When a studio is the right call
A studio ADU works best for one or two adults who don't need a separate bedroom. The most common cases on our build calendar: a guest house intended for short stays, a dedicated home office that needs a real bathroom, a rental targeting young professionals, or a parent or grown child who values their own front door but doesn't need much square footage. Below 400 square feet the plan starts to feel cramped after the kitchen and bath are accounted for; we don't sell anything that tight. Above 550 you've drifted out of studio territory and into a small one-bedroom.
What you get on a studio plan
One large room that combines sleep area, living, and kitchen. A full bath (tub or walk-in shower per the plan). A real kitchen with full-height cabinets, a range, and an eat-in counter — not a kitchenette. Storage built in along the long wall, sometimes with a small walk-in closet. Most of our studios are single-story; a couple of plans put the bed in a loft above to free the main floor for a real workspace.
How studios fit Austin's rules
Studio footprints are the easiest case under Austin's HOME Phase 1 amendments — a small detached unit lands comfortably inside the 40% building-coverage and 45% impervious- cover caps on a typical SF-1, SF-2, or SF-3 lot. Even on smaller lots between 1,800 and 5,749 square feet that don't qualify under HOME Phase 1, a studio can often be built as a Small Lot Single-Family unit under HOME Phase 2. We pull your property profile before quoting so the version of the rules that applies to your specific lot is what we're working from, not the generic version.
The trade-off vs a one-bedroom
A studio costs less to build and finishes faster. A one-bedroom adds privacy, doubles the rental pool (couples and small families won't consider a studio long-term), and is easier to resell. The math depends entirely on what the ADU is for. We'll talk you through both options honestly when you call — we'd rather you build the right size once than the cheaper size and regret it.
