Detached ADUs in Los Gatos, CA

What a Detached Unit Gives You

A detached ADU is a standalone building with its own entrance, kitchen, bathroom, and utilities. It is the type most Los Gatos homeowners ask for first, and the reason is separation. No shared wall, no shared entry, no one walking past your windows to get home. It functions as a genuine second residence rather than a piece of yours.

That independence is what makes it the strongest choice for a long term rental, for parents who want their own front door, and for adult children staying in the area without moving back into a bedroom.

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Does Your Lot Actually Support One

This is the question that decides everything, and in Los Gatos the answer splits along geography. On the flats near downtown and around Blossom Hill, you usually have workable ground, and the constraints are setbacks, lot coverage, and mature trees. In the hills, the constraint is the terrain.

What we look at on a site visit is straightforward: how much usable flat area exists after setbacks, whether a concrete truck and material deliveries can physically reach the build area, how water currently moves across the parcel, and where the existing sewer lateral sits relative to where the unit would go. Any one of those can change the design, and finding out during construction is the expensive version. Our ADU construction page covers how that assessment runs.

Everything a Standalone Building Requires

A detached unit is a complete construction project, which is the honest difference between it and a garage conversion.

A new foundation designed for your soil and your slope, which on a hillside parcel may mean piers or a stepped design
Full framing, roof structure, and weatherproofed exterior
Trenching from the house or the street for water, sewer, and electrical
A sewer connection that reaches the existing lateral at workable slope
Electrical service capable of carrying a second dwelling, often requiring a panel upgrade
Independent heating and cooling, insulation, and full interior finishes
Site drainage and a path of travel from the street to the unit's door

On sloped lots, foundation and site work are where the money goes, and they are the two items that vary most between properties. That is why we will not quote a hillside detached ADU from a satellite image.

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Town Permits and Hillside Standards

State law requires ministerial review for compliant ADUs, so a detached unit meeting the standards is approved without a discretionary hearing. Permits run through the Town of Los Gatos Community Development Department, which handles its own submittal requirements, plan check, and inspections.

Above the flats, hillside development standards apply and affect grading, height, and how visible a new structure is from off site. Those are workable constraints when they are designed for from the beginning and a serious problem when they are discovered at plan check.

Designing It Around Who Will Live There

A detached ADU is not a small house, it is a purpose built one. A rental unit needs a real kitchen, a bedroom that takes a proper bed and a dresser, storage so a tenant is not stacking boxes in the living area, and finishes that survive turnover.

A unit for aging parents is a different building: curbless shower, wider doorways, no thresholds to catch a walker, lever handles, and lighting suited to changing vision. Both fit the same footprint, and they are not the same design. Deciding which one you are building at the drawing stage costs nothing, and retrofitting later costs a great deal. If you are working through the numbers, our guide on how to finance an ADU is a useful starting point.

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One Contractor From Assessment Through Final

We build detached ADUs as design build, so the team drawing the unit is the team constructing it. On a ground up building with new utilities and, frequently, slope to contend with, that continuity is worth real money. Soil conditions, the true depth of the existing lateral, and what is buried between the house and the build site are things you learn during construction, and they become decisions rather than disputes when one company owns both sides.

We are a licensed general contracting company based in San Jose, owner operated by Becir Molabecirovic, serving Los Gatos and the surrounding Santa Clara County cities, and our portfolio includes hillside work in Portola Valley. Our ADU contractor services page details what each phase includes.

Let Us Walk Your Los Gatos Property

The only way to know what a detached ADU costs on your lot is to look at the ground, the access, and the utility route. Get in touch with our team and we will give you a straight assessment.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I build a detached ADU on a steep lot?

Usually yes, but the foundation and site work drive the cost, and hillside standards apply. We assess slope, access, and drainage before design so the budget reflects the actual site.

How close to the property line can it sit?

State law protects a modest rear and side setback for ADUs, more permissive than standard accessory structure rules. The exact envelope depends on your parcel, so we confirm it against your survey.

How long does a detached ADU take?

Longer than a conversion, because you are building a complete structure and running new utilities to it. We give you a schedule at contract and update it as plan check moves.

Do trees affect where it goes?

They can. Mature protected trees limit how close you can build to the root zone, so we locate them during the site assessment and design around them rather than requesting removal.

Can I have a detached ADU and a JADU?

In many cases yes. State law generally permits a JADU inside the home alongside a detached unit on the same single family lot. We confirm against your parcel before you plan around it.

Create Your Dream ADU Designed Just for You

Every ADU project starts with a site evaluation. We'll visit your property, take measurements, review setback requirements, and discuss your goals. From there, we'll recommend floor plans that make sense or start designing something custom if that's the better route.

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