About this build.
This detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Walnut Creek, in Contra Costa County, California, is an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom backyard build completed by Burton Builders in 2024. The homeowners use it as the office they run their business from — a workplace a few steps from the back door, permitted and built as a full ADU, so it can just as easily become a rental or a guest home later. Outside, deep navy lap siding and a board-and-batten gable meet crisp white trim, a bright orange four-lite entry door, and a clear-cedar deck that widens the entry into a place to stand and talk.
Inside, the main room reads more like a studio than a spare bedroom: a vaulted white ceiling with an exposed beam, a skylight, a run of high clerestory windows above the wall, and wide-plank white-oak floors underfoot. Blue-gray accent walls and black-framed doors, windows, and baseboards carry a sharp, graphic line through the plan, and frosted-glass interior doors let a private room stay private without going dark. Two quieter rooms off the main space work as offices or bedrooms, each with its own ductless mini-split for zoned comfort, and the bath keeps things crisp with large-format marble-look tile, a curbless glass shower, and a navy vanity under a black stone counter and vessel sink.
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