Accessory dwelling units
A whole second home, out back.
Mother-in-law suites, guest houses, casitas, granny flats — whatever you call them, we build them finished, permitted and ready to live in.
Accessory dwelling units
Start with the 800 square foot one.
Full kitchen, full bath, real bedroom, vaulted ceiling. Not a converted garage — a finished house, just smaller.
People call them different things — accessory dwelling unit, mother-in-law suite, guest house, granny flat, casita, garage apartment. Same idea: a private, self-contained home on land you already own.
They solve a few problems at once. Aging parents close by but independent. An adult kid back from school with their own front door. Or a rental that helps pay for itself.
We build these and we run them. Our own short-term rental portfolio is made up of homes this crew built, so when we tell you what rents well — where to put the kitchen, which finishes survive guests, what guests actually complain about — that is from operating them, not guessing.
Three we've built
Same idea, three completely different houses.
An ADU does not have to look like a shed in the back yard. These three sit on different lots, at different sizes, for different reasons — and we own and rent the first one ourselves.
Cottage at Lakeshore
800 sq ft · 2 bed · 1 bath
Our own guest cottage — and a working short-term rental. Vaulted ceiling with an exposed truss, a real kitchen with an island, a bunk room built into the wall, and a covered porch out back.
It rents on Airbnb as a Guest Favorite, rated 4.92 from 52 reviews. When we tell you what holds up to guests, this is where that comes from.
The modern one
1,200 sq ft · 2 bed · 2 bath
Black exterior tucked under a live oak. Stained wood ceilings, black beams, clerestory glass and a full primary suite — the largest of the three, and the most designed.
The cottage
800 sq ft
A classic front porch, a covered patio out back and a straightforward, durable finish level. Proof that an ADU does not have to be elaborate to be worth building.
City or county?
Your address decides how big it can be.
This catches people out constantly. Two houses a mile apart can have very different rules, because one sits inside Tallahassee city limits and the other is in unincorporated Leon County. The city is the more generous of the two — by roughly half again as much space.
Inside city limits
~1,200 sq ft
roughly
Enough for a genuine two-bedroom — real kitchen, real living room, room for someone to actually settle in rather than camp. The city has loosened its ADU rules more than once in recent years.
Unincorporated county
~800 sq ft
roughly
A comfortable one-bedroom with a full kitchen and bath — the 800 sq ft unit on this page is exactly that. County code also asks the ADU to read as subordinate to the main house.
- Which set of rules applies is a question of address, not of what the neighbourhood feels like. We check the parcel first.
- Square footage is not the only limit. Setbacks, lot coverage, parking, septic capacity and how far utilities have to run all shape what really fits.
- Renting it out has separate rules — long-term and short-term are treated differently, and an HOA can be stricter than either government.
Round numbers, meant to show the difference rather than settle it. Limits change and depend on your zoning district, so we confirm the current figure for your parcel with the city or county before any design work starts.
Why people build them
One building, several problems solved.
Family close, not underfoot
Aging parents on the same property with their own front door, kitchen and bathroom. Independence for them, peace of mind for you.
Room for grown kids
An adult child home from school or saving for a place of their own, without anyone losing their privacy.
Income that pays it down
Long-term or short-term rental on land you already own. We run rentals we built ourselves, so we will tell you honestly what the numbers look like.
ADU questions
Before you start.
What exactly is an ADU?
A second, self-contained home on a lot that already has a house — its own kitchen, bathroom and entrance. Mother-in-law suite, guest house, granny flat, casita and garage apartment all describe the same thing.
How big can it be?
Ours usually run 400 to 1,000 square feet. The one pictured here is 800 — full kitchen, full bath, vaulted bedroom. Small does not have to mean cramped, and the ceiling height is most of why.
Can I rent it out?
Often, depending on your zoning and any HOA restrictions. We check that before you spend anything. And since we build and operate short-term rentals of our own, we can talk through the real numbers rather than the optimistic ones.
How big can mine be?
It comes down to your address. Inside Tallahassee city limits you can generally go about half again as big as you can in unincorporated Leon County — roughly a two-bedroom versus a comfortable one-bedroom. See the comparison above. We confirm the current figure for your parcel before anyone draws anything.
Do I have enough room on my lot?
Usually the question is setbacks, lot coverage and how far utilities have to run — not raw acreage. Send us your address through the questionnaire and we will look at it.
Can you match it to my existing house?
Yes. Rooflines, siding, window style and trim can all be matched so it reads as part of the property rather than something dropped in the back yard.
Thinking about an ADU?
Tell us about your lot and what you need it to do. Two minutes.