Ed

My name is Ed Cadwell. For a couple of years, my daughter encouraged me to look into building an ADU. At first, I resisted. Life was good, and I wasn’t sure it was necessary. But as friends began facing situations where they needed to move in with family or have family move in with them, I started thinking more seriously about the future.

You don’t want to build this yourself—it’s going to take forever.

With an engineering background, I decided to design the ADU myself. I created floor plans, worked through setbacks, and even had my architect niece review the drawings. But after looking at everything, she told me, You don’t want to build this yourself—it’s going to take forever.

That’s when my daughter connected us with Backyard Estates.

When we met Adam and Tom, something immediately clicked. Sometimes you just connect with people, and I connected with Tom. His construction experience gave me confidence that they could actually deliver what they promised.

Sometimes you just connect with people, and I connected with Tom.

Originally, my plan was to act as my own general contractor, but everyone kept telling me the same thing: it would take years. My biggest concern was getting it done quickly. When Tom looked at my plans, he confidently said, It’ll be twelve weeks.

Honestly, I didn’t think that was possible.

When Tom looked at my plans, he confidently said, It’ll be twelve weeks.

Yet here we are in the eleventh week since groundbreaking, and the progress has been remarkable. We were actually out of town when construction started, but I monitored everything through security cameras and was amazed. I was just amazed at how quickly they got the footings dug, ready to pour, and moved everything forward.

I was just amazed at how quickly they got the footings dug, ready to pour, and moved everything forward.

What I appreciated most was that Backyard Estates embraced my vision. This wasn’t one of their standard plans—it was something I had designed myself. Their architect took my ideas, refined them, and helped make the design even better. They were willing to do something different and work with our custom design.

They were willing to do something different and work with our custom design.

Soon, we’ll have our own private space while still being close to our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. That balance of independence and family support is exactly what we wanted.

Backyard Estates just has a system that works.

For anyone considering an ADU, my advice is simple: Having someone who does ADUs all the time is a huge advantage. Whether you choose one of their plans or bring your own design like I did, Backyard Estates just has a system that works. I would strongly recommend them to anyone considering building an ADU.