Search results for "Income increases" in Home Design Ideas

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.
Find the right local pro for your project

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.

From vision to reality—this incredible project showcases what’s possible with expert planning, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
✅ Complete Duplex Renovation
✅ Two Brand-New Ground-Up ADUs
✅ New Parking Area
✅ Modern Kitchens & Open Living Spaces
✅ Fresh Landscaping & Exterior Improvements
✅ Turnkey Multi-Unit Investment Property
This project was designed to maximize property value, increase rental income, and create beautiful, functional homes for future residents.

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income.
DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request.
MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic.
RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income.
ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them.
URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances.
OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values.
Eric Roth Photo

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

Project Overview:
The owner of this project is a financial analyst turned realtor turned landlord, and the goal was to increase rental income on one of his properties as effectively as possible. The design was developed to minimize construction costs, minimize City of Portland building compliance costs and restrictions, and to avoid a county tax assessment increase based on site improvements.
The owner started with a large backyard at one of his properties, had a custom tiny home built as “personal property”, then added two ancillary sheds each under a 200SF compliance threshold to increase the habitable floor plan. Compliant navigation of laws and code ended up with an out-of-the-box design that only needed mechanical permitting and inspections by the city, but no building permits that would trigger a county value re-assessment. The owner’s final construction costs were $50k less than a standard ADU, rental income almost doubled for the property, and there was no resultant tax increase.
Product: Gendai 1×6 select grade shiplap
Prefinish: Unoiled
Application: Residential – Exterior
SF: 900SF
Designer:
Builder:
Date: March 2019
Location: Portland, OR

The Portland 560 Prefabricated ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) is an efficiently designed modern 1 bedroom/1 bathroom home built completely out of teak grown on deforested cattle lands through reforestation efforts.
The structure, floors, exterior cladding, interior walls, ceilings, doors, millwork, and cabinetry are all made out of sustainably grown teak. You are capturing carbon and reducing your footprint while gaining rental income and increasing the value of your property.

This custom detached ADU in Sherman Oaks, CA was designed as a private luxury retreat with strong rental income potential. The architectural stone façade, pitched roofline, covered front porch, and warm exterior lighting create a high-end standalone residence feel, not a secondary structure.
The clean paver driveway, artificial turf landscaping, and full privacy fencing elevate curb appeal while maximizing usable outdoor space. Built with long-term value in mind, this ADU investment property increases home equity, generates monthly income, and enhances the overall property footprint in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
This is how you build an ADU that looks premium, feels private, and performs financially.

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income.
DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request.
MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic.
RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income.
ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them.
URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances.
OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values.
Eric Roth Photo
2

