Tiny ADU houses young adult children struggling to pay rent in L.A.
When Tina LaMonica and Warren Wellen purchased their South Pasadena Craftsman home in 2001, the one-car garage dated back to 1917, a time when people parked their narrow Ford Model T cars inside garages like this one. “We bought it for $650,000,” LaMonica says of the house. “Of course, we could never afford to buy it now.” The couple moved in when their daughters, Sophie and Ruby Wellen, were little, and their tree-lined street was full of families with young kids who rode their scooters throughout the neighborhood. “We all grew up together and had block parties,” says Sophie, 30. Now, she adds, “There are no new families moving in. No one left. Why would they?” Tina LaMonica and Warren Wellen sit on the patio with their daughter, Sophie Wellen, and their dog, Hazelnut, next to the 230-square-foot ADU where Sophie lived for two years. Her younger sister is now living in the ADU. Music was always a part of their home, Sophie says, thanks to her father, Warren, 65, who is both an attorney …
