Home / Casitas & ADUs
A casita in your backyard.
Done in months, not years.
Guest house, rental unit, home office, aging parent — whatever you're building it for, we build it permitted, plumbed, and finished.
The rules changed
Tucson wants you
to build this.
The City of Tucson and Pima County have both loosened their accessory dwelling rules in recent years, and a lot of residential lots that couldn't support a casita a few years ago can support one now.
Whether yours is one of them depends on your exact parcel — lot size, zoning, setbacks, and how much of the lot your house already covers. We check all of it against your address before anyone pays for a drawing, because finding out at the permit counter is the expensive way to learn it.
Three ways people use them
Same building.
Very different reasons.
Rental income
A permitted casita rents in Tucson. An unpermitted one gets red-tagged, can't be legally listed, and becomes a problem the day you refinance or sell.
Family
Close enough to help when help is needed. Separate enough that everybody keeps their own front door and their own evening.
Work & guests
An office that isn't the kitchen table, and a place to put visitors that isn't the couch. The two uses share a floor plan more often than people expect.
Cost & timeline
What it runs,
and how long it takes.
Anyone who quotes you a casita price over the phone without seeing your lot is guessing. What drives the number isn't the square footage — it's whether your utilities can carry another dwelling.
What we do instead of a phone quote: walk the lot, check the panel and the sewer line, and hand you a line-item estimate where you can see what the slab costs, what the utility tie-in costs, and what changes if you move a wall.
Common questions
The four things
everyone asks.
Do I need a permit for a casita in Tucson?
Yes. Any detached dwelling with plumbing and electrical needs a permit, and there's no version of this where skipping it works out. An unpermitted casita can be red-tagged, can't be legally rented, and turns into a problem the day you try to sell or refinance.
Can I rent it out?
A permitted casita can be rented. An unpermitted one can't be legally rented, and your insurance is unlikely to cover a claim on a structure nobody inspected. Rules differ between City of Tucson and unincorporated Pima County, so the real answer depends on your exact address — which we'll check.
How big can it be on my lot?
Depends on lot size, zoning, setbacks, and how much of the lot your house already covers. We check all of it against your parcel before design starts, so you learn what's actually possible before you pay for drawings.
New utility lines, or tie into the house?
Usually it ties into your existing water, sewer and electrical — but not always. If your panel is at capacity or the sewer runs the wrong direction, that changes the cost meaningfully. It's one of the first things we check, because it's one of the biggest swings in the final number.
Adding a casita as part of a bigger project? See remodels & additions.
Start here
Find out what your
lot allows. Costs nothing.
Call with the address and we'll tell you whether a casita works there before you spend anything on design.
- Phone
- (520) 266-2768
- License
- Arizona ROC 342788
Fastest way to reach us
(520) 266-2768Call or text — either works. You'll get a real conversation with Rich, not a form receipt and a week of silence.
Every message gets a callback within one business day. Estimates are free, and we'll walk the site with you before quoting anything.