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When Tina LaMonica and Warren Wellen purchased their South Pasadena Craftsman location successful 2001, the one-car store dated backmost to 1917, a clip erstwhile radical parked their constrictive Ford Model T cars wrong garages similar this one.
“We bought it for $650,000,” LaMonica says of the house. “Of course, we could ne'er spend to bargain it now.”
The mates moved successful erstwhile their daughters, Sophie and Ruby Wellen, were little, and their tree-lined thoroughfare was afloat of families with young kids who rode their scooters passim the neighborhood.
“We each grew up unneurotic and had artifact parties,” says Sophie, 30. Now, she adds, “There are nary caller families moving in. No 1 left. Why would they?”
Tina LaMonica and Warren Wellen beryllium connected the patio with their daughter, Sophie Wellen, and their dog, Hazelnut, adjacent to the 230-square-foot ADU wherever Sophie lived for 2 years. Her younger sister is present surviving successful the ADU.
Music was ever a portion of their home, Sophie says, acknowledgment to her father, Warren, 65, who is some an lawyer and a instrumentalist successful the alternate stone set Brahms’ Third Racket.
“He plays everything,” Sophie says. “Throughout my full childhood, helium was ever making music.”
LaMonica adds, “It tin beryllium disruptive.”
So successful 2021, the mates pulled unneurotic wealth from antithetic sources, including a enactment of credit, and turned the store into a tiny 230-square-foot accessory dwelling unit, oregon ADU, for Warren to usage arsenic a euphony studio.
“It was intended to beryllium a originative space, not a home,” says LaMonica, 64, who is simply a commercialized existent property broker. “The full outgo was astir $125,000, including permits, operation and each systems — a important investment, but 1 that ended up serving our household successful unexpected ways.”
The store before, left, during, right, and after, below, construction. (Tina LaMonica)
A fewer months aft utilizing his caller euphony studio, Sophie, who had been successful instrumentality schoolhouse astatine the University of Michigan, moved backmost to Los Angeles aft being distant for 10 years.
“She wasn’t moving close away, and similar galore caller grads, she had pupil indebtedness and recognition paper indebtedness from getting done school,” says LaMonica. “Market rent successful the Los Angeles country wasn’t realistic, adjacent with a occupation connection lined up. So, the workplace became her archetypal home. It gave her stableness and independency during a large transition.”
Sophie, who describes her narration with her parents arsenic close, says the ADU was ever meant to beryllium impermanent and she’s grateful for it.
“At 28, I didn’t cognize wherever I wanted to unrecorded successful L.A.,” she says. “I had lone grown up successful Pasadena, which is simply a tiny community. I felt fortunate to beryllium capable to unrecorded successful this small location successful the backmost and research the metropolis to find the close spot for me, alternatively of rushing to drawback the archetypal spot I could, similar truthful galore of my associates had to do. It was close aft the barroom exam, and I was truly stressed.”
The ADU features a Murphy furniture and and a nice-sized kitchenette.
The kitchenette has a compact aerial fryer-toaster oven from Our Place, and a slim, Classic retro-style refrigerator.
After clerking for a justice successful Washington, D.C., Sophie’s fellow William Lang moved to Los Angeles and joined her and her canine successful the ADU, bringing his 2 cats with him.
“It was a afloat house,” Sophie says, laughing. “And yes, they were indoor cats! But we made it work. Finding a rental was hard. I couldn’t truly spend a bully flat successful L.A. I had to prevention up and hold until my fellow got present truthful we had 2 incomes.”
It’s nary astonishment they felt astatine home. Although it’s small, the portion is sunny and bright, with a pitched extortion and a large representation model overlooking the lush backyard and swimming pool. (The blinds tin beryllium closed for privacy.)
There’s a Murphy furniture that turns into a emotion spot erstwhile pulled down, which saves space, and classical black-and-white checkerboard porcelain tile from Mission Tile successful South Pasadena that gives the surviving spaces a astonishing consciousness of fun. The portion besides has a bath with a shower, a closet and a retention nook supra the bathroom.
The ADU has country for a desk, flat-screen TV and comfy chair.
There’s besides country for a desk, a flat-screen TV connected the partition and a comfy chair. Not having a eating country isn’t a occupation due to the fact that there’s a welcoming patio conscionable extracurricular the French doors, with 2 chairs, a sofa and a java table.
“The backyard was our redeeming grace,” says Sophie. “Most of the time, William sat astatine the small table. It was cozy and nice. I got to beryllium adjacent my parents, and they got to cognize my spouse better.”
The ADU has a roomy kitchenette with achromatic cabinets and countertops, a compact aerial fryer-toaster oven from Our Place, and a slim retro-style refrigerator from Unique. “You tin bake, broil and fry with the tiny Wonder Oven,” LaMonica says. “Ruby uses it each the time.” There’s besides a mini-split strategy for heating and cooling, and if needed, a stackable washer and dryer tin beryllium added later.
A patio country provides different surviving abstraction steps extracurricular the ADU.
Soon aft Sophie moved out, having lived successful the backmost location for 2 years, her 27-year-old sister Ruby moved in. “She works successful Torrance and can’t spend to rent an flat adjacent to her job,” her parent says. “The ADU gives her a accidental to unrecorded affordably, enactment harmless and beryllium adjacent family, portion gathering fiscal footing connected her ain terms.”
LaMonica is blessed with the ADU, though she wishes they could person added a 2nd floor, which the metropolis of South Pasadena didn’t let astatine the time.
She imagines a aboriginal successful which 1 of her daughters lives successful the main house, and she and her hubby unrecorded successful the ADU. “I deliberation an ADU is simply a large semipermanent solution,” she says. “It keeps radical from moving retired of California. With an ADU, astatine slightest you tin support your household connected site.”
In immoderate ways, the tiny ADU is much than conscionable a solution for young radical who can’t spend to unrecorded successful Los Angeles. A 2025 survey recovered that Los Angeles ranked 2nd among the 50 largest U.S. metros for its stock of moving adults (ages 25 to 40) surviving with parents.
Backyard homes tin besides assistance radical link with their community.
“The bully happening astir the ADU is that it tin springiness you a consciousness of assemblage that’s hard to find close present due to the fact that radical are truthful isolated,” says Sophie, who present rents a two-bedroom duplex successful Hancock Park with Lang for $4,500 a month. “We’re some lawyers astatine backstage instrumentality firms and doing well, but I inactive don’t consciousness similar I could person a kid close present and springiness them the beingness I want. It’s hard to marque large beingness decisions successful L.A., particularly if you person pupil debt. It was truly bully to person meal with my parents each erstwhile successful a while. They didn’t privation William and I to leave.”
The bath wrong the ADU.
As Southern California gets much crowded and lodging costs rise, young radical person to look for options antithetic from those their parents had erstwhile they were increasing up.
LaMonica says she and her hubby ne'er thought they would location some daughters successful a converted garage. “But successful a spot similar Los Angeles,” she says, “the tiny ADU turned into a flexible and indispensable lifeline for our family, not conscionable erstwhile but twice.”
And possibly 1 day, Warren volition yet get his euphony studio.
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