What Pasadena Homeowners Say About Ellery ADU Studio Pasadena
We’ve been designing, permitting, and building ADUs in Pasadena since 2015. Reviews matter to us because they’re the only marketing we can’t write ourselves. The ones that stick are specific: a number, a neighborhood, a thing that went differently than expected and how it got handled. Here’s what Pasadena homeowners actually said after working with our team.
Recent Reviews
“We’d gotten two other bids for our garage conversion on Los Robles, and both came in verbal - one guy literally wrote his number on a business card. Nadia’s team sent a twelve-page scope with every line item, including the sewer lateral we didn’t know needed upgrading. Under Haven Clause 1, that written price was the price. Final invoice matched to the dollar.”
Emily A., Madison Heights, Pasadena
“Our lot in Bungalow Heaven has a 40-foot oak that everyone assumed killed the ADU setback. Ellery found a 2019 Pasadena ordinance we’d missed - the tree preservation credit - and got us six extra feet. Detached unit cleared permitting in eleven weeks. The photo record from every site visit meant I could show my sister in Oakland exactly what happened Tuesday versus Thursday.”
Tim H., Bungalow Heaven, Pasadena
“I’m a structural engineer, so I asked hard questions about the foundation for our new detached unit in Chapman Woods. Nadia didn’t hand-wave. She walked the soils report with me, showed why we were doing helical piers instead of standard spread footings, and put the reasoning in the contract attachment. The 365-Day Done Right Promise wasn’t marketing - it was a signed addendum.”
Alejandro R., Chapman Woods, Pasadena
“We started with a Cover prefab unit, then switched to a custom stick-build mid-process when the HOA pushed back. Most design-build firms would’ve charged us a change-order fee that made our eyes water. Because Ellery runs one contract for design, permitting, and build, they absorbed the coordination cost. Written price adjusted once, in writing, before we signed the amendment. No surprises after that.”
Marisol F., South Arroyo, Pasadena
“The junior ADU in our Altadena-adjacent basement had a ceiling at six-foot-eight. Code says seven feet. Nadia’s team found the 2020 California HCD exemption for existing conditioned space - saved us fourteen inches of excavation we couldn’t have afforded. They documented the code section, the city verification email, and the as-built photos in the same shared folder. I’ve shown that folder to three neighbors now.”
Emily A., Lamanda Park area, Pasadena
“I had a written estimate from another ADU builder for our garage conversion on Mentor Avenue. Called Ellery for their Free Second Opinion. They found three scope gaps: no fire-rated drywall between unit and garage, no dedicated electric meter, no parking replacement plan per Pasadena’s 2022 zoning update. The original bid was $18K lower but would’ve ballooned at permit. Nadia’s number was higher upfront and lower at the end.”
Tim H., Mentor Avenue, Pasadena
Why Customers Trust Us
These reviews aren’t random. They trace back to the same five things we’ve done since 2015, governed by the Haven Standard we put in writing before your project starts.
Written price before any work starts. Haven Clause 1 means you get a line-item scope with a fixed number. Not a range, not a “rough idea,” not a call-for-pricing runaround. Every testimonial above mentions this specifically because it’s that unusual in Pasadena ADU work.
Documented photo record on every visit. Our crews photograph what they found and what they did. You get the images, not a summary of how it felt. When Alejandro checked his foundation pour, he had timestamped photos. When Marisol’s HOA asked for proof of drainage compliance, she forwarded the file.
One contract, no finger-pointing. Design, permitting, site prep, utilities, build - all under Ellery ADU Studio Pasadena. If the drawings don’t match the slab pour, we don’t blame the architect. We fix it. That’s what “one-contract design-build” actually means when it’s tested.
365-Day Done Right Promise. If the finished ADU isn’t built to the permitted drawings, we make it right. In writing, before we break ground. Not a handshake, not a vibe.
Live person answers calls 24/7. Not a voicemail queue, not a callback that doesn’t happen. A real human who can pull your file and answer a question about your permit status or your slab cure time.
We’ve designed, permitted, and built 900+ ADUs since 2015. Every one started with a written price. Every one ended with a photo record. The reviews above are what happens when you do that repeatedly in the same city, on the same soil, under the same Pasadena zoning code, long enough to know where the actual problems hide.
Call (626) 427-9813 to schedule your free estimate. Bring a written bid from someone else if you have one - we’ll give you a Free Second Opinion, line by line, no obligation.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Pasadena, serving Pasadena since 2015.