As anyone who has driven by Vivian Mo and Michael Trobisch’s striking accessory dwelling unit knows, living on a hillside above one of Silver Lake’s busiest intersections can be like living in a fishbowl.

“You can see all the cars driving by from the windows of the ADU, and at night, it’s fun,” said Mo, a cardiologist. “It’s well insulated, though, so you don’t hear too much traffic.”

On a recent morning, Trobisch, a cameraman and personal trainer, guided fitness client Jonathan Gottlieb through a series of moves on a power rack at the bottom of the property, with the passing traffic as their audience.

“The guy who installed our curtains just drove by and called me out on my squats,” Trobisch said, chuckling at the text he had just received.

The sounds of cars and the high-velocity air blowers at the car wash across the street aren’t the typical sounds you would expect to hear from a home on a cul-de-sac. But the placement of the ADU gives the family a sense of being a part of something bigger — the vibrant urban community of Silver Lake.

“I feel like we’re inspiring people when they look over and see us working out as they are waiting for the light to change,” said Gottlieb, an emergency room doctor. “They cheer us on.”

He even finds inspiration in the commercial billboards that line the bustling intersection.

“There was a ‘Gladiator ll’ billboard that would stare down at us while we were working out,” he said, motioning toward the Jacoby & Meyers sign nearby. “It was motivating.”

When Mo purchased the newly constructed home for $750,000 in 2010, she hadn’t met Trobisch. She liked the three-bedroom, two-story house, one of six identical units built on a street-to-street lot, for its easy access to the hospital where she works.

After the couple met during a German lesson and married, they enjoyed hosting their families, including Trobisch’s family from Austria and Mo’s mother and sister from Texas.

The Silver Lake house met their immediate family’s needs but was too small to accommodate them during their extended visits to Los Angeles. “Our house is 1,450 square feet, and there was not enough room,” Mo said. “My sister would have to stay at a hotel.” The couple dreamed of having more space without leaving their homes and neighborhoods.

Mo said she might have considered adding a prefab ADU if their house wasn’t on a steep hillside. After consulting with architect Warren Techentin, who had experience with hillside construction, the couple decided to maximize their property by adding a 1,150-square-foot ADU below the existing house.

Building on a hillside may offer a blank slate, but it is often a “deal breaker for a lot of people,” according to Techentin, due to the 30% surcharge that comes with foundation work. (Excavation and foundation fees for the $830,000 ADU totaled nearly $200,000). However, he also notes that adding an ADU was easier than adding on to the existing house. “It was a smarter way to add square footage to their lives,” said Techentin. “The main house was already close to a maximum height of 36 inches, and an addition would have made the project non-conforming in height. The ADU re-sets the calculation and does not encumber the height of the new structure with that of the old.”

Despite the challenging site, Techentin was attracted to the opportunity to create a second home with stairway access to public transportation. He decided to position the ADU in the middle of the lot, closer to the house on top, to act as a buffer and “shield the main house from the car wash, which is on all day long,” he explained. This placement also creates a courtyard between the original house at the top of the hill and the ADU, where the couple hosts friends for barbecues and outdoor movies during the warm summer months.

The couple didn’t spend much time at home before adding the ADU. Now they “don’t need to go out for dinner because we can have friends over on our deck or hang out by our firepit,” Mo said.

From the intersection, the ADU, which is composed of two distinct spheres, appears to float about the hillside. Topographically speaking, Techentin’s goal was to create a sleeping side on the left, coated in smooth stucco steps, and a living side on the right, coated in a blue ribbed tile that ripples in the sunlight. “I like texture in architecture,” Techentin said of the mix of tambour wood panels, stucco and terra-cotta Italian tile.

On the ground floor, there is a central sitting area where the family enjoys watching soccer. It includes two sofa beds that fold out to king-sized beds, a full kitchen with custom blue cabinets reaching the 14-foot ceiling and a bedroom, bathroom, washer and dryer.

Acknowledging that he “enjoys playing with glass,” Techentin optimized the connection to the outdoors by placing windows and balconies to maximize views of the San Gabriel mountains.

On the second floor, the architect designed a bedroom and bathroom with a kitchenette that can accommodate two different groups of people at the same time. “Vivian’s mother can be there and make tea for herself, while Michael’s friends from Austria are downstairs. You can have two social dynamics while sharing the communal spaces,” said Techentin.

After the house was finished, the couple realized they needed an outdoor space where they could gather and their daughter could play. So they created a ground-floor outdoor area where Michael can train his clients and the family can entertain. The lower yard includes an endless pool with a current, outdoor shower, dry sauna and cold plunge that Michael uses while training his clients, many of whom are triathletes.

Despite the 2½-year-long process, including an eight-month wait for permits for a power pole at the bottom of the property, the couple said it was worth the delays. “We first hired Warren in 2019,” Mo said. “When the pandemic hit, we couldn’t get permits until 2022.” Contractor Joe Sharaf, who studied architecture at USC, started in February 2022 and finished in December 2023. “God forbid we have another pandemic,” Mo said. “But if we did, the ADU would be a self-sufficient space.”

Once an empty lot filled with eucalyptus trees, the ADU now provides a multipurpose space for the couple, their family and friends. Sometimes Mo thinks about renting it out, but for now, she likes the flexibility, including speaking with patients privately during telehealth appointments. “We’ve hosted the parents of work colleagues and offered it to families displaced in the fires,” she said. Her mother enjoys staying in the ADU because it “feels like a vacation.”

As someone who works remotely with clients, Trobisch appreciates that every inch of the property has a purpose. “We’re thrilled that we were able to maximize the property,” he said. “We’re so happy to be able to share it with our family and clients.”