Meet the Pasadena Team Behind Ellery ADU Studio Pasadena
We’re the crew that shows up in Pasadena, Altadena, and the surrounding foothill neighborhoods when an ADU project needs to move from idea to permitted reality. What ties us together isn’t a uniform or a slogan. It’s that every one of us has had to explain to a homeowner why a setback variance killed their first design, and every one of us has learned how to prevent that from happening twice. Nadia Ellery built this studio in 2015 on the principle that the person designing your ADU should also answer for building it. That still means we work under one contract, at one written price, with no handoffs to anonymous subcontractors.
Our People
Nadia Ellery, Owner & Lead Designer
I started Ellery ADU Studio in 2015 after watching too many Pasadena homeowners get stranded between an architect who wouldn’t pick up a hammer and a contractor who couldn’t read a detail sheet. I hold a California contractor’s license and have personally shepherded over 900 ADUs through design, permitting, and final inspection. My specialty is the pre-application conference with Pasadena Planning & Community Development - I know which questions to ask before the city asks them of you. On weekends I restore mid-century furniture badly, and I will talk your ear off about why the 1920s bungalows in Bungalow Heaven make for better garage conversions than the 1960s slabs in East Washington.
Marcus T., Lead Technician & Site Supervisor
Marcus has been running ADU job sites in Los Angeles County for fourteen years, and he’s been with our studio since 2019. He’s certified in structural welding and holds a Class B license, which means he can sign off on the steel moment frames we sometimes need for hillside ADUs in the San Rafael hills. Marcus is the one who texts clients photos of rebar placement at 6:47 AM because he knows they’ll worry about it until they see it. He owns a rescue pit bull named Permit - yes, really - and he never lets anyone forget that the 365-Day Done Right Promise means we come back even for paint touch-ups.
Daniela R., Senior Installer & Systems Specialist
Daniela joined us in 2021 after five years installing modular units across Southern California, including stints coordinating Dvele and Plant Prefab deliveries. She knows the exact crane radius for a Boxabl unit in a Pasadena alleyway, and she’s the reason we can spec Abodu or Cover systems within the same single contract as a stick-built garage conversion. Daniela is OSHA 30-certified and teaches the crew’s quarterly fall-protection refresher. She bakes sourdough that she brings to final inspections as a bribe for inspectors, which she claims has never failed and which we cannot officially endorse.
James K., Service Coordinator
James answers the phones. More importantly, he makes sure a live person answers the phones - no voicemail queue, no callback promise that evaporates. He’s been with Ellery ADU Studio since 2017, which means he’s heard every variation of “how much does an ADU cost” and can walk you through why we need to see your slab before we give you the written price Haven Standard Clause 1 requires. James schedules our site visits, tracks permit status with Pasadena’s online portal, and maintains the photo record system so every client gets evidence of what was found and what was done. He plays in a ska band. He will not tell you the name unless you ask twice.
Terrence W., Apprentice Installer
Terrence came to us in 2023 through Pasadena City College’s construction technology program, and he’s logged roughly 180 ADU site days since. He’s currently pursuing his Class C license and specializes in utility rough-ins - the trenching, conduit, and sewer lateral work that connects your new unit to Pasadena’s aging infrastructure. Terrence is the one who checks that your existing electrical panel can handle the additional load before we quote, not after we start. He lives in Northwest Pasadena, grew up in the same house his grandmother bought in 1964, and he has strong opinions about which taco trucks on Lake Avenue are worth the wait.
One Standard, Every Job
The Haven Standard isn’t a poster in our break room. It’s the agreement we make with every homeowner before anyone picks up a tool. Clause 1 means you get a written price before work starts - not an estimate, not a range, a price. Clause 5 locks the scope at signing; no door-side upsells, no scope creep when we find something unexpected in your 1940s foundation. The documented photo record goes to you after every visit, not a summary of how it felt. And the 365-Day Done Right Promise is backed in writing before the project starts: if the finished ADU doesn’t match the permitted drawings, we make it right.
We’ve designed, permitted, and built over 900 ADUs since 2015, and every one of them operated under these same clauses. Whether we’re coordinating a Mighty Buildings modular unit into a tight lot in Madison Heights or hand-framing a Junior ADU in the Historic Highlands, the standard doesn’t change. The people don’t change either - background-checked, uniformed, with license numbers visible on every page and every truck. When you call (626) 427-9813, you’ll reach one of us. Probably James. He’ll actually pick up.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Pasadena, serving Pasadena and surrounding communities since 2015.