It’s not every day you see a crane lift an accessory dwelling unit from a truck bed into a backyard. 

That’s exactly what neighbors on the 4500 block of Atascadero Drive in the Eastern Goleta Valley saw Thursday when the Bryan family joined the hundreds of people across Santa Barbara County who have added an ADU to their properties.

“We thought that we could use a portion of our backyard to kind of add extra room to the property, and I’m going to put my home office in one of the bedrooms,” homeowner Roy Bryan said. “That was one of the main drivers — space for the in-laws, family and then for my office.”

After having their fourth child, Bryan and his wife, Brittney, decided they needed extra space, and adding an ADU seemed like the best option. Bryan, a radiologist, plans to use the space as his home office, and they plan for it to be an extra space for the kids to play in and enjoy movie nights. 

While looking into ADUs, Bryan came across Samara, a company that builds the ADUs in a warehouse, then drives it to the homeowners and uses a crane to place it in the backyard. 

“It came down to just how much we wanted to be involved, then cost in addition, and then how much they would be willing to take on and do for us, in terms of the permitting and all that process,” Bryan said. “I don’t really have much experience doing projects like these, so I thought hiring somebody that does the projects all the time would be the best way to go.”

Bryan said it would have cost them almost 50% more to have someone come build the ADU right in their backyard. They purchased the two-bedroom model, which is 690 square feet, weighs 40,000 pounds and has a starting cost of $190,000. 

On Thursday, neighbors gathered to watch the Bryans’ new ADU get craned into their backyard. The actual installation took roughly 15 minutes as the crane lifted the ADU off the truck, over the Bryans’ home and into their backyard.

“We’re really excited to be done, but it’s been pretty painless, the process,” Bryan said. “Samara really takes care of everything. We just had to wait, but other than that we didn’t have to do too much.”

ADUs have increased in popularity during the past decade as the cost of housing has increased. Already this year, Santa Barbara County has issued 49 building permits for ADUs on the South Coast and 48 for ADUs in the North County.

From 2015 through 2024, the county issued about 500 building permits for ADUs on the South Coast and 360 for the North County, according to a county Housing Element report.

Permits have ramped up in recent years, with 125 permits for the South Coast and 94 in the North County last year, according to Kelsey Gerckens Buttitta, public information officer for Santa Barbara County.

There have been hundreds of other ADUs and junior ADUs permitted and built in local cities.

Jenn Miller, a project specialist for Samara, said they have several other projects planned for the Santa Barbara area.

“Santa Barbara is just a beautiful city with a good amount of families that need ADUs, whether it’s for aging parents, kids aging out of college or just rental income,” Miller said. “There are so many different things an ADU can be used for.”

Samara, based in the Bay Area, designs, engineers and manufactures its own ADUs. Miller said the process usually takes about nine months, which includes permitting and building. 

“Traditional construction can take many months, and I think we have an advantage by not being so disruptive in families’ lives. They tend to be busy, and we also manage the whole process,” Miller said.