.
Much easier to do that on your own or in a commune of other single people. Households of families make that very complicated unless you're all one extended family.
I think it was a big missed opportunity to nix the full-sized kitchen appliances for marginally more light. There are already plenty of windows in that one room, and a full-sized fridge and stovetop could have gone a long way.
Interesting. I'm designing a house for myself right now and I thought I had an original idea about using full sheets of fiber cement board for paneling because I've never seen it around here in norcal. They picked the same colors I did as well. Gray, off white, and yellow accent. Oh well.
Everything I know about California/L.A. bureaucracy makes me wonder how many annoying hoops they had to go through to get the project permitted and how long it took from start to finish.
@@kirstendirksen As someone building currently in Los Angeles, I will tell you that there are a ton of hoops to jump through and it does make it more expensive as well as take longer to start. You spend a lot of time trying to figure out how you can salvage things when they tell you to move doors, change window heights, etc even AFTER you have had permit approval and are in the middle of your construction.
I live in Vancouver, Canada, which also has alleys throughout the city. I don't see why they find it a problem that cars don't use the alleys. In Vancouver, we use them as de facto walking routes or, as I call the very popular one beside our house, promenades. In some parts of the city, they're lovely social centres, and always have been. Over priced laneway houses are going up all over the place now, causing a lot of over crowding, and obliterating the yards that people had been using to socialize, decompress, enjoy nature, or, often, grow food. When we bought our 1928 house, everyone stopped to thank us for not tearing it to build something monstrously huge to flip and sell to yuppies for insane prices. When we knocked down our garage, everyone assumed we'd build a laneway house, but we've put in a garden instead. The whole neighbourhood passes by on the promenade and expresses relief that there isn't one more laneway house going up.
Well Charlotte, I'm born and raised in Vancouver and have now been homeless since receiving an RTB-32 notice for my apartment of 14 years in 2022. I couldn't care less about your "promenades" and want to see as many laneway homes built as possible, so I can have any chance at a roof overhead again. The only thing that will ever bring the values down is supply, and infill is the only solution for density in a place like Vancouver that has massive land limitations. I also think it's hilarious that you see an "A group" and "B group" when it comes to mentioning yuppies... because you really need to re-frame and take a look in the mirror. Try not to trip over me on your next "promenade stroll".
Yep, I've seen those lanes on other videos and it seems like it was a very cool way to create cities that were both practical and car oriented, but also with nice quiet walkable areas.
@@rw7939I know why what I wrote upsets you. I didn't express myself well for those who live here. I'm old school East Van, since the early 80s. I was sold on Vancouver streets in the 80s and left that pimping "home" what was then the very rough Mount Pleasant when I was 17. I had *nothing*, and supported myself every since. I got everything second hand or from the trash for most of my life. I was often homeless, crashing on predators' floors lest I be on the street. I moved to the Drive in 1990 at 19 with less than nothing. I did finally build something of a career for myself but, as middle age hit, all those injuries from the child abuse felled me and I'm now severely disabled and unable to work. I lost everything. Through some unexpected miracles, my fortunes changed for the better in the last five years. I am sickened by what's happening to Vancouver and how it's driving people out of the city. But I've watched these overpriced laneway houses and high density homes go up and they are *not* affordable for anyone but yuppies whose parents are footing the bill. You know this. I know this. Perfectly decent homes that could be affordable rentals are being knocked down to build $1.5 million townhouses that will be leaking in a year and falling down in ten. We need a solution. I don't have a problem with laneway houses per se, but I have a huge problem with overpriced laneway houses and other overpriced housing that further pushes out the people who made East Van what it is. When I speak of the promenade, I'm speaking about people without cars, grandmothers on bicycles picking bottles, bus riders, disabled peoples like me on their wheelchairs, the working class (because my area *is* still mostly working class) 91 year old and 103 year old who walk up and down my alley to get a little bit of exercise and social time... I know why I sounded like the enemy, but I'm not. The current drive for density is *not* in any way a drive for affordability. Everyone knows that.
@@jdg9999 I've been shocked by how pedestrian unfriendly other cities are. Our own suburbs here are also very unfriendly to pedestrians. I've never even owned a car.
I find it strange that the tenant mentions that there is no stove. The studio has a convection/microwave oven and a two burner cooktop. Most meals can be prepared with those two items.
Very nice. Only things I'd change is move the kitchen to the entry wall, so there was more counter space and room for a bigger fridge and over, put the bed on the other side, and an angled wall on the ballroom footprint to mirror the angle of the exterior of the roof, which would mean the now kitchen space, could function as an office area, as the door into the bathroom would be more central to the space..
Everywhere is expensive now. Even houses in Mississippi have doubled in price since 2020. Other countries have seen their housing prices go up in the last several years.
