Meet the Fontana Team Behind Ellery ADU Studio Fontana
We’re the crew that shows up in Fontana with the same license number on every truck and the same checklist on every clipboard. Some of us came from residential framing, others from commercial site work, and one from permit expediting in San Bernardino County. What ties us together is this: we’ve all been on the wrong side of a “minor change order” that cost someone $8,000, and we agreed never to be the source of one.
Our People
Nadia Ellery, Owner
I started Ellery ADU Studio in 2015 after six years of watching design and build teams blame each other when a foundation line item ballooned or a setback variance got missed. My role now is pre-construction meetings, permit strategy, and making sure Clause 1 of the Haven Standard - written price before any work starts - actually happens on every single project. I’m the person who reads your existing garage slab report and tells you it’s 4 inches and within range, or that it’s 3 inches and your foundation line item just changed. I keep a file of every photo record we’ve delivered since 2015. It’s currently 900-plus projects, and I can pull yours in under two minutes. Outside of work, I restore mid-century furniture badly and admit it freely.
Marcus T., Lead Technician
Marcus has been in the field for fourteen years, starting with custom home framing in Rancho Cucamonga before moving into ADU-specific structural work. He’s certified in Title 24 energy compliance documentation and handles our HERS verification coordination on every conversion and new build in Fontana. Marcus is the one who catches that your existing electrical panel is a Zinsco before we quote, not after we open the wall. He drives a 2006 Tacoma with 287,000 miles and refuses to replace it until it costs more than a new truck, which he calculates monthly.
Darla K., Senior Installer
Darla came up through commercial concrete and tilt-up, then spent five years with a modular builder in Victorville before joining us in 2019. She specializes in prefab and modular system integration - Abodu, Cover, Dvele, Mighty Buildings, Boxabl, Plant Prefab, Tuff Shed, and James Hardie - and she’s the person who translates manufacturer specs into actual Fontana soil conditions and setback requirements. Darla holds a C-36 plumbing license, which means she can spot when a modular rough-in doesn’t match your existing sewer lateral without calling a subcontractor. She has a dog named Permit. The dog does not answer calls.
Javier R., Service Coordinator
Javier runs our scheduling, permit tracking, and client communication from our Fontana office. Before this, he spent eight years as a permit expediter for San Bernardino County and the City of Fontana, so he knows which plans examiner will flag a missing fire separation detail and which one won’t. He’s the reason we know that Fontana’s current ADU plan check queue is running 6 to 8 weeks, and he’s the one who updates you when that shifts. Javier has a spreadsheet ranking every Inland Empire jurisdiction by responsiveness. He updates it weekly. He will show it to you unprompted.
Tomás G., Apprentice
Tomás is in his third year of our apprenticeship program, splitting time between site prep, utility rough-in, and finish carpentry. He’s completed his OSHA 30 and is currently working toward his C-10 electrical certification, which he’ll sit for next spring. On site, Tomás handles the documented photo record - every visit, every finding, every completed task - because the Haven Standard requires it and because he’s genuinely good at noticing the crack in a slab that someone else walked past. He grew up in South Fontana and can tell you which neighborhood streets flood in January and which ones don’t.
One Standard, Every Job
The Haven Standard isn’t a slogan we print on hats. It’s five clauses, numbered, that govern how we work in Fontana and across every California location we operate. Clause 1 is the written price before work starts - no exceptions, no “call for a quote,” no range that widens once you’re committed. Clause 5 is No Surprises: scope locked at signing, no door-side upsells, no scope creep. The 365-Day Done Right Promise means if your finished ADU doesn’t match the permitted drawings, we make it right, and that promise is in writing before the project starts. Every visit produces a documented photo record you receive, not a summary of how it felt. A live person answers calls 24/7. And if you have a written estimate from another builder, we’ll give you a free second opinion on it. These aren’t perks. They’re the operating system. Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Fontana, serving Fontana since 2015.
Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Fontana, serving Fontana since 2015.