MNBE designs, permits, and builds ADUs, DADUs, and custom homes across Medina, one licensed team from first site visit to final inspection.
One licensed, bonded team for the whole job, from design and Medina Development Services permitting to fixed price construction.
Where an Evergreen Point or Overlake 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 Medina's 2025 middle housing code (Ordinance 1040).
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Drawings built to clear Medina Development Services the first time, lake bluff view lots, shoreline jurisdiction, and protected tree canopy included.
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We design ADU submittals to land clean at Medina's permit process, now running through the city's SmartGov portal, anticipating the corrections their reviewers and contract consultants send back before we file. Medina's tiny permit volume means you often get direct access to the reviewer, and a clean first submittal moves quickly. Every submittal and every response is handled by us, never a third party expediter.
Medina is a west facing peninsula on the east shore of Lake Washington, and the lots with the best lake and Seattle skyline views, from the waterfront along Lake Washington Boulevard to the sloped view streets of Medina Heights, are often the most regulated. Anything within 200 feet of the ordinary high water mark falls under the Shoreline Master Program, the bluffs bring steep slope and erosion review, and the city's mature tree canopy triggers tree protection plans. We coordinate the geotechnical report early, design foundations and drainage to the slope, and run shoreline, critical area, and tree review in parallel with the building permit instead of letting them stall the project.
Our attached ADU in neighboring Bellevue, minutes from Medina, full framing, roofing, kitchen, and HVAC, finished in 2024 and passed every City of Bellevue inspection. We build the same way across Medina. See the full project, and the homeowner's verified five star review, on the project page.
What We Build in Medina
A freestanding backyard cottage with its own entrance and address, the strongest rental performer. Under Ordinance 1040, effective July 1, 2025, Medina allows detached ADUs of at least 1,000 square feet, and the large R-16, R-20, and R-30 lots here take one comfortably. On waterfront and bluff parcels, expect shoreline and tree review to shape siting, which is exactly the kind of constraint we design around from day one.
Connected to the main house by a shared wall or addition. Medina now allows up to two ADUs per lot with no owner occupancy requirement, so both units can be rented. On a parcel already tight against lot coverage and impervious surface limits, an attached unit is often the cleaner path, since it adds living space without a second footprint on the ground.
Medina's sloped and waterfront lots, including many of the 1950s through 1970s ranch and Northwest contemporary homes from the city's early decades, frequently sit on daylight or walkout basements facing the lake. Those lower levels convert beautifully into legal dwellings or in law suites with a separate entrance, full kitchen, and code compliant egress, and they make the most of a view that a new structure would be regulated away from.
On many Medina lots, especially the lake view streets of Evergreen Point, Groat Point, and the Overlake district, 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.
FAQ
Answering the questions Medina homeowners ask us most about building an ADU.
Yes. Under Medina's Ordinance 1040 and Washington's HB 1337, most residential lots allow up to two ADUs, typically one attached and one detached, with no owner occupancy requirement. Medina's large minimum lot sizes leave room, though lot coverage, impervious surface, setback, and height standards still apply, and waterfront or bluff parcels add shoreline and critical area review.
There's no Seattle SDCI scale backlog in Medina: the city's Development Services Department runs a tiny permit volume with lean staff and contract consultants, and a straightforward ADU often gets direct reviewer access. Complex jobs differ: tree code, critical areas, shoreline, and grading and drainage review each add steps, and consultant scheduling can introduce lag. Medina publishes no guaranteed turnaround.
Cost is site specific on Medina lots, so we don't quote a generic per square foot number. Shoreline jurisdiction within 200 feet of the lake, steep bluff slopes that demand geotechnical work, tree protection and mitigation, and grading and drainage review move the figure before finishes do. After a free site visit you get one fixed price for design, permitting, and construction.
Thank you for considering MNBE for your Medina ADU or custom home. We respond within one business day, Monday through Saturday.
We design and build across Medina, from the interior estate lots east of 84th Avenue to the waterfront along Lake Washington Boulevard and the sloped, view streets of Medina Heights, Evergreen Point, Groat Point, and the Overlake district. Whether your parcel sits on the lake bluff, under heavy tree canopy, or inside the Medina Heights overlay, we handle the shoreline, critical area, and tree review alongside the build.