How Ellery ADU Studio Came to Camarillo
The call came in on a Tuesday morning in 2015, back when California’s ADU law had just changed and nobody in Ventura County quite knew what the new rules meant yet. A homeowner in Camarillo had hired a designer for the drawings, then a separate contractor for the build, and now sat between two people who each blamed the other for a foundation that sat four inches out of square. The city wouldn’t permit it. The contractor wanted another $14,000 to fix what he hadn’t caused. The designer had already cashed his check and stopped answering emails.
We were working for the parent studio up north at the time, running permits and managing field crews, and that Camarillo job was the one that showed us what this market needed. Not another contractor who’d “take a look.” Not another designer who’d “revise the set.” What Camarillo homeowners needed was someone who’d put the drawings, the permit, and the build under one contract with one price, before anyone broke ground. We asked the parent brand to let us open the Ventura County branch. They agreed. Nadia Ellery packed the permit binders, rented a small office off Ventura Boulevard, and started answering calls at the number that’s still on the door: (805) 301-9518.
That first year, we promised three things we still promise now: the price you sign is the price you pay, the permit set is our problem not yours, and when we leave, you get photos of what we actually built. Those three promises became the backbone of how we work in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and every city we serve today.
Nadia Ellery’s Personal Connection to the ADU Trade
We didn’t stumble into this work. We were pulled into it by the smell of sawdust in a garage in Oak Park, watching a tradesman who’d trained us lay out a foundation with a water level and a piece of string. It was 2009, before ADUs had a name anyone used, before the state made them legal by right. The job was a backyard studio for a teacher who needed office space. The budget was $22,000. The tradesman showed us how to read a shear wall schedule, how to call the inspector by name, how to write down every dimension before you cut anything. “The drawing is a promise,” he said. “The permit is proof you kept it.”
That teacher used that studio for eleven years. We drove past it last March. The new owners had painted it blue. The foundation was still square.
That’s what gets us out of bed. Not the square footage or the permit count. It’s the knowledge that someone will sit in that room, cook in that kitchen, park in that garage conversion, for decades after we’re gone. An ADU is a six-figure decision and a year-long relationship. You don’t build that from a template. You build it by listening to how someone actually lives, what time their mother-in-law goes to bed, whether they need a full kitchen or just a wet bar and a mini-fridge.
If we weren’t doing this, we’d probably be teaching. Or fixing old boats. Something where you can see the result of your patience. The work we do now is not so different. Every set of drawings is a lesson plan. Every finished ADU is a vessel that has to float.
Meet Nadia Ellery - The Person Behind Every Job
Nadia Ellery is the Owner and Founder of Ellery ADU Studio Camarillo. She holds a California contractor license and has spent her entire career in design-build, starting with residential remodels in the San Fernando Valley before specializing in accessory dwelling units when the 2015 state laws opened the market. Her training came from the field, not from a classroom: years of reading structural drawings, sitting in plan check meetings, and learning which inspectors in which cities want their details shown which way.
What separates Nadia from a corporate franchise technician is simple: she’s the one who answers when the permit gets rejected, when the foundation hits unexpected fill, when the homeowner needs to know why we’re using James Hardie siding instead of something cheaper. She lives in Ventura County. She hikes the same trails as her clients. She knows which Camarillo neighborhoods have clay soil that shifts foundations, and which ones have HOAs that require Tuff Shed-style detached units to match the main house roofline.
Nadia’s commitment to every homeowner who calls (805) 301-9518 is direct: she reviews every estimate personally, and her name is on the contract you sign.
Our Promise to Camarillo Homeowners
We operate under The Haven Standard, a five-clause code that governs every ADU we design, permit, and build. The clauses spell H.A.V.E.N., and we reference them by name because they’re not slogans. They’re policies with consequences.
H - Have it in writing. Every job gets a flat price, a written scope, and a written warranty before anyone starts. Clause 1 exists because we saw too many Camarillo homeowners sign open-ended contracts that ballooned by forty percent. That doesn’t happen here.
A - Arrive on schedule. We give you a real window, a named technician, and a text when they’re on the way. Not “sometime Tuesday.” Not a four-hour block where you sit waiting.
V - Verified crews. Every professional working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires. We don’t send day laborers. We don’t subcontract to people we haven’t vetted.
E - Evidence on every job. Photos and readings of what we actually found, documented and shared. If we open a wall and discover old termite damage, you see it. If the soil test comes back clean, you get the report.
N - No surprises. No door upsell. No scope creep. No “while we’re in here.” The price we write is the price you pay.
Our Credentials
- State-licensed - Every ADU we build in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Westlake Village, Fillmore, Oak Park, Agoura Hills, Simi Valley, Malibu, Calabasas, West Hills, and Chatsworth is backed by the licensing California requires for this work.
- Insured & bonded - Protection for your property and your investment, in place before we step on your driveway.
- Years of local experience - Since opening this branch, we’ve learned the specific requirements of Ventura County plan check, the soil conditions that affect foundation design, and the HOA restrictions that govern neighborhoods from Spanish Hills to Dos Vientos.
- Strong local reputation - We are known in this market for permits that pass the first time and builds that match the drawings.
These credentials matter because an ADU is not a small project. It’s a structure that will be inspected, appraised, and potentially inherited. Hiring someone without proper licensing and insurance means risking a stop-work order, a failed inspection, or a lien on your property. We don’t take that gamble, and we don’t ask you to.
Rooted in Camarillo
This branch opened in Camarillo for a reason. We knew the city, the county permit office, the neighborhoods where lot coverage rules differ from block to block. We’ve worked in the foothills near Camarillo Springs where fire-resistant siding isn’t optional, and in the older neighborhoods near Old Town where sewer laterals need careful mapping before we tie in. We’re not tourists here. We’re the team that answers when you call (805) 301-9518, and we’re here Monday through Saturday, 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM weekdays and 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM weekends.
Call (805) 301-9518 to schedule your free estimate. We’ll put the price in writing before anyone starts, and we’ll leave you a documented record of what we built.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Camarillo, serving Camarillo and Ventura County since 2015.