Honesty
If your lot doesn't work, I'll tell you. If your budget is too tight, I'll tell you. Open conversations beat polished promises every time, especially when permits are involved.
ADUs · Know About Them
Help San Diego homeowners build great ADUs, without the runaround. DWELLTRY started as one person frustrated with how confusing this industry had become. We're still small. That's on purpose.
"Every great design starts with an even greater story of trust and understanding between the designer and the client, setting the stage for innovation." , DWELLTRYGet to know us ↓
We're a design-led ADU practice based in San Diego. That means we sit at the front of the project, reading lots, drawing plans, and walking permits through city hall, not at the end with a hammer.
Most ADU companies are general contractors who happen to draw. We're the opposite: designers who happen to know how the city thinks. The difference shows up in the work, cleaner drawings, smoother permits, and a design that fits the lot instead of fighting it.
We work hand-in-hand with local officials and authorities because that's how this actually gets built. No adversarial city-hall stories here. Just a clear, honest path from idea to permit.
Founder · Head of Operations · Designer
I started DWELLTRY because I kept running into homeowners who'd been quoted by ten different ADU companies and somehow had less clarity than when they began. I figured someone could do this honestly, with a fixed fee, a real timeline, and a drawing set that respects the lot. Turns out a lot of people just wanted that.
I draw every project myself. I walk every site. I sit with every client at feasibility. That's not a marketing posture, it's just the size of the studio. When the work needs more hands, we'll grow carefully. Until then, I'd rather take on fewer projects and do them right.
"Form follows function. Design should prioritize practicality and purpose, the aesthetics emerge naturally from how a space gets used."
Not a marketing list. These are the four things I actually look for when I take on a project, in clients, in collaborators, and in the work itself.
If your lot doesn't work, I'll tell you. If your budget is too tight, I'll tell you. Open conversations beat polished promises every time, especially when permits are involved.
San Diego's ADU rules change. Cities adopt new ordinances. State law adds amendments. Staying current isn't optional, it's the entire job.
A 600 sf ADU deserves the same care as a 6,000 sf custom home. Small projects aren't a tier, they're an art form when they're done right.
Some projects move fast. Some sit in plan-check for six months. Both are normal. I'll keep you informed, never rushed, and never spun.
DWELLTRY started in 2024 with a single feasibility study for a friend's parents in Chula Vista. They'd been quoted $600K by a big design-build firm for what should have been a 700 sf detached ADU. We sat at their kitchen table, walked their lot, and drew an honest plan together. The actual project cost came in under $340K.
That story repeated. Friends-of-friends. Their neighbors. Their realtors. Within a year, we were working across San Diego County. The model hasn't changed: one project at a time, drawn carefully, priced honestly.
"ADUs, know about them" became our tagline because that's the gap we keep finding. People know they want one. They don't know how the rules work, what it'll cost, or where to start. We exist to close that gap, and then build something good on the other side of it.
A small studio's reputation gets built one project at a time. Here's what some of our clients have said.
I enjoyed working with this young studio, Emmanuel is insightful, patient, and genuinely wants to do right by his clients. I came in with a project from hell, after a brutal experience with another architect and builder, and he and his team turned it around. They understood what I wanted, executed it, and made better suggestions along the way, ones I wouldn't have considered, and now love.
Really happy with Emmanuel's work on my ADU project in Los Angeles. The patio design in particular came out beautifully, it's the part of the property guests notice first. Professional, communicative, and the drawings cleared plan-check the first round.
I'd been quoted by three other ADU studios before finding DWELLTRY, and Emmanuel was the only one who actually listened. He told me which options weren't worth pursuing on my lot, which saved me real money, and the design that emerged feels like it was always meant to be there.
We exist to help people make informed choices about their property, with complete support for responsible, sustainable, well-built ADUs. The vision drives the work: enhancing lives, one ADU at a time.
That's the call I love most. No commitment, no pressure, just 30 minutes to read your lot together and figure out the real first move. Most homeowners leave the call with more clarity than they got in six months of Googling.