Adequate housing supply for people who want or need to live in Bellevue, particularly those in the lower income brackets, has been a significant challenge for the city in recent years. Increasing affordable and “missing middle” housing has long been a priority of Mayor Lynne Robinson, and the City Council as a whole. According to the city’s website:
On Jan. 17, 2023, the City Council initiated the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Reform and Land Use Code Amendment (LUCA) as Phase 1 of the Middle-Scale Housing action to encourage the construction of ADUs in existing and new homes, with a mechanism for separate ownership. ADUs provide diversity in housing size, type, geographic location, and cultural options to help ensure that all residents are welcomed and that long-term residents can remain in the city.
I’m thankful for the recently updated land use codes on the Eastside, as my family was able to take advantage of them. Two years ago, my husband and I had twins, bringing our number of children to four. As the twins took our last bedroom, which was also our office space, we decided to construct an ADU in our backyard. We had no experience building something from scratch, and wanted to make the process as pain-free as possible.
Knowing that Seattle has been on the forefront of encouraging ADU construction, I turned to the city’s “ADUniverse” website as a resource. One handy tool on that site is a list of pre-approved ADU floor plans. That list featured a model that was exactly what we wanted - CAST Architecture’s Cedar Cottage. Since we intended to use it simply for workspace, the one-bedroom, one-bathroom, 467 sf plan seemed perfect. We purchased the plan license from CAST Architecture, completed surveying, and after some minor changes to meet our city codes, were ready to build. A trusted friend recommended NW Finishing as a builder, and after meeting with them we decided to move forward. Originally, we did not intend to use interior designers. However, it quickly became apparent that we had neither the time nor the skill set to manage the design choices. A longtime friend and her business partner had started Jayne Douglas Design, and I asked them to come on board to handle the design aspects of the project.
Despite an overall smooth and stress-free building process, there were a couple of unpleasant surprises. First, a sewer inspection revealed a cracked pipe we had to replace. This was costly and took a long time for the plumbing contractor to finish. Second, we did not plan to re-landscape our entire property but the heavy equipment needed for construction, combined with the digging to fix the sewer pipe, tore up the back and front yards. We brought on Grotes Garden Design to do our hardscapes and landscaping once the structure was complete, and then we had our final product.
What a great addition the ADU has been to our property! We’ve designated it as a kid-free zone, and it’s amazing how pristine it stays. If we decide to stay in our current home, it adds flexibility for kids home from college, or could even be a rental if desired. Kudos to the city of Bellevue for making it easier to build ADU’s.