Meet the Corona Team Behind Ellery ADU Studio Corona
We’re the crew that shows up to your Corona property in uniform, with the license number on our trucks and a tablet full of your permit set. Every person on this page has pulled a permit in Riverside County, crawled through a crawl space in Corona Hills, or explained setback variances to a homeowner who just wanted to know why the ADU couldn’t go two feet closer to the fence. We don’t do mystery subcontractors or rotating crews. You get the same faces from site walk to final inspection.
Our People
Nadia Ellery, Owner & Lead Designer
I started Ellery ADU Studio in 2015 after watching a homeowner in Riverside pay twice for the same garage conversion - once for drawings that wouldn’t permit, then again for a redesign. That still happens. I still hear about it on second-opinion calls. I hold a California architectural certification and sign every permit set that leaves this studio. My specialty is the awkward lot: corner properties in Corona Ranch, sloped grades in Sierra Del Oro, the garage in Dos Lagos that backs to a flood channel and needs a drainage plan before it needs a kitchen layout. I keep a photo on my desk of the first ADU we permitted in Corona - 380 square feet, grandmother move-in, 2016. The owner still sends holiday cards.
Marcus T., Senior Installer & Site Lead
Marcus has been building in Corona since before the ADU boom, back when these were still called “granny flats” and the city wasn’t sure which department handled them. He’s Red Seal certified in carpentry and the person we send when a foundation needs to be sistered or a roofline has to tie into existing trusses without disturbing the main house. Marcus grew up in Home Gardens and still lives ten minutes from the shop, which means he’s the one who gets the call when a homeowner in Corona Hills texts a photo of a crack in the slab at 6:30 a.m. He owns a 1978 Chevy stepside that he’s been restoring for eleven years. Says it teaches patience. He’s not wrong.
Dana K., Service Coordinator & Permit Navigator
Dana speaks Riverside County planning department the way some people speak a second language. She joined us in 2019 after five years at a general contracting firm where she learned what happens when permits get submitted without a pre-application meeting - delays, revisions, angry homeowners. She handles our Corona pre-apps, our resubmittals, and the occasional call to a homeowner explaining that yes, the fire department needs to see the address from the alley, and no, we can’t skip that. Dana is the reason our permit timeline averages hold steady. She also breeds show rabbits. She will not show you photos unless you ask, and then you will see photos.
Javier R., Apprentice Installer & Utility Specialist
Javier came to us through a community college construction program in Norco, carrying a transcript with top marks in electrical theory and a recommendation from an instructor who’d worked with Marcus years earlier. He’s two years into his apprenticeship, licensed for rough electrical and plumbing under supervision, and already the person we trust to map existing utility runs before we commit to a trenching plan. Last month he found a septic line in Corona Ranch that wasn’t on any city record - called it in, rerouted the ADU sewer connection, saved the homeowner a $4,000 surprise. He plays goalkeeper in a Riverside adult league and arrives at sites with grass stains still on his knees.
One Standard, Every Job
The Haven Standard isn’t a poster on our wall. It’s the agreement we sign with you before work starts, and it’s how we train every person who wears an Ellery uniform.
Clause 1 - Written Price Before Any Work Starts: Nadia reviews every line item with you in person. The number you sign is the number you pay.
Documented Photo Record: Marcus or Javier photographs existing conditions before they touch anything. You get those photos, not a summary. When Dana pulls the final inspection, the inspector sees what we saw on day one.
365-Day Done Right Promise: If the finished ADU doesn’t match the permitted drawings, we make it right. In writing. Before the project starts.
We operate as an independently owned and operated studio. The brands we specify - Abodu, Cover, Dvele, Mighty Buildings, Boxabl, Plant Prefab, Tuff Shed, James Hardie - are tools we choose for your specific lot and budget, not franchises we represent. One contract covers design, permitting, and build. No designer blaming the builder. No builder blaming the drawings.
A live person answers our line at (951) 476-3715, 24 hours a day. Sometimes it’s Dana at 10 p.m. confirming a next-morning pre-app. Sometimes it’s Nadia on a Sunday because a homeowner in Sierra Del Oro has a question about their foundation line item. We don’t do voicemail queues. We don’t do callback promises that evaporate.
If you already have a written estimate from another Corona ADU contractor, we’ll give you a free second opinion. We’ll tell you if the scope covers what you actually need, if the permit fees are realistic for Riverside County, and if the timeline accounts for planning department turnaround. No charge. No pressure.
Call (951) 476-3715 to schedule your site walk. We’ll bring the tablet, the permit knowledge, and the same crew you’ll see on build day.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Corona, serving Corona since 2015.