Budget Breakdown: They Built a Minimalist $437K ADU—to Live and Work Out of Themselves

While 630 square feet may seem compact to some, for Mai Tran and her husband, Le Pham, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) they designed for themselves was a palatial upgrade. In 2015, after an arduous Bay Area house hunt, Mai and Le purchased a single-family home for $695,000 in Albany, California. They moved into the 300-square-foot basement level, while renting out the rest of the house, with the intent to save up to build a tiny home in the rear yard.

"That front house was a test for us to live minimally," Mai says of the couple’s three-year stint in the main home’s pint-size basement, an exercise that brought them to one shared realization. "We love space, like empty space, to contemplate, instead of an abundance of objects to look at and worry about." This transitional period also afforded the couple more time to design the ADU, which was critical, since the compact structure needed to function as both their residence and office for their architecture firm, 3R Studio.

At the outset of their home search, the lot’s lack of parking deterred many prospective buyers—giving Mai and Le a fighting chance in a competitive market. As it turned out, the would-be deficiency was a key selling point for the couple, as it meant the existing dwelling was pushed closer to the front of the lot and there was open space in the rear for an ADU. Since Mai and Le didn’t have a car, they were unfazed by the property’s parking conundrum. "I grew up in the city. Le did too," shares Mai. (The couple were both raised in Ho Chi Minh City and met while working as architects for an American company in Vietnam.) "It’s so walkable in this neighborhood and also bikeable."