Budget Breakdown: With $89K, an Architect Expands His L.A. Home for Three Generations of Family
Danny Lim dons multiple hats as architect, contractor, and client as he transforms his Highland Park bungalow with a new ADU for his in-laws.
Danny Lim dons multiple hats as architect, contractor, and client as he transforms his Highland Park bungalow with a new ADU for his in-laws.
Danny Lim and Jennie Lee are proof that if you can survive living in a 400-square-foot studio for four months with newborn twins and a six-year-old, you can survive pretty much anything. While it’s not an experience they’re keen to repeat, they got through it with their humor and sanity intact.
The couple considered themselves lucky when they purchased a 1921 Craftsman in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. With just two bedrooms in a little over 1,200 square feet, the house had its shortcomings—but the 7,000-square-foot lot offered something more: the opportunity to create a multigenerational property for themselves, their growing family, and Jennie’s parents.
At the front of the main house, architect Danny Lim framed one of the original windows with new trim to give it a more contemporary feel and installed limestone on the porch and steps.
Tanveer Badal
As an architect, Danny felt confident about assuming general contractor duties in addition to planning a renovation that would right some wrongs undertaken by previous owners. He would also design and build the home’s 600-square-foot addition and a standalone ADU—all while keeping his day job working for the architecture and design firm Gensler.
A gravel path with flagstone steps leads to the new ADU at the rear of the house. "We wanted everything to feel as natural as possible," Danny says. "All the hardscaping was done using timber, decomposed granite, and gravel, and the fencing is cedar."
Tanveer Badal
And then the reality of what he’d taken on set in. "I’ve had experience working with contractors, but I underestimated how hard this was going to be," Danny says. "And as much as I tried to phase it perfectly, when the twins were born, the house wasn’t done, and we had to live in the studio first."
| $14,200 Concrete Slab | $14,750 Rough Framing | $2,100 Insulation |
| $2,300 Roofing | $6,500 Plumbing | $5,700 Electrical |
| $2,850 HVAC | $3,800 Doors & Windows | $5,200 Wood Siding |
| $4,300 Drywall | $4,100 Painting | $3,100 Kitchenette Counter |
| $500 Shower Hot Mop | $5,700 Shower Tiling | $2,100 Concrete Finishing |
| $2,200 Kitchen Cabinets | $3,100 Custom Shelving/Carpentry | $1,710 Appliances |
| $2,100 Lighting | $130 Hardware | $2,990 Kitchen/Bath Fixtures |
| ADU Grand Total: $89,430 | ||
In contrast to the bungalow, the ADU’s cedar siding will weather and patina over time
Tanveer Badal
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: With $89K, an Architect Expands His L.A. Home for Three Generations of Family
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