Adrian Perez, heart, Joey Villicana, left, Andrea Villicana-Chavez, second from proper and Alex Chavez contained in the ADU that the household constructed behind their Culver Metropolis, Calif. house for Adrian Perez to dwell in. (Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Occasions/TNS)
LOS ANGELES — Strolling into the sunlit accent dwelling unit simply steps from his household’s house in Culver Metropolis, Adrian Perez locations his arms on the wall of his bed room and smiles broadly.
“Adrian likes to the touch every little thing,” explains his mom, Andrea Villicana. “When the ADU was accomplished, he knocked on all of the partitions and examined the acoustics. He likes to assist. He’s an enormous helper.”
Villicana has lengthy apprehensive about long-term look after the 33-year-old Perez, who has a developmental incapacity and is nonverbal attributable to well being problems when he was a child.
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“My largest concern is what’s going to occur to Adrian after I’m not right here,” she says of her son, who lives at house with Villicana, her husband Joey Chavez and their son Alex, 18. (“We sound like a Mexican legislation agency,” Joey jokes of their blended household.)
Consequently, when a counselor on the Westside Regional Middle, a state-funded group that helps purchasers with developmental disabilities, requested about their long-term plans for Perez, Villicana determined it was time to start out researching housing choices for her son.
“Group properties are high-quality, however not for Adrian as a result of he can’t converse,” says Villicana, 58. “He’s extraordinarily weak. I wished him to be near house and his youthful siblings. I used to be instructed that folks typically hire an condo for his or her baby however … attempt renting an condo on the Westside.”
After seeing the explosion of accent dwelling items, or ADUs, all through Los Angeles — small-scale properties, or granny flats, constructed on single or multifamily house tons — Villicana questioned if Adrian, who attends an grownup day program, might dwell with a caregiver in the same home of their yard.
“The concept intrigued me,” she says. The association additionally would work nicely for Alex, who will finally inherit the household’s house. In concept, they each might dwell independently: Perez with an aide within the ADU and Alex within the entrance home.
In an effort to seek out out extra about ADUs, Villicana attended a distant class taught by actual property agent-turned-certified development supervisor Monica Higgins at West L.A. Faculty. Within the class, Higgins lined the allowing and design course of, budgeting and the newest housing legal guidelines, which have modified through the years to assist alleviate the state’s housing disaster.
“Constructing an ADU may be complicated,” says Higgins, who grew to become a guide after watching her mom grapple with a troublesome renovation venture. “It’s not a brand new phenomenon, however the legal guidelines have modified and it’s arduous to determine the way it impacts householders. All of it boils all the way down to having conversations with the house owner and figuring out their ‘why.’ That’s what’s going to drive each choice. It’s critically essential to know what they need.”
For Villicana and Chavez, their “why” was clear: An ADU would enable Perez to dwell close to his household and have around-the-clock care.
Following the category, the couple employed Higgins, who tapped architect Marlene Ramirez and contractor Steven Laszlo of Graystone Builders to design and construct a 500-square-foot ADU behind their house on the 6,500-square-foot lot.
Realizing how traumatic it may be to maneuver a baby with disabilities out of a well-recognized household house following the dying of a father or mother, Villicana says she wished to behave now, somewhat than rush to complete the venture when the circumstances may be extra pressing.
Ramirez conceived three housing choices for the household: a indifferent ADU, an ADU that may be connected to the storage and an ADU positioned on high of the storage. The couple selected the indifferent ADU configuration as a result of it could provide the best entry for Perez, who has steadiness points. It additionally would protect the storage, which the household makes use of as a workshop and a portion of their yard.
Over eight months, the workforce constructed the ADU for about $260,000, with some delays and value overruns attributable to world supply-chain points. Anticipating this, Higgins ordered all the supplies specified by Ramirez firstly of development, together with home windows, doorways and home equipment.
“Persons are all the time stunned by how a lot issues value,” Higgins says. “They watch HGTV and use Waco, Texas, as a framework for his or her venture in California. Folks want to consider what a worth quote means. Is it for development, or every little thing? Architects, engineers, web site surveys, HVAC consultants and allowing usually are not free.”
Designed with Perez in thoughts, the ADU options easy wood flooring and vast, wheelchair-accessible doorways. Along with the primary rest room, which features a curbless bathe with a handheld bathe head, a powder room was added to supply privateness for potential caretakers. “I would like them to have their very own restroom, somewhat than undergo Adrian’s room to make use of his rest room,” Villicana explains.
The lavatory additionally incorporates a pull-down help bar subsequent to the bathroom, easy-access bathe controls and a customized nook vainness with two cabinets that may be altered ought to Perez ever want a wheelchair.
The one-bedroom ADU has a mid-century really feel with easy traces, quick access to the outside and an open Ikea kitchen with putting gray-green cupboards.
So as to add gentle and privateness, Ramirez included raised clerestory home windows and a number of skylights. The entrance door, which is put in on the facet of the ADU somewhat than dealing with the primary home, supplies additional privateness and quick access to the storage and yard. A small residing space off of the kitchen is a versatile house that can be utilized as a lounge, media room or workplace.
For Villicana and Chavez, who grew up in Mar Vista and have recognized one another since they had been 10 (the couple reconnected in 1996 after their first marriages resulted in divorce), having household shut is essential. So is having choices.
Villicana, who selected to rent Higgins regardless of paying extra for a guide, says it was price it. “It labored out in each means,” she says. “I didn’t have the time or information to maintain up with every little thing. Monica mainly did every little thing for me. She got here every single day. She stuffed me in on the glitches. After we ordered the kitchen from Ikea, the installer couldn’t put it in place for six weeks so Monica discovered somebody who might.”
To Villicana, the venture is every little thing she had hoped for: an accessible house, near household, that ensures the well being and security of her son.
“Whereas Adrian can’t personal property, at the very least he has a spot within the again the place his siblings can watch over him,” she says. “We really feel so lucky to have the ability to do that. We will preserve our household shut.”
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