BuildX · ADU Projects · Kingston, Massachusetts
A 900 Square Foot Kingston ADU, Built for BJ's Parents
A real accessory dwelling unit BuildX designed and built on the May family's Kingston property: two bedrooms, one and a half baths, a modified X3 plan, framed by Thanksgiving, and toured by the Lieutenant Governor once it was done.
as told by BJ May, Kingston homeowners
“Buz and his team did an unbelievable job.”
BJ May, to Lt. Governor Kim DriscollThe Full Story“We built a 900 sq. ft. ADU in Kingston for my parents so that my wife and I could purchase the main house while keeping them close and comfortable. From the beginning, the team at BuildX made the entire process incredibly easy. Once we signed on the dotted line, they handled everything from start to finish, which took a huge amount of stress off our shoulders.
Buz took the time to meet with us and walk through the plans so we felt confident in every decision. Our project manager, Tom Gonet, kept everything organized and communicated clearly throughout the build. The subcontractors were professional, on time, and the job site was always kept neat.
Any questions or small issues that came up were handled quickly, and it was clear the team really cared about getting the details right. The finished ADU turned out exactly how we hoped and gives my parents a comfortable place to live while staying local. We’re extremely happy with the result and would absolutely recommend BuildX!”
Why did the Mays build an ADU in Kingston?
BJ and his wife got married in September and were first-time buyers in a market that has never been kind to first-time buyers. His parents were entering retirement and wanted to downsize. Both problems sat on the same lot in Kingston: the house BJ grew up in. The answer was for BJ and his wife to buy his parents' home and for his parents to spend their retirement in a new ADU beside it.
BJ lists the four uncertainties it settled at once: where he and his wife would live, where his parents would go after they sold, who would help whom as everyone got older, and where the next generation would get started. They are all put to bed, he says. His parents live here, he and his wife live there, and each household goes about its business with the other one next door.
“Anybody who has the space to accommodate 600 plus square feet, you should definitely consider it. It's just a great investment.”
BJ MayHow was the plan chosen?
It started with an email. BuildX answered quickly, pulled the property up on the town map from a satellite view, and told BJ the lot qualified under the new law. Buz walked the plot in person and recommended a survey so the feasibility was settled before anything was drawn. Then BJ toured a finished unit on Bartlett Road, walked in and, in his words, was blown away. He asked if BuildX could build that on the lot Buz had seen. Of course.
Buz came back with his design software, put the Bartlett footprint on the screen, and the family tweaked it live. The one change that mattered: a closet became a half bath. It is the same X3 plan Buz built for the Farrells in Plymouth, and he calls it one of the most popular plans BuildX has. Kingston is Buz's own town, which for BJ's parents went a long way.
What was construction like for the May family?
It got real when the foundation was dug. A week later the oversized crawl space was covered, and within two weeks the framers were on it. Tom, the project manager, kept the family ahead of each next step, and was patient with BJ's mother, who changed the cabinet handles three or four times. The approach BJ describes from Tom and Buz: things come up when you dig, small things nobody planned for, and if anything is not 100 percent right, say so and it gets made right.
By Thanksgiving the family was walking people through a framed house. Less than a month earlier it had been a hole in the ground.
How long did the Kingston ADU take to build?
Two months from hole to interior painting, on a 100 day overall turnaround. Ground was broken at the end of October and the frame was up by Thanksgiving. BJ says the shock of the first dig fades fast once there is something standing that looks close to real.
Does 900 square feet feel small?
Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll toured it and said she was always surprised these do not feel compact. The kitchen has full-size appliances, a vented microwave that actually vents outside, a stackable washer and dryer in the corner and a big pantry closet. The bathroom has room to transfer later on if anyone ever needs it. The primary bedroom is set up for a king bed. The second bedroom is a den for now, and a Murphy bed would turn it back into a bedroom in an afternoon. Everything is finished when you move in, down to the towel racks. Buz's rule is that a new owner should never have to pick up a screwdriver.
Why did the Lieutenant Governor visit this ADU?
Massachusetts is short roughly 220,000 homes, and the state's ADU law now allows them by right in every city and town. Lt. Governor Driscoll toured two BuildX ADUs in one day to show what the law looks like in a real backyard. The Kingston stop was the Mays'. She asked how the idea came about. Buz's answer: a home tour. That is where it always starts.
Can a family use an ADU to buy the parents' house?
Yes, and this is the build that shows how. The parents sell the family home to the child, the child gets a first home without competing on the open market, and the parents get a brand new, single-story house on the land they already love, with help twenty steps away in both directions. BJ's advice is that anyone with room for 600 square feet or more and a family that gets along should look at it. If that is your situation, bring it to the first call. It is a common shape for these projects, and the plan exists.
More from the family
Thinking about an ADU in Kingston?
This home went from first shovel to finished in the town where you are thinking of building yours. Start with Kingston ADU rules, costs and permits, then see what an ADU really costs in Massachusetts.
Read the full May family story for the long-form version, in the family's own words.
Every project starts the way this one did: a conversation about what you actually need. No pressure, either way.
Meet the builder
Buz Artiano
"My name is Buz Artiano, owner of BuildX. At BuildX we're more than a home builder. While building is what we do, the relationships that are created in the process are what drives our passion to transform your dream into a reality. That is why we strive to give a first-class experience to our clients by listening to their vision and then building their trust with a custom home design that matches their taste and lifestyle."