This DADU recently sold for 1.2 Million dollars. What makes it special and what does it say about the Seattle housing market?

What makes this DADU special?

This DADU is a seamless addition to a great neighborhood. It features 1,334 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. The ground floor features an open plan with exposed joist ceilings and french doors opening off of the kitchen into a nicely landscaped back yard. The DADU also features a 400 sq. attached garage. Perhaps, most importantly it feels like a home.

What is the secrete of the design process?

I’ve toured lots of DADUs that are similar on paper, I’ve come to see why microhouse DADUs sell for $200 a sq. ft. more than the others. The secret isn’t that they cost $200 a square foot more to build. We worked with the builder from property identification through construction. We helped them to make the best use of this corner lot while preserving the integrity of the existing house where they now live. We took full advantage of the lot to give the ADU a nice yard and street presence. Sound design decisions throughout the design process helped us get the most value for our clients. We are always looking for ways to simplify the construction and identify design elements the will produce the most bang for the buck. Ultimately, we strive to create small houses that look and feel like a home.

What is the future of the Seattle housing market?

What does this DADU tell us about the future of the Seattle housing market? For starters that buyers are looking for a home that feels more like a house and less like a condo or a townhouse. For the 1st quarter of 2024 there were twice as many permit applications for DADUs as for townhouses and more than for single family residences. That tells us a bit about what home builders are looking for too. Given the high permit fees and long permit timelines and infrastructure costs for townhouses, many townhouses builders are now building single family residences with ADUs.

What about next years code changes?

Land use code changes are coming for Seattle. Starting next year most neighborhood residential lots in Seattle will be allowed to have four dwelling units. In some ways that is not much of a departure of the three units allowed now. ( 1 SFR plus two ADUs). However, the alowable size of the units will be different. Currently the primary residence, the SFR is limited in sized based on the lot area and ADUs are limited to 1,000 gross square feet. Under the new rules, the allowable square footage will be able to be divided equally amongst the units. So rather than one large house and two smaller ADUs four modestly sized houses will be possible. The details of the upcoming code changes are still being worked out and we anticipate that they will come into place by mid next year. We are excited to be working with builders on cottage housing developments that anticipate these changes.