My junior ADU project started when three different friends asked to rent space in my three bedroom house. I knew it was not for me. It’s really hard to say, ‘I’m sorry, no’, but I tried having a roommate before and it did not work.

However, especially after the fires, I wanted to help the community. Plus, I wanted to downsize and have more money to travel. I fantasized about reinventing myself as a traveling teacher of beadwork. It turns out there is a market for that.

I considered a bigger project, a two car garage with a unit on top. Instead I went small and split my existing house in two. Close off one door, add another, small kitchen and bang, you’re done, for $10,000. I went from applications to permits in hand in eight days.

It does not have to be daunting. Sometimes it’s really not that hard.