The trial and tribulations of building an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in San Jose, CA

Converting A 110 Year Old Garage Into A Modern ADU In San Jose CA

Our home was built in 1910 in an area of San Jose, CA called Naglee Park which was once the estate of Henry Morris Naglee, a civil engineer, banker, vintner, and Union General in the American Civil War.

​

In Naglee's day, and up into the 1960s, San Jose, as part of Santa Clara Valley, was the largest fruit-producing and packing region in the world.  It became to be known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight" for its high concentration of orchards, flowering trees, and plants. 

Today most of the world knows it as "Silicon Valley."

​

But when you step into our neighborhood, a historic district of homes built in the early 1900s,  you do feel as if you've stepped back in time, to the Valley of Heart's Delight when farms were the norm and land to build a home was in no short supply. 

​

Unfortunately, today Silicon Valley faces a huge housing shortage hence our attempt at building an ADU in our backyard. 

​

The property includes a single-family home and a detached three-car garage which we think could be converted into a great living space for our college-bound daughter, Sophia.

She will be attending San Jose State in the fall of 2020, which is located just 7 blocks from what hopefully will become her new home, or as we like to call it, "Sophia's Cottage."

​

​