Neighbor Spotlight: Brenda and Donal in Corte Madera
We moved into this house in 1967. It was a reach for us to afford but we managed the down payment with loans from our family. Even back then it was getting hard to live and work in Marin. We thought about building an ADU for years. Converting our garage to a cottage would give us a lot of options. We are in good health but know at some point we will slow down and could use it for caretakers, caregivers or family members. And since we are retired teachers, we liked the idea of providing affordable teacher housing in the meantime.
We found a fabulous architect who guided us through the process, who found us a great contractor. Once it was built, we were very happy. The cottage fits in beautifully - the color, trim, and style match our house. Our contractor considers it a highlight of his building work and brought his son and wife out to see it. Our neighbors like it too.
We put the word out to public schools including the Tam District where Donal had taught. Eventually, we found someone from my old school who was commuting two and half hours a day from the East Bay. Having a wonderful tenant and seeing the life it brings to her and us, made this really worth it. I can’t emphasize enough how useful having an ADU will be for us in the future. And being able to provide housing priced below market for teachers is great.
Location: Corte Madera
ADU type: converted garage
Price: $300,000
Year completed: 2019
Time: 13 months total with 9 months to build
Size 576 SF
