How Ryan O’Connell Became an ADU Housing Advocate After Co-Founding NakedWines.com
All images courtesy of Ryan O’Connell
Are you ADU Curious?
Have you ever heard of a tiny home, in-law unit or granny cottage? These are types of Accessory Dwelling Units or “ADUs,” small residences on the same lot as a single-family dwelling. They can be built from scratch, purchased pre-fab, or created by converting garage space.
Traditionally ADUs were built to house an aging family member — and were coveted by rebellious teens dreaming of having their own space. Today many homeowners are renting ADUs out for a profit, in an effort to offset the high price tag of owning property. At the same time, ADUs are becoming a democratized way of addressing California’s housing crisis.
Nobody knows more about this topic than Napa’s very own Ryan O’Connell, founder of “How to ADU.” Ryan is working to reduce the housing shortage in California and nationwide “so that hard working people can afford to live in the same neighborhoods where they work.”
On his YouTube channel @HowToADU, Ryan provides free tutorials for ADU-curious homeowners in a reassuring and friendly voice.
“There are a lot of new rules being adopted in California and all around the country but they are complicated and they seem to be changing all the time. That’s why you need a friend who’s obsessed with housing — and that’s me. I geek out about this stuff because I want to help people build houses and communities.”
Topics include beginner’s guides, basic definitions, costs, upcoming changes in laws, grants and opportunities, and new lending products.
Ryan is an asset to Napa and to the tiny housing movement nationwide, but it was, of course, a career in the wine industry that first led him to wine country.
Love that Languedoc
Ryan jumped into the deep end of the winemaking business when his parents Joe and Liz O’Connell retired from a career in construction in Florida and moved to France to buy a vineyard. Nobody in the family had training in wine, but Liz had grown up in Paris and the family wanted to relocate to France and follow a dream.
Fresh out of college with a Political Science degree from Tulane University in Louisiana and not one to miss out on an adventure, Ryan joined his parents in the Languedoc region of France. Together they successfully navigated the complicated process of buying a vineyard and building their own winery, Domaine O’Vineyards. Ryan took part in all facets of the business, from grape growing to winemaking alongside his father to sales and marketing.
Ryan is a natural entertainer — eloquent and personable, and totally comfortable in front of a camera. His curiosity towards his new community allowed him to quickly make friends, and for fun he launched a website called Love that Langeudoc which featured his lively interviews of local winemakers and impromptu wine tastings. Ryan’s content was so entertaining that he quickly gained a robust following.
“Video is really natural for me. I started doing videos unedited, talking to winemakers and tasting their wines, and it just worked. Within the first month even famous winemakers wanted to take part.”
Joining Forces with Naked Wines
This exuberance and passion that Ryan brings to all of his endeavors led to a tremendous opportunity for Ryan and his family. In their fifth year of winemaking they were struggling due to the time and effort it was taking to market and sell their wine. Ryan attended the London Wine Fair to promote Domaine O’Vineyards, and there he met the co-founders of Naked Wines.
This kickstarter company has a unique business model that allows wine consumers to become “angel investors” by paying membership fees that support independent winemakers. Boutique wine producers prosper while member investors gain access to high-quality wines at insider prices.
After meeting with Ryan, Naked Wines selected Domaine O’Vineyards for angel investor funding. This funding allowed the O’Connells to focus on quality and ultimately thrive.
Ryan was fascinated by the Naked Wines business model. When he heard that the UK-based company was looking to expand to the USA, he wanted to get involved and use his wine industry, marketing and business skills to pay it forward to other winemakers and angel investors. The co-founders jumped at the chance to have Ryan on board, and after six years in France, he headed back overseas to Napa where Naked Wines would be launched.
Ryan worked tirelessly on the USA expansion of Naked Wines, wearing various hats and even making wine on the side, sponsored by his own angel investors.
Eventually Ryan gained a seat at the executive table and ran all of marketing for the business. The company was acquired by Majestic Wines in 2015, and when the global pandemic hit in 2020 — creating tens of thousands of first-time buyers of wine online — Ryan was Vice President of Marketing for the company.
Becoming an ADU Guru
“Wine has been good to me,” Ryan says. But after his early and intense career in the wine industry, Ryan developed a desire to move on from Naked Wines and try something completely new.
