MNBE designs, permits, and builds ADUs, DADUs, and custom homes across Magnolia, one licensed team from first site visit to final inspection.
One licensed, bonded team for the whole job, from design and Seattle SDCI permitting to fixed price construction.
Where a Magnolia Bluff or Carleton Park lot's land value justifies it, we replace an aging home with a ground up custom home, with feasibility run honestly first.
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Detached, attached, and basement ADUs, up to two per lot and 1,000 sq ft each under Seattle's ADU code.
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Drawings built to clear Seattle SDCI the first time, bluff view lots and Environmentally Critical Areas included.
Explore ServiceWhy MNBE in Magnolia
We've taken ADU plans through Seattle SDCI, intake, plan check, corrections, and inspections, so we know which comments their reviewers actually send back and design to them before we submit. On a Magnolia lot a clean first submittal is what keeps the project moving. Every submittal and every response is handled by us, never a third party expediter.
Magnolia Bluff, Lawton Park, and the streets above Discovery Park drop off into steep grades, and the lots with the best Puget Sound and Olympic views are often the most regulated. Seattle's Environmentally Critical Areas overlay maps steep slope, landslide, and erosion hazards across the bluff, so we coordinate the geotechnical report early, design pin pile or deep footing foundations and drainage to the slope, and run ECA review, plus any Shoreline review near the Sound, in parallel with the building permit instead of letting it stall the project.
We finished a detached ADU right here in Magnolia, full framing, roofing, kitchen, siding, and HVAC, and it passed every inspection. That is the same team and the same standard you get on your lot. See the full project, and the homeowner's verified five star review, on the project page.
What We Build in Magnolia
A freestanding backyard cottage with its own entrance and address, the strongest rental performer. Seattle allows detached ADUs up to 1,000 square feet on Neighborhood Residential lots of at least 3,200 square feet, which most standard Magnolia parcels clear easily, and its Pre-Approved DADU Plan program can shorten review when a standard plan fits the site. The larger lots on Magnolia Bluff and in Briarcliff take one comfortably.
Connected to the main house by a shared wall or addition. Seattle allows up to two ADUs per lot with no owner occupancy requirement and no added parking, so both units can be rented. On a sloped Magnolia lot a daylight basement already has its own exterior entrance, which often makes the attached ADU the faster permit.
The 1920s to 1940s Craftsman and Tudor homes and the post war ranches of Lawton Park, Carleton Park, and Southeast Magnolia sit on daylight and walkout basements that convert beautifully into legal dwellings with a separate entrance, full kitchen, and code compliant egress, and the natural light is already there.
On many Magnolia lots, especially the bluff and view streets of Magnolia Heights and Carleton Park, land value justifies replacing an aging home outright. We run that feasibility honestly, sometimes the right answer is a ground up custom home, not a remodel, and build it under the same license and fixed price contract.
Real photos from our completed backyard DADU on a tight Magnolia lot. Walk the full build on the Magnolia DADU project page.
FAQ
Answering the questions Magnolia homeowners ask us most about building an ADU.
Yes. Under Seattle's ADU code and Washington's HB 1337, most Neighborhood Residential lots allow up to two ADUs, typically one attached and one detached, with no owner occupancy requirement and no added parking. On Magnolia the practical limits are the 3,200 square foot minimum lot size for a detached ADU, the 1,000 square foot DADU cap, and any Environmentally Critical Areas on the bluff.
The same as the rest of Seattle: Magnolia permits run through the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, with no faster local track. Bluff and view lots often run slower than flat infill because steep slope and landslide ECA review, geotechnical reports, and occasionally Shoreline review add time. Seattle's Pre-Approved DADU Plan program is the main lever when a standard plan fits.
Cost is site specific on Magnolia lots, so we don't quote a generic per square foot number. The real drivers are the steep slope and landslide hazard areas on the bluff, the geotechnical report and specialized foundations a sloped lot needs, and whether ECA or Shoreline review applies. We give you a fixed price after a free site visit.
Thank you for considering MNBE for your Magnolia ADU or custom home. We respond within one business day, Monday through Saturday.
We design and build across Magnolia, from the flatter parcels near Interbay and the Magnolia Village core on W McGraw St to the steep, view streets of Magnolia Bluff, Lawton Park, Carleton Park, and Magnolia Heights above Puget Sound. The bluff lots near Discovery Park bring the best views and the toughest critical area constraints, and that is exactly the kind of site we build on.