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David Melton

Q&A with ATL ADU Client Kathy Reynolds



Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do for a living and how long have you lived in Atlanta?


I grew up in Tucker, and went to the University of Georgia, so I’ve been in and around Atlanta almost all my life.  I moved to Decatur in 2016 and I work in tech doing marketing of Cloud and AI services.


What led to your decision to build an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in your backyard?


I have been thinking about this for years and when I got to go-time, all the pro’s for the ADU far outweighed any other options I had considered.


One reason for building the ADU was my family.  If my children need to get their feet under them after college they could live here.  I could also support my parents.  My father needed care toward the end of his life and we struggled with having to put him in a retirement home.  Now my mom is 80, and if she takes that same path, I have that covered with the ADU.  My step dad already said, “we want to put in a reservation for 2030”.


Another factor was looking to my financial future once my boys are in college or when I enter retirement.  With my job being fully remote, I could eventually move into the ADU, rent my main house, and go live somewhere else for three months at a time.  That’s exciting for me because it opens up adventures once I become an empty nester!  That’s the best case scenario, but it also applies to the worst case scenario like a job loss or a health issue. Living in the ADU and renting my primary home provides a financial safety net.


Lastly, I knew if I wanted an immediate return on my investment I could just start renting it out.  For some people that’s the only reason they do it, I just had a bunch of personal reasons too.  Once I realized I could support myself, take adventures, support my children, and support my mom, it became a no brainer at that point.


"I already had the pool out here so it's great to have this as a pool house. The fridge is close by and we plan to put a TV on the exterior wall."


Why did you decide to work with ATL ADU CO rather than take a DIY approach or work with another builder?


When I was considering adding a second story to our main house, I mentioned to a builder I was thinking about doing an ADU and he told me there are companies that solely build ADUs.  He still gave me an estimate on the ADU and I got one more from another builder.  Neither builder had experience with ADUs so most of the details were up in the air.  Then I talked to you all and you knew exactly what the pathway was going to be. I saw that you had experience, expertise, and you were guiding the process.  Your price was also a little less than their price, and you were confident in your price.  Their price was a very wide range estimate.


So it was all the known factors.  Yes there were others who could do it, but it was with much less certainty across the board.  Since you’ve built this exact model time after time, there is so much you already know and that reduces cost, chaos, and confusion. They were going to be building something from scratch, and when you do that, there are so many unknowns.


This 1bd / 1ba 'RTown' ADU is a wonderful example of gentle density. You can't see it from the street, even behind a small bungalow primary home. City of Decatur setbacks are favorable at just 3'.


How was your experience during construction?


You guys were always available and response time was perfect.  You hear horror stories but I never felt frustrated with you all about communication.  The line of communication was always clear.  From a standpoint of disruption, I never had one complaint from my neighbors and they would tell me because we’re all on a text chain.   My home office faces the backyard and there was never a day I had to leave my office because of noise or otherwise.


How do you utilize your ADU currently?


Right now my daughter is here and when she moves out in two weeks to go back to college, one of my 16 year old sons will be in here the next day!  It’s the newest bedroom and the newest bathroom so they are so excited about it.  I’m happy for them because we do live in a smaller space and I want them to be able to be kids and at times I want them out of my hair too!  For the next few years, I just need it as a revolving door for my aging children.


Pool house / movie theatre / community space / workout studio


ADUs are typically considered for aging parents, but your ADU is currently for your aging children.  Can you share more about that?


I have friends who are real estate agents, and their kids are just getting out of college, and I mentioned I was considering an ADU, and they thought it was an amazing idea. They said, "So many kids are coming out of college and they are unable to afford housing.  We have a kid in our house and he’s probably going to be there for two years!  We would love to give them that independence”


Now, fast forward, when my 19-year-old adult daughter comes home from college, she’s living out here.  She does her own laundry and dishes and makes her own food.  She is independent in a way that helps us both function in a more adult fashion.  She doesn’t come home and is a kid again.  My 16-year-old boys will have their friends out here for gaming and I can’t hear a thing because it’s so tightly built.  They have movie nights and pop popcorn and I just feel like it’s such a great community space for them.  They can hang with their friends and mom isn’t right there and I don’t have to hear them.  It’s a two-way street.  It’s a little extra space for all of us to have more privacy.


Scroll to see the construction time line


What would you say to others who are considering building an ADU?


I honestly couldn’t think of a reason why not to do it.  I have friends who tell me they are super bummed because they don’t have the backyard for it. I just think ADUs are going to become more and more popular so I have zero regrets, I just wish I had done it sooner!  Over time it will support my kids, my parents, and me!  It makes me giddy, I absolutely love this space every single day I come out here.



If we can help you build an ADU like this, and you're in the Atlanta area, we'd love to chat!

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