Adding Income with a Small Addition
With room to add just 105 square feet, creative planning transformed the back of a Carlsbad guest house into a 250-square-foot Junior ADU.
With two dwellings already on the property, the challenge was making room for a third unit without sacrificing the backyard. By reorganizing the guest house floor plan and slightly expanding the footprint, we created an additional unit within the existing structure: a Junior ADU.
Small But Mighty
The original home became a guest house after a larger residence was built farther back on the property. Over time, additions and alterations complicated what we could legally do next. To make room for the Junior ADU, we:
- Removed portions that couldn’t remain.
- Reorganized existing living space.
- Created exterior laundry and storage that didn’t count as living area.
The result is a cozy rental that lives large. Multi-slide glass doors open the living area almost completely to the patio, extending the living space outdoors and making the modest space feel considerably larger.
Everything it Needs. Nothing it Doesn’t.
The kitchen was designed around what residents want and need. A range, refrigerator, deep sink, and open shelving provide the essentials without taking more space than necessary.
Simple materials and carefully chosen details give the compact kitchen character and help it feel like part of the living space, not a utility tucked into the corner.
Room for a Real Bedroom
Even within the small footprint, the space includes a separate bedroom. Tenants have a private place to sleep while the living area remains available for relaxing and dining.
Full Function in a Small Footprint
The bathroom is compact but complete, with a vanity, toilet, and glass-enclosed shower. Light finishes keep the room from feeling confined. The stepless shower was one of the project’s less visible challenges, requiring extra work to meet inspection requirements.
What You Don’t See
The finished JADU looks simple. Getting there wasn’t. Before design began, we untangled a century of permitting history and unpermitted improvements to determine what we could legally build.
During construction, we discovered another problem: portions of the existing foundation were crumbling, with no reinforcing steel or adequate footing. The structure had to be shored and underpinned with new reinforced footings. Good planning couldn’t prevent what was hidden underground. It did help us solve the problem without putting the larger project at risk.
