Meet the Camarillo Team Behind Ellery ADU Studio Camarillo
Every ADU we’ve designed, permitted, and built in Camarillo since 2015 has been handled by people who live here, work here, and understand what Ventura County’s coastal climate and local codes mean for your project. Our crew isn’t rotated in from out of state. They’re the same faces from your first site walk through final inspection, and they answer to one standard: the price we write down is the price you pay, and the work we document is the work we did.
Our People
Nadia Ellery, Owner & Lead Designer
I’ve been running this studio since 2015, and I’ve personally reviewed every permit set that’s gone through our Camarillo office. Before that, I spent eight years as a project manager on commercial tenant improvements, which taught me that the gap between drawings and built reality is where most projects go sideways. That’s why we operate under one contract for design, permitting, and build - so there’s no one to point fingers at when something doesn’t line up. I hold a California B-General Contractor license, and I still do the initial site walks on most projects because I don’t trust a satellite image to tell me whether your garage slab has the 4-inch minimum we need for a conversion, or whether that pepper tree in the backyard is actually in the setback zone. I keep a set of Ventura County’s ADU zoning memos printed in my truck, updated quarterly. Off hours, I’m usually restoring mid-century furniture I find at the Ventura flea market, badly.
Marcus T., Senior Installer & Prefab Systems Lead
Marcus has been with us since 2019, and he’s our go-to when a client wants to explore prefab or modular options. He’s factory-certified on Abodu, Cover, and Dvele systems, and he’s coordinated crane sets in Camarillo neighborhoods from Las Posas Estates to Mission Oaks - including one on a hillside lot where we had to sequence the module delivery around a Santa Ana wind warning. Before joining us, Marcus spent six years with a structural steel crew, which shows in how he thinks about load paths and foundation connections. He’s the one who’ll tell you upfront that a Boxabl unit’s shipping width means your side-yard access needs 14 feet clear, not 12. He builds electric guitars from kits and complains about the fretwork on every single one.
Dana R., Service Coordinator & Permit Expediter
Dana handles the paperwork that most homeowners never see, and she’s the reason our Camarillo projects average three weeks faster through plan check than the county median. She’s been with Ellery ADU Studio since 2017, and she knows the Ventura County Building & Safety staff by name - not because she’s charming, but because she submits complete packages the first time, with the fire sprinkler calculations and Title 24 energy compliance already sorted. Dana holds a Certified Permit Technician credential through ICC, and she’s the one who calls you when the inspector flags something, not two days later when you notice nobody showed up. She grew up in Oxnard, still surfs at Silver Strand before dawn, and keeps a whiteboard in her office tracking every open permit by color-coded stage.
Jesse K., Apprentice Carpenter & Site Documentation
Jesse joined us in 2022 through a Ventura County trades program, and he’s already logged 200+ site visits for photo documentation alone. He’s the person taking the “before,” “during,” and “after” images that go into your project record - not phone snapshots, but systematic documentation of footing depths, rebar spacing, and waterproofing membrane laps, all geotagged and uploaded to your client portal within 24 hours. Jesse is working toward his C-5 Framing and Rough Carpentry license, and Marcus has him doing layout on every slab pour now. He lives in Camarillo with his pit mix, and he’s weirdly knowledgeable about native drought-tolerant landscaping, which comes up more often than you’d think when we’re discussing how much of a backyard a detached ADU will consume.
One Standard, Every Job
The Haven Standard isn’t a slogan we put on the website and forget. It’s the operating agreement that governs how this team works, written down and signed before your project starts. Clause 1 means you’ll have a written price before any work begins - not an estimate that drifts, a fixed number. Clause 5 locks the scope at signing, so no one shows up at your door with an “unexpected” upgrade. The documented photo record on every visit means if Dana says the inspector passed the rough electrical, you’ll see the green tag in your portal that evening, not take her word for it. And the 365-Day Done Right Promise means if something we built doesn’t match the permitted drawings, we fix it - also in writing, also upfront.
We’ve done this for 900-plus ADUs across California since 2015, and the Camarillo crew is the team that handles Ventura County’s specific combination of coastal moisture, clay-heavy soils, and local fire district requirements. When you call (805) 301-9518, you reach a live person, not a queue. If you already have a written estimate from another builder, we’ll give you a free second opinion on it - no obligation, just a straight read on whether the scope and pricing hold up.
Call (805) 301-9518 to schedule your free estimate.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Camarillo, serving Camarillo since 2015.