@@jd881unfortunately this is the part of the problem, when you try to rationalize and normalize all this by making statements to the tune of “it’s everywhere”
@@singh5004 that's not to excuse it or say that there's nothing to be done, but it's to say the driving forces behind escalating house prices are far bigger than anything to do with local or state law, and that's true. As ridiculous as California's real estate market is, it's not in any way unique for that. Most major cities in the Western world are experiencing this to some degree over the past generation & much of elsewhere too.
Singh5004: I heard some report that noted the homeless in either SF or LA are getting older & do not have an extensive history of homelessness. BUT the average “wage” for the individuals was $900.00/month. That is a ridiculously small amount to LIVE on; how is this going to work?
Another great video! Biggest take was the net metering and the feeling of 'free' electrical. Once the solar is paid off it is wonderful. Usually takes about eight years or a little longer to recoup the investment. The other take is about possessions. If you stop watching media with advertisement you will collect fewer items over the decades.
Great video. I love seeing ADU videos. The owners and tenant seem like really cool people. The dogs are great too. Only thing I would change in the ADU, is get rid of bed and buy a comfortable sofa bed to save space. I would use the additional space for stereo equipment and cd collection.
Tenant couldn't afford LA. Their alleyway studio made him stay Kirsten Dirksen (si tu connais pas cette chaine un mustsee depuis le debut YT a fait le tour du monde des idées de maisons a gogo, toutes + sympas originales etc et souvent DIY)
I happen to like them, but it seems people either love them or they just don't bother to ever put them back up. Though I agree it would be nice to have that option.
Unfortunately, they're also typically pretty expensive. Some of my friend's, as well as myself, have lived in small studios in the past, and typically you're on a tighter budget if you're choosing to live in a small apartment.
I would have made a few different choices inside the ADU. I've been living in 280 sq ft for over 30 years and I have a full bathroom with tub (would rather have just a shower stall), and a full kitchen with an apartment size stove/oven and larger refrigerator with a separate freezer. None of that takes up THAT much room. It seems to me that they skimped on the important stuff in favor of additional wall space and floor space. And my ceiling is only 9' high.
Master Bedroom on the second storey for an aging older adult is not a good idea for a house plan. One accident and aging can make it impossible to go up stairs.
I used to live in Alameda Island (Alameda County) from 2014 to 2018, finding a 650sqft 1bdr-apt for $1800. Unfortunately, the landlady would raise my rent every year $200 and I couldnt afford it anymore and luckily had to move.
It’s funny to hear someone in a city where you can often touch neighboring houses walls standing between them, speak of a 5000sf lot (~40’x125’) as a “suburban” lot when many cities of a similar age are the same in the central core.
Growing up, my stepfather was a Superintendent in construction. He told me, “you can always build up, the air above, and space above your home is technically your space.
@@ryanjaramillo8152 the original house and garage basically filled what was the reasonable area that could be allocated. so building up was the best choice (and allowed us to keep what we had as far as yard.)
It's very well done, but it's telling that this upper - upper middle class couple have put two homes on a lot that was once a single affordable new house for a working class family. Couldn't California ya know, build some new cities? I'ts basically an enormous empty semi-desert.
Couple questions: 1. Where does the ADU tenant park? 2. Why didn’t they put a Murphy bed in the ADU? 3. The posts on the roof? Additional solar panel mounts? 4. Seems like there would’ve been room for a somewhat bigger fridge. (10 cuft?)
1) There is street parking on a side street down the alley. 2) you could put in a murphy bed. 3) yes post on roof were for solar panels and when we got the house completed we realized we had enough power generation for both on the house roof (the ADU is all electric. the house was transitional) 4) we were experimenting with minimal appliances. yes you can always look at larger appliances. for sure.
So did they actually state how much the rent is like the title suggests, or is this just another clickbait title? Sorry, I had to stop watching when the wife said the studio was "about 300 sq ft" and the husband said "no actually it's more, it's 307", as if 7 sq ft is a material difference worth "correcting" someone about. 🙄
I know this is inconsequential, but I'm pretty sure those dogs aren't boxers (as described in video description). Love a good above garage ADU conversion. Jefferson and Su clearly know what they are doing. Some really smart and thoughtful solutions to their design. Thanks, Kirsten and Nicolas 💚
Yes, our mutts are not full breed boxers. But we do know we got them from a boxer rescue in the valley and met the mom, who was a boxer. Our boys seem to have taken on their father's characteristics. Which likely was a hound (dog), hehe.
What seems to be the issue? How far away must the bathroom be? I think it is perhaps psychological rather than scientific that we think they need to be spaced far apart! More dangerous is raw chicken residue!
@@dsck6481 LOL. About how people look for workarounds to live where they aspire to and how they want to? This channel is all about that. And ADU's? That's also an important topic. It's a nuanced world.
