ADU garage conversion · Venice
Garage converted to a studio ADU
A detached garage in Venice, steps from the boardwalk, converted into a 216 square foot studio with a full bathroom, a kitchenette and its own fenced patio. French doors open the front wall onto it, and the ceiling goes to 15 feet at the ridge, which is what keeps a footprint this small from feeling like one.
Double doors under the gable. The ceiling behind them goes to fifteen feet at the ridge.
About this project
The garage sits at the front of a lot a block off the Venice boardwalk. It already had the slab, the walls and the roof, so the work was turning a building that held a car into one somebody lives in.
216 square feet is small, and small is a design problem before it is a construction one. Two things solve it here. The ceiling came out and went up to the ridge, 15 feet at the peak, so the room borrows height instead of floor. And the front wall opened into French doors, which puts the patio in the room whenever they are open.
The rest is a full dwelling in the space that is left: a bathroom with a stand-up shower, a kitchenette, a ductless mini-split for heating and cooling, and a tankless water heater, which earns its place by not needing a closet. The floor is the slab, ground and sealed to a smooth cement finish, which is one less layer in a room where every inch of height counts.
Outside, the patio is fenced to head height. That is what turns the front of the lot into a private room, and it is the reason this reads as a home rather than a converted garage.
Floor plan
Details
- Size
- 216 sf
- Configuration
- Studio, 1 bath
- Ceiling
- 15 ft vaulted
- Heating and cooling
- Ductless mini‑split
- Water heating
- Tankless
- Floor
- Polished cement
- Lighting
- Recessed LED, dimmable
- Outdoors
- Private fenced patio
What the work included
Permitted ADU conversion
The detached garage went through permit to a legal accessory dwelling unit, which is what separates this from a finished garage.
Ceiling opened to the ridge
The flat ceiling came out and the room went up to 15 feet at the peak, so a 216 square foot floor borrows its space from height.
Front wall rebuilt
Framed for double French doors under the gable, which puts the patio in the room whenever they are open.
Full bathroom
A complete bath inside the original footprint, with a stand-up shower behind glass.
Kitchenette
Counter, sink and microwave in one run, with room for a stool so it works as a desk.
Fenced private patio
Fenced to head height at the entry, which turns the front of the lot into a room of its own.
Photographs
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