Jennifer Til’s family home in Silicon Valley sits on a big wide lot perfect for adding a second house, but when she first investigated adding an ADU (accessory dwelling unit), an architect friend told her it would be much too expensive and to “forget about it.” Then the law changed, making it easier for Californians to add second units to their properties, and she was ready.

Most homeowners place these “backyard cottages” behind their primary residence, but Til’s property had so much street frontage: it made sense to place the second unit side-by-side with the first, so both now have their own driveways and plenty of space in between.

Til, who moved from a live/work home she owned in Oakland, wanted to move to her home property to help care for it, but didn’t want to remove the renters (a retiree and his 102-year-old mother). As an artist, Til had collected a lot of things, but she didn’t find moving into a small space as much of a challenge as she’d expected.