Building an ADU That Belongs on a Burlingame Block
Burlingame is a town of distinct, well kept homes. In neighborhoods like Burlingame Park and Easton Addition, you find period revival architecture, Tudor cottages with steep gables and leaded glass, Spanish and Mediterranean houses with stucco walls and clay tile roofs, all set on tree lined, walkable streets. Homeowners here have usually invested years into getting the main house right. So when they consider an accessory dwelling unit, the bar is high. The ADU cannot read as a tacked on box in the backyard. It has to feel like it was always part of the property.
That is the brief we hear most often in Burlingame. A client wants a real second dwelling, for a parent, an adult child, a long term guest, a home office, or rental income, but they want it to carry the same material quality and proportion as the house in front of it. Matching the roofline, the window rhythm, the stucco texture, or the trim detailing matters as much as the square footage. New Key Construction is a design-build firm built for exactly this kind of project, where design intent and construction quality have to stay joined from start to finish.
What "Design-Build" Actually Means for Your ADU
Most ADU projects in the Bay Area are run by two separate companies. You hire a designer or architect, wait for drawings, then take those drawings out to bid with contractors, and only then learn what the project really costs. That handoff is where budgets blow up and timelines stall.
We do it differently. With New Key Construction, one team owns both the design and the construction of your ADU. That means three concrete things for you. First, you get priced options up front, so the design is grounded in your real budget from the first conversation instead of a hopeful guess. Second, you see 3D renderings before we ever pull a permit, so you can walk through the finished ADU, adjust the layout, the rooflines, and the finishes, and approve it while changes are still cheap. Third, the people who designed it are accountable for building it, so nothing gets lost in a handoff between firms.
For a Burlingame homeowner who cares about how the finished unit sits next to a Tudor or Spanish revival main house, that single line of accountability is the whole point.
The Local Planning Reality in Burlingame
ADUs in California are shaped by state law, which sets baseline rules that every city, including Burlingame, has to allow. On top of that, Burlingame applies its own local zoning standards, and the City reviews ADU applications through the Community Development Department's Planning and Building divisions. The exact setbacks, height limits, and parking treatment that apply to your lot depend on your zoning district and the size and type of ADU you choose, whether it is a detached new structure, an attached addition, a garage conversion, or a junior ADU inside the existing house.
Burlingame also takes neighborhood character seriously. Several of its older neighborhoods carry design expectations, and projects can be subject to design review depending on what you propose and where. We treat that as an advantage rather than an obstacle. Because we are designing with the main house and the streetscape in mind from day one, a Burlingame Park or Easton ADU that respects scale, roofline, and materials is far easier to move through review than a generic prefab plopped on the lot. We confirm the current requirements for your specific parcel with the City before we commit to a design direction, rather than assuming.
We do not promise permit outcomes or invent fee figures here, because those change and depend on your property. What we do promise is that our drawings are built to satisfy real reviewers, and that we manage the submittal and revision process for you.
How We Run an ADU Project
A typical New Key Construction ADU in Burlingame moves through a clear sequence. We start with discovery and a site visit, measuring the lot, the existing house, and the available backyard or garage. We develop a design with priced options, so you can weigh a larger detached unit against a garage conversion in dollars, not abstractions. We produce 3D renderings you can actually evaluate. Then we prepare and submit the permit set, manage plan check and any design review, and build the unit with our own construction team. You deal with one firm, one schedule, and one point of contact the entire way.
Why Burlingame Homeowners Choose This Approach
The homeowners we work with in Burlingame tend to share a few priorities. They want the ADU to protect, not dilute, the value and look of a property they have carefully maintained. They want to know the cost before they are committed. And they do not want to project manage the friction between an architect and a builder. A design-build firm answers all three. You get architectural quality and construction certainty under one roof, with the design tuned to the period revival context that makes Burlingame what it is.
If you are weighing an accessory dwelling unit on a Burlingame lot, the first step is a conversation about your house, your goals, and your budget. From there we can show you what is genuinely possible on your property.
FAQ
Can you match my ADU to a Tudor or Spanish revival main house?
Yes, and it is one of the main reasons Burlingame homeowners come to us. We design the ADU to echo the main house, the roof pitch, stucco or plaster texture, window proportions, trim, and tile, so the new unit reads as part of the property rather than a separate structure. Because we handle both design and construction, the detailing you approve in the renderings is the detailing we build.
What kinds of ADUs can I build in Burlingame?
The common paths are a detached new structure in the backyard, an attached addition to the existing house, a conversion of an existing garage, and a junior ADU created within the footprint of the main house. The right option depends on your lot size, your zoning district, and your goals. We price more than one option up front so you can compare them on cost and feel, not just floor plan.
Why is design-build better than hiring a designer and a contractor separately?
With separate firms, you only learn the true cost after the design is done, and any problem on site becomes a finger pointing exercise between the two companies. With design-build, one team is responsible for the budget, the drawings, the permit, and the build. You see priced options and 3D renderings before permitting, which means fewer surprises and a single line of accountability.
Do I need design review for an ADU in Burlingame?
It depends on the type of ADU and where your home sits. Burlingame reviews ADU applications through its Community Development Department, and some projects can trigger additional design review given the city's attention to neighborhood character. We confirm the requirements for your specific parcel with the City early, and we design with the streetscape and main house in mind so the project is positioned to move through review smoothly.
How does the process start?
It starts with a discovery conversation and a site visit. We look at your house, your lot, and what you want the ADU to do, then come back with priced options and a design direction. You approve the design and renderings before we prepare and submit anything for permits.
