ADU · Burlingame, San Mateo County · 2025

Burlingame Garden ADU

The clients wanted a garden building that could host visiting family now and generate rental income later — without turning their backyard into a construction site for a year.

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Modern garden ADU with white stucco and oak cladding at golden hour

Size: 720 sq ft
Scope: Design, permitting, build management
Duration: 9 months
Bedrooms: One plus study

The brief

Create a fully independent one-bedroom dwelling on a tight suburban lot with strict setback and height limits.
Keep the main house garden usable, with the ADU reading as a quiet pavilion rather than a second house.
Design once, permit cleanly, and build to a fixed schedule around the family's summer travel.

The approach

Zoning-led massing

We started with the envelope the city allowed, then sculpted a low, wide form that keeps the roofline below the fence line sightlines from the neighbouring property.

One material family

Warm stucco, vertical rift oak and black steel outside; plaster, oak and honed limestone inside. Five materials total, used everywhere.

Storage as architecture

Every wall that could hold storage does. Wardrobes, pantry and utility disappear into full-height joinery so the floor stays open.

Permit package in one pass

Structural, Title 24, and utility coordination were drawn together, so the building department reviewed a single complete set and approved without a second cycle.

Renderings

Five views of the finished design.

ADU exterior at golden hour — Exterior — the pavilion sits below neighbouring sightlines.

ADU living room with sliding glass door to garden — Living — a full-width slider makes 720 sq ft feel generous.

Compact ADU kitchenette in oak and stone — Kitchen — integrated appliances behind a single oak plane.

ADU bedroom with built-in oak platform bed — Bedroom — the bed platform doubles as storage.

ADU bathroom with micro-cement walls and oak vanity — Bath — a wet room detailed for a step-free floor.

Materials

Warm white stucco
Vertical rift oak cladding
Black steel windows
Honed limestone
Micro-cement wet room

The outcome

Permit approved on first submittal with no revision cycle.
Delivered in nine months from first sketch to certificate of occupancy.
The unit rents at the top of its local band and adds a documented uplift to the property's appraised value.

“It doesn't feel like an add-on. It feels like the garden always had a small house in it.”
Homeowner, Burlingame

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