GRAPHĒ: Budget Breakdown: One Way to Get Your Dream Home? Build It in Your Backyard Like This Maine Family

They combined $206,000 and sweat equity to create a 950-square-foot ADU behind the duplex they already owned.

One of the things Chelsea Lipham cherished about her home in Portland, Maine, was how beautiful its tree-filled lot was. What she didn’t care for, however, was the cramped interior of her 100-year-old duplex. "I was feeling kind of claustrophobic," says Chelsea, who is a registered architect. She imagined an open, airy space with better views of the canopy around her—something that was more like the cabin in the woods she grew up in.

In Portland, Maine, architect Chelsea Lipham designed and built a 950-square-foot ADU where she, her husband, and five-year-old son live. By keeping the ADU’s design simple and choosing budget-friendly materials, she was able to complete the project for less than $206,000.

Photo by Ben Gancsos Studio

After the city passed regulations that made it easier to build ADUs, Chelsea jumped at the chance to create her dream space. She envisioned a place that she, her husband, and son could move into and possibly rent out in the future. Thanks to smart product and material sourcing, plus the sweat equity she and her family put into constructing the project on nights and weekends, the 950-square-foot, two-story ADU came to just under $206,000. "It was all an experiment," Chelsea says of the design.

When Chelsea started conceiving of the ADU, she focused on ways to maximize living space within the footprint she was allowed to have under Portland’s ADU rules, which led to a two-story design. She didn’t expect to build the ADU herself, but the prices contractors quoted were too high for her budget. Nearly half of it did go to experts for the foundation and sitework, plumbing, and extending the sewer and water lines to the back of the property—work Chelsea wasn’t able to do on her own. But because she had experience helping her father, who is a woodworker, build homes over summers when she was growing up, Chelsea "wasn't scared of needing to do most of the work myself," she says. In a full circle moment, she began to teach her son how to chip in. "He had his little wrench out helping us do things," she says.

The facade is composed of solid pine boards coated in pine tar, a finish commonly used on houses and boats in Scandinavia. It is durable (it’s supposed to last 100 years, Chelsea says) and protects against rot and insects. Chelsea used Earth + Flax’s Authentic Black pine tar mixed 50/50 with Viking purified raw linseed oil. The sconce is the Breshawna model from Wade Logan.

Photo by Ben Gancsos Studio

Keeping the volume, layout, and detailing straightforward helped make the house easy to build. "I was trying to simplify everything as much as possible, but still keep things interesting," she says. The ground level features a short entry hall that passes a workshop and office nook before opening to a double-height living room and adjacent kitchen and dining area.

$4,280 Permit & Impact Fees	$7,923.08 Appliances	$2,356.98 Cabinets/Counters
$12,375 Drywall	$22,079.99 Electrical/Lighting	$8,230 Sprinklers
$4,646.12 Flooring/Stairs	$37,150 Foundation/Site Work	$9,252.59 HVAC
$7,726.31 Insulation	$17,818.60 Framing	$3,643.20 Roofing
$5,368 Interior Finishes	$9,157.45 Siding	$19,408.77 Plumbing
$18,222 Windows/Doors/Hardware	$15,775 Water Line (from street)
Grand Total: $205,413.09