Hi, this is Michael with ADU Resource Center, and today we're coming to visit one of our projects that is coming to a close. We're just about finished up. Uh, here with me, I have the owner, Laura, and the general contractor. Vache. Vache. Uh, so today we're gonna... having a quick conversation talking a little bit about what their process was like moving from the architectural side to construction to completion. Laura, when you started, uh, thinking about an ADU project, where did you go to find some information about ADUs, and how did you come about finding ADU Resource Center? Oh. Uh, well, we started because we had a, we had a two-car garage here, and we knew we wanted to use that space for a guest house. I think we, we went through our... the realtor who helped us buy this house. Uh-huh. Uh, Lucy- Yeah ... who just has the recommendation for everybody. We trusted her, and I think she brought us to a woman, who brought us to you. Yep. Yep. Uh, so it was word of mouth, uh, recommendation. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. We were, we're working with one of our close friends, Kendall, that does- Mm-hmm. Mm. Yeah. I remember. Yeah. That's right. Exactly. That's right. And, uh, Kendall had recommended that we have a conversation, so we came... I came over to visit you at your property. We talked about some of our design ideas, and I think, uh, uh, you were pretty darn excited. I think we got started almost right away. Uh, we were ready. Like, "This is, this is awesome." Yeah. Um, and so from that, we transition over to the architectural design phase. We come out, we take some property measurements, and then we, uh, invite you over to the office, where you got to spend some time with the interior... uh, the architectural designers and putting together the layout of your ADU. Tell me a little bit about how that process went. Did you enjoy working with Sharice? Did she bring all of your ideas- Yeah. ... to life? Yeah. Sharice was amazing. Um, I think that was actually one of my favorite parts, because a- all we knew was that we wanted to use the footprint of the garage. But we've got a backyard with some space, and we had all these requirements where we were like, "We wanna keep the playset. We wanna keep this patio." And so, uh, working with Sharice, she was able to do, I think, a few different- Layouts ... models. Layouts, yeah. Mm. To be like, "Well, if it's L-shaped, it could do this," or, "If it's just a box, we could do this." So we were going back and forth on how many rooms or how big. And, uh, it was really fun to see her bring those to life, um, and finally figure out what we could do to maximize. I kind of... I remember in the beginning of the project, you were thinking about something a little bigger, but we dialed it back a little bit. Uh, yeah. Yeah. And, and we wanted s- what was it? A, a secret passageway was one of your- Oh, I know. That is one of the sad things. Yeah. We, uh- Secret passageway where? Yeah. Well, it didn't work. From the house to here? Well, it didn't work. No. It was... The dream was to have a, a, uh, one of those bookcases that's, like, a, a door. Okay. And we're like- Or like an Addams Family thing where you- In, inside this unit? Yeah. It would be, like, for the office space or something, like- That's pretty cool. Oh, sure. You should have told us. We would've probably- ... thought of it during the design. It didn't, it didn't work out. Yeah. I think that was when we were like, "It'll be a two bedroom." Yeah, it was gonna be a lot bigger. "Big thing. A two story." Yeah. And I think we, we whittled it down to what we needed. Well, what we wanted. Yep. Um. And then- But it was fun that you entertained that. Yeah. We were working on it. Yeah. We had it, we had it all laid out. Um, but then there was a couple things that we had to, like, work with during... when it transitioned to the... from submitting the project to the city- Mm ... and working with the city. Uh, we know Pasadena, um, they do support ADUs, but they're very particular about their city. They wanna make us make sure that everything is just perfect, it looks appropriate to the rest of the community. They're... Um, I think we had to do a little bit of work moving things around, just to make sure that we had spaces away from your- Yeah ... your patio. Fence lines and the patio. Yeah, the fence lines and patio. Yep. Yeah. Um, and then, and part of this, I think we transitioned away from the idea of replacing the garage, but to, uh, instead of keeping the garage and keeping some of the walls, we got rid of the entire garage and we started fresh, so we can keep appropriate setbacks from the property lines. Um, so throughout the process with planning with that department in Pasadena, what was that like? I think it was probably just a whole lot of sit and wait, and, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Mm. Yeah. There was definitely a lot of waiting, but I, I guess... I don't remember too much drama, which I think just... I think you guys were handling it. Yep. Which was nice, and we didn't really have to deal with anybody or, um... Yeah. Yeah. Have to do any of those fights. It was all- Yep ... kept away from us, so we just were waiting. That's exactly, like, the... how we like to do it, right? Yeah. It doesn't require anything from you. We take care of all the dirty work. We'll go back and forth. You just sit back and relax a little bit. Uh, and, and please be patient with us, because this process does take time, right? I remember when, when you brought me on board, you mentioned that you guys have been very, very patient with the process. Yeah. And especially that took about what, 15? 