On March 21, 2025, was a double ‘first’ – Samara installed their first XL 8 unit, an 800-square-foot, two-bedroom Accessory Dwelling Unit; it was their first in Culver City. The three-piece XL 8 is designed as a guest house, and required a 3,500-ton crane to lift it 47 feet in the air.
The unit is designed for a 6-8 week on-site assembly. For the upcoming weeks, Samara will be completing the foundation work and trenching in the utilities.
The 3,500-ton crane arrived at 8 a.m., but the process of picking the counterweights and the first module did not actually begin until 12 p.m. The client for this project was Morgan Burkhart, a small-scale real estate entrepreneur and resident of San Francisco.
Dealing with the GPS, a metal piece fixed to the floor of the unit, takes the most time on crane-in day. Tashi Gates, from the Samara project management team, explained, “There’s a very specific hole in the bottom of the unit that has to sit perfectly because if that one goes in crooked, the rest of the house will be crooked.”
At the center of the lift was a 10-ton yellow spreader bar, counterweighting the crane as it hoisted the unit wrapped in white plastic and still unstitched above the site. The unit was strapped up using 8-inch slings and four ropes, then slotted onto a plate-safe foundation in the backyard.
The installation drew plenty of attention.
Culver City resident Jeff Morrical, whose father Dan Morrical lives nearby and had received notice of the crane-in, watched the installation with interest. As an architect, he was fascinated by the process. “I think ADUs are a great thing for the city, to add density, creating more options for housing and giving people more flexibility with how they use their space. I think ADUs are a great move for the city,” he said.
A couple from Altadena, who had been affected by the January wildfires, had heard of Samara’s partnership with Steadfast LA in February 2025. This partnership allows Samara to donate small homes at no cost to eligible California homeowners. This couple had been considering installing an ADU in their front yard and attended the crane-in to observe the process.
California lawmakers continue to hone in on housing production, with the Governor signing over 60 housing-related bills into law in the last legislative session. We also saw continued support for the expansion of ADUs with the passing of AB 2533, SB 1211, and SB 1077 last year. In fact, ADU permits in California grew 20x from 2016 to 2023, and 1 in 5 construction permits issued in California last year was for an ADU.
Samara also notes that 66% of homeowners surveyed are open to adding ADUs on their properties and 87% support their neighbors building ADUs.
“Samara manufactures our high-quality small homes at a factory we own. That means much of the work can be done offsite, and then it takes just a few weeks of on-site work on a customer’s property,” said Jeremy Pearman, Samara’s Vice President of Sales.
Clara Caravlho
Clara Carvalho is a Literary Journalism major at UC Irvine and a features intern at New University, UC Irvine’s official campus newspaper, and is a contributor to Culver City Crossroads She lived in São Paulo, Brazil for 15 years and 8 years in Culver City. She can be reached at [email protected]