Homeowners looking to add a separate guest house to their property can learn about local zoning regulations and explore a variety of home designs and styles on a self-guided tour of additional living units in the backyards of private residences across the peninsula on Saturday, August 10.
Co-hosted by Redwood City and Inspired ADUs, the Bay Area-Peninsula ADU Tour showcases 17 backyard homes ranging in size from 380 to 1,000 square feet and everything in between, including a studio with indoor and outdoor living areas, a converted basement, a series of carports that are now multi-family homes, and a variety of custom-built and prefabricated homes with separate bedrooms and full kitchens and bathrooms. Some of the homes were assembled from prefabricated kits with panels that are essentially snapped together on site, others were built in a factory and lowered onto their foundation by crane, and others were custom-built. Construction costs for the homes range from $200,000 to $550,000.
Bay Area Peninsula ADU Tour + Info Hub
ADU Tour
- 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., Saturday, August 10
- Self-guided tour of more than 12 ADUs in the backyards of private homes from Daly to Cupertino.
- Ticket holders will receive a card upon purchase.
ADU Info Hub
- 2:30-5:00 p.m., Saturday, August 10
- 1900 Broadway, Redwood City
- Booths will feature various ADU suppliers and professionals from across the Bay Area. Fairfield-based Prefab ADU will also hold a live demonstration of its prefab construction method.
- Free.
The goal of the tour, organizers say, is to dispel common misconceptions about small spaces by giving people the opportunity to look in and around local ADUs and see firsthand the potential for comfortable and stylish living in these small-footprint homes.
Tour participants can speak with homeowners, builders and designers about the design and construction process and the potential benefits of adding an ADU to a property, while gaining inspiration for their own potential projects.
For anyone interested in seeing how prefab homes are actually put together, ADU provider Prefab ADU will be offering a live demonstration of its prefab home kit at the event’s free Info Hub in downtown Redwood City (1900 Broadway). The Info Hub is free to enter and features booths with various ADU providers and professionals from across the Bay Area.
One of the stops on the tour is a detached 800-square-foot cottage in Woodside that was built for the owner’s ageing mother.
Instead of paying a $300,000 purchase fee and a $9,000 monthly fee for senior living in the area, the mother paid two-thirds of the cost of the ADU and now lives in it for free, the homeowner said.
The ADU is age-appropriate. It has been equipped with a walk-in shower and step-free access to the entrance as well as a spacious outdoor terrace.
In Palo Alto, there’s a 700-square-foot house in the backyard that the owners built so they could eventually grow old in. The house, they said, will give them the flexibility to have their adult children live with them or generate rental income to help cover living expenses after retirement.
The custom-built home features heated floors in the bathroom, a tankless water heater, skylights, a loft and a walk-in closet that can be converted into an office if needed.
Another Palo Alto stop on the tour is a converted garage that now serves as additional space for a multigenerational household. According to the homeowners, the 370-square-foot home is the perfect place to “cook in peace,” practice yoga, host overnight guests or for their teenage children to hang out with friends.
The self-guided tour is the first Inspire tour on the peninsula and follows hot on the heels of the inaugural Inspire East Bay Tour hosted by ADU design firm Inspired ADUs last October.
Admission for the tour is $45 and gives ticket holders access to homes from Daly City to Cupertino between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The Info Hub is open from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is free. For tickets, visit Peninsula ADU Tour + Free Info Hub.