In wine country he had met countless vineyard and winery personnel who could not afford to live where they worked, and he knew that many hardworking people were priced out of housing across the state. He decided it was time to take action and use his skills and passion to help resolve California’s housing shortage.
As he ramped up and learned everything he could about the housing crisis, Ryan began to see ADUs as a democratized way of creating more housing. Instead of a big centralized organization or government entity building a ton of housing, everybody has the opportunity to build one unit, spread out across a community.
Ryan formed a vision of getting involved in the communication process in the ADU space — by connecting people, educating them and consulting. He has since realized that vision, creating a unique panoply of online communities and cutting-edge content that has impacted thousands of homeowners.
Ryan’s first big move was to convert an in-person event about the ADU space into a webinar in March 2020, due to the pandemic. He uploaded the webinar onto YouTube, and just like his Love that Languedoc videos, Ryan’s natural charisma on camera and his mastery of the issues resulted in his How to ADU YouTube channel gaining thousands of subscribers.
Ryan also launched a free Facebook group that allows a collaborative community of people in the ADU space to help each other navigate issues — that group is currently at 34,000 members — as well as a private online ADU community for those willing to pay for a more focused and intimate cohort.
Connecting with homeowners, lobbyists and lawyers allows Ryan to have his finger on the pulse of all facets of ADU policy, from inception to implementation. He even volunteers with a data entry group that tracks new housing legislation nationwide, which has led to an even wider network.
Ryan provides private consulting at $600 per hour, but finds that most homeowners don’t actually need his services. He points them to his free online resources and the nonprofit Napa Sonoma ADU Center, and often they are able to resolve their issues on their own. Ryan saves his consulting services for exceptionally tricky cases requiring his expertise.
Turning ADU NIMBYs into YIMBYs
Some of the opponents of ADUs point to parking issues and increased traffic as a reason to ban them. Ryan stresses the need for policies that limit street parking, such as paid or permit programs. “Ultimately you don’t regulate parking by banning houses. This is how you end up with people sleeping in their cars and still parking on the street — you haven’t fixed the source of the problem, which is housing scarcity."
Furthermore, he explains that increasing density with ADUs should decrease overall traffic in and out of a community. There might be more traffic on certain streets, but if the ADU is closer to where the resident works, in the long run there is less traffic because more people are living and working locally.
Ryan acknowledges that neighbor relations can be tricky. For instance, a homeowner may be upset when a neighbor puts up a two-story ADU with a balcony right at the property line, overlooking their backyard. If the ADU owner has a permit and followed the rules, there is not much that can be done other than a conversation about putting up a privacy tree or raising the fence.
Ryan advises that these details can best be addressed before they become an issue, by going to the City Council for better rules and ordinances. “The state has been very progressive in streamlining, but success depends on the common sense of local governments to adopt local ordinances that implement these rules in a way that’s livable for everyone.”
If you are planning on building an ADU, Ryan recommends that you talk to your neighbors in advance, such as asking them what color they want the side facing their property to be painted. “It’s a nice way to let them know that the wall is going up, but you are cognizant who will be looking at it.”
Napa’s Forgivable Loan Program
One of Ryan’s favorite roles in the ADU space is guiding homeowners applying for Napa County’s Affordable ADU Forgivable Loan Program. The program incentivizes homeowners to create ADUs by providing forgivable loans of up to $45,000 for a studio, $80,000 for a one-bedroom unit and $105,000 for a two-bedroom unit. In order to qualify, the homeowner must rent out the ADU for five years to a tenant who earns less than 80% of the median income. The unit must not exceed a maximum rent set by the County. Twenty percent of the county loan is forgiven for each year of compliance.
If you are considering the forgivable loan program but have concerns, Ryan says to “be sure not to disqualify yourself” unnecessarily. For instance, the five-year affordability covenant may sound restrictive, but the homeowner can rent to a family member who qualifies, such as a college-age student, disabled adult child or fixed-income elderly parent.
ADieU
If you find that you are ADU curious, or your ADU project is hitting some unexpected hurdles, you know where to go for guidance. In fact many of your questions may already be addressed in one of Ryan’s YouTube videos, or asked and answered in the various community groups.
For a glass of wine to enjoy while watching Ryan’s videos or reading another Innovators article, Ryan is offering readers a $100 discount on Naked Wines.