12 to 15 months? Mm-hmm. Right? And, and, uh, that, that waiting time, it just, like, I was like, "Is it really happening?" Yeah. "Are they working on it?" Yeah. "Is it..." You know, that's, that's the most important part. Yeah. And, uh, thank God that went pretty well. Yep. And just like you guys planned it. You know, surprisingly, Pasadena has gotten a little bit better. Things have moved a... started to move a little bit faster, but they also have a lot of little unique pockets, little historic zones in areas that have a few extra rules than others. So that does take a little bit more time when working with Pasadena, so we had to be patient. Um, but it didn't take long before we had a completed set of plans ready to issue, ready to start construction. And once we've, uh, done that, um, what do you think the process was like? How did you feel during the transition from, "We've got plans," to, "Let's meet your contractor"?I think it must have happened pretty quickly. I, I don't remember too much time between it. We would've met Vache and your team before, like demo and everything, right? Correct, before. Right. Yeah. We came, sat down on that table right there. Yeah, yeah. Yep. We went over, uh- The contract and everything ... the contract and everything, and then right there, like then, you, you signed, and then we started right away, and, uh, I think it's been super fun since then. Yeah. I'm sure we've challenged you. It's, it's part of it. I mean, uh, but you, you did challenge in regards to a specific design that you wanted, and I am so glad we brought on board a designer that really took majority of the time and th- Mm-hmm ... the thinking and then picking the materials for you, sending you samples, which one is good, which one is not good, right? Yeah. And, um, from there, it allowed us to, for us to do what we do the best, running the field, right? And then, uh, we have our, our project manager Shant over here. Why don't you join us? Hello. So Shant was the one who coordinating with you and the, and the family throughout the process. Uh, how was your experience with, with communication and, and everything that, that went throughout the build-out? It was great, yeah. Uh, Shant was always available with texts and calls, and I felt bad. I know we texted you on weekends sometimes, and- It's all good. ... didn't mean to, but he was always very responsive. I'm glad. Yeah. Yeah, the fun part was, uh, uh, the, Shant's house was pretty close. Yes. Five minutes. Five minutes away. Right. It's weird. So, uh, that gave us opportunity to, to actually push more because in the morning he's here, and later on at the end of the day he's here, or middle of the day he's here. Um, in regards to the timeline, we started a specific timeline, and we, uh, did a lot of changes, especially with the challenges that we had with City of Santa Mon- uh, City, with City of Pasadena- Mm ... that we, um, had to request for a schedule, uh, for inspection, and the inspection timeline were roughly what? Three weeks. Three weeks. Um, and that really hurt us a lot- Yeah ... in this process. Besides that timelines of that we had to wait, how do you think the team did with the keeping the schedule and pushing through? Als- uh, uh, sorry, before you answer, a- a- also, with all the changes that we did, all the items that we added, all the, the detail work that we had to do. Customizing something like this doesn't come easy, right? No. I'm sure there was probably a lot of choices being made along the way too, right? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Um, it was good. I mean, people always say that everything takes a long time. Uh, and it has, but it's, we're really excited to almost be done and getting ready to use it. Do you think the time was worth it? Right? You did spend a lot of time- Definitely ... but I think spending that time resulted in you selecting just the perfect materials and products. Yeah. Yeah, we never wanted to- Yeah ... settle, I think, based on that. Yeah. Yeah. Good. I'm, I'm glad you were patient with that process because that patience- Yeah ... really paid off. This, this place is amazing. Yeah, and we'll get to enjoy it for years, so... Do you think, I mean, this is, this is took a lot of visioning, and I know the family had put together Pinterest, which really helps us building these days. I think, uh, uh, with our team and your family, putting that 3D renderings, w- w- service that we provide- Mm-hmm ... did that help with really building this place? Yeah, it was great. We, we, um, came with a lot of, I think, ideas and, and hopes, uh, and Pinterest pages and had very specific like, "This is the vibe we want, and here's a bunch of examples and rooms and houses that we like" And, um, Sevan the designer, I th- I think he had a lot of fun Yeah ... uh, putting together, yeah, the design pages. And I think that was really good for us to be able to see it i- in the 3D space, uh, to actually be able to envision what it would look like for our shape of house, and that helped make a lot of decisions. Yeah. Yeah. Michael? Awesome. Well, uh, I'm really glad that you thoroughly enjoyed the- Mm-hmm ... the process of building this, and, and this is one of the most stunning ADUs that we've built. Thank you. I'm really impressed with it. Uh, thank you very much, Vache. Thank you, Laura. Now, one last question before we, uh, sign off here. Uh, if you were to do it all again- Oh, God. ... would you recommend ADU Resource Center, and if there's anything that you would've done differently, what might have you have been added? To the house? Yeah. We gotta get that, the secret bookcase doorway. The secret bookcase. The next time. Um- Yeah ... yeah, I would, I would happily do it again, and the product is great. It was great working with you guys. Very good. Thank you. Well, thank you for touring this ADU with us, and I look forward to talking to you very soon. If you have any other questions or would like to schedule a in-home, uh, uh, assessment of your property's potential, please call the phone number below.