Accessory Dwelling Unit or Granny Flat, Mother In Law Apartment, Studio
I was first inspired to build my own ADU after attending a conference held in 2012 at the PSU campus, the Build Small Live Large Housing Summit. The focus was on smarter and smaller housing alternatives in Portland. 300 leaders in development, real estate, building & the design sector gathered for an intensive day of inspiration, project case studies and peers sharing out-of-the-box housing concepts. It was time to brainstorm the leading edge of the housing movement, where design costs and care for the environment intersected with the needs of todays families.
At the time of that conference, the Portland’s Metro had recently decided to suspend SDC fees (System Development Fees- that pay for park & recreation, environmental services, transportation and water) for construction or conversion of ADU’s until July 31, 2016. This would allow a savings of $8,000 – $18,000 to build an ADU.
The Sellwood Garden Studio ADU was born!
I immediately thought of my crumbling garage at a rental home I owned – it only stored tenants extra boxes and the lawn mower. With a background as a designer, remodeler, developer and real estate broker it all came together for me. The next housing trend was arriving and I was ready for it.
Now I blog and also give lectures about building, designing and how to’s so others can tackle their own ADU. Let me know if you are ready too! Here are a few testimonials from guests.
This is one of the best Airbnb experiences I’ve ever had! The cottage is adorable. Bright. Well-designed. Clean. Comfortable. Quiet. There’s a beautiful little garden out back.
I’ve used Airbnb quite a bit and Candace provided the best guidebook of things to do I’ve seen. And she had attended to every detail: the heat was on when we arrived, there were clean, fluffy towels, travel size shampoo and soap in case we had forgotten ours, coffee and tea for the morning, clear instructions on how to operate the heater. She thought of everything.
All-in-all our stay was excellent. To my mind, this is what Airbnb is supposed to be like: welcoming, comfortable, easy. In fact, we liked our stay at Candace’s cottage so much, we booked another stay there this summer.
~ AirBnB guest