The Cole Valley ADU
The Brief
Most Cole Valley backyards are an afterthought — a strip of fog-shaded grass behind an Edwardian, too narrow or too steep to use. The brief here turns one into a 740-square-foot detached ADU and 1,200 square feet of outdoor living, built to the same standard as the house in front of it. Not a shed in the yard — a real second home, and the outdoor room the main house never had.
The Approach
Discipline at small scale. A detached ADU lives or dies on the plan and the opening, so the whole rear wall becomes glazing that folds away — the small interior borrows the garden, and the garden borrows the light. A single warm volume in vertical wood cladding under a standing-seam metal roof, set on a board-formed concrete plinth that solves the grade, keeps the unit in conversation with the Edwardians around it: contemporary, but not a spaceship in the backyard. The 1,200 square feet of hardscape is not landscaping tacked on — it is the other half of the program, with drought-aware planting threaded through and designed to be used into the evening.
A backyard nobody used becomes the room the house never had.WDC · Design intent
The materials are the spec, plainly: vertical wood cladding, a standing-seam metal roof, black-framed glass, a concrete base, and structural planting that survives the fog. Honest, durable, chosen to live well and hold up.
Where It Stands
The Cole Valley ADU is under construction, in the build phase — the detached volume is up; finishes and the outdoor room follow. ADUs in San Francisco are permitted through SF Planning and SF DBI under California’s ADU law and the city’s local program; the state has streamlined approvals, but a detached unit still has to clear fire separation, egress, utilities, and Title 24. We file the set and carry it through every inspection. The full record publishes at the final walkthrough.
Materials
What you see is the spec — honest, durable materials chosen to live well and hold up.
Project Credits
| Location | Cole Valley, San Francisco |
| Scope | Detached ADU 740 sq ft + 1,200 sq ft hardscape |
| Delivery | Design-build · single contract |
| Status | Under construction (build phase) |
| Builder | WD Constructions · CSLB #1096552 |
Considering a similar project?
WDC designs and builds detached ADUs, garage conversions, and outdoor living across San Francisco — one team from feasibility through SF permitting to final inspection. Thinking about your own backyard? Start with a site walk.