How a struggling single mom built an ADU, without killing a 60-year-old tree
LOS ANGELES -- When Chantal Arnoult moved with her family to France in 2008, she had no idea she would return to Los Angeles four years later, divorced and unable to afford the home that she and her then-husband had purchased for $395,000 in 2002.
"I was broke, with two kids and no job," she said. "I had a long-term renter, so I stayed with my sister and then rented another place. When I refinanced the house, I still couldn't afford the mortgage, so I rented my house on Airbnb for five years. My kids and I moved seven times. It was a constant juggle."
When a new series of California laws was passed in 2017 to make accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, easier to build, Arnoult decided to move home, withdraw her retirement funds and build a 650-square-foot income property in her Mar Vista backyard.
As conceived by her sister, the ADU
