Brenda and Kyle | Creating Safety and Independence for Family

Mar 13

We originally built this ADU as a home for Brenda’s father as he neared the end of his life. We wanted to have him as close to our family as possible so we could take care of him and Brenda’s mom, and with the onset of the COVID pandemic the ADU was critical to their health. It ended up being such a blessing for our entire family. The extra space allowed us to gather our family close, and Mom was able to take care of Dad while maintaining her own privacy and independence. We built direct access to Dad’s bedroom for nurses to enter without disrupting Mom, and so we could visit throughout the day to take care of them both. For Dad’s last birthday we hosted a party with the whole family on the ADU’s patio. All of Dad’s siblings, children, and grandchildren gathered to celebrate his life. The ADU gave us space to be together as a family when we needed it most. I (Brenda) hugged Kyle and said, “Thank you for building this ADU because it was for Dad. It was for this family and the vision we had for our home.”

After Dad’s passing, the ADU and all of Upland continue to be a blessing for Mom. She’s living her best life with her home, her garden, and her independence. She goes to line dancing and aerobics classes at the senior center, then comes home and cooks for her grandchildren. We wanted Mom to have as much independence and privacy as possible, so her ADU has everything our house has: a full kitchen, laundry, an accessible bathroom, and lots of outdoor space. Mom helped plan the ADU to make sure it really felt like hers; she picked the tile backsplash, designed the outdoor cooking area, and told us how much space she wanted for the rooms inside. We have a good distance between the ADU and our house—we can look over and see if her lights are on or if she’s outside. It’s so comforting to have the safety of being close to her, while she still has privacy. We also wanted the ADU to mirror our favorite things about our main house, so we designed the exterior in a similar style, and added tall, vaulted ceilings and a whole wall of sliding glass doors to bring in as much natural light as possible. Now we joke that mom’s house is nicer than ours!

Everyone who sees the ADU says, “That’s awesome that you can take care of your mom and she still has her own house, I wish I could do that!” We’re trying to show people that an ADU is actually a very accessible option; you’d be surprised how simple it can be to build your own and design it for your family. If you’re thinking about building an ADU, our advice is to have fun with it. Start with your dream house and a vision for what it could do for your family, then work with an architect and contractor to figure out a reasonable budget. Working with a good team is key. We were worried the building process would be overwhelming, but our team made it feel like smooth sailing, and working with the Planning Division to get our permits was fast and easy.

“We love living here, this is our forever home, and the ADU made that possible and gave our family so many blessings. It’s not just an ADU, it’s a vision, it’s a dream, it’s a family plan.”