This Couple’s L.A. Starter Home? A 1,200-Square-Foot ADU in Their Parents’ Backyard

Dave and Lana were ready to settle down. After a decade living in Brooklyn, and previous travels abroad, the couple, who work in animation and healthcare, respectively, were hoping to buy a property with their infant daughter and start their next chapter. New York City was ruled out as an option—it was too far from family and much too expensive—but Lana’s hometown of Los Angeles was a financial challenge, too. They wanted to be near her parents on the Westside, but every For Sale sign exceeded their funds. In the end, they decided that the best thing was to move home—well, sort of.

"My parents had a pool in their backyard that was rarely used and needed to be retrofitted," Lana says. "We thought, Why don’t we just get rid of the pool and build a home instead?" At the time, the couple had recently met Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki of Bunch Design at an ADU festival in downtown L.A., as they were seeking out more budget-friendly alternatives to single-family properties in the city. "An ADU can be more bespoke, and seemed like a no brainer," adds Dave. "It started off as a financial decision, but then expanded into a bigger net-positive for our family."