Woman shares stunning photos after transforming her garage into a tranquil Japanese-style home: 'I wanted it to be special'

There aren't many homes in South Pasadena, California, let alone in the U.S., that look like 75-year-old Elizabeth Altounian's home.

Altounian transformed her 400-square-foot garage with traditional Japanese furnishings in 2019. Her bungalow's accessory dwelling unit, also known as an ADU, now has a covered engawa porch and a platform bed with a tatami mat among other items, according to The Star.

When reminiscing about her Japanese school friends, who ultimately brought her to fall in love with Japanese culture, Altounian told The Star: "At lunch, we would trade food. I would eat their rice balls, and they would eat whatever Armenian food my grandmother put in my lunch box that day. That stayed with me all my life."

Altounian and her husband, Warren, lived together until Warren died in 2011. To cope with her loss, Altounian watched "At Home With Venetia in Kyoto," a Japanese gardening show, with her daughter, Alexis.

That show ultimately led Alexis and her husband, Mike Ontiveros, to move into Altounian's home and stay together as a family.

"We wanted my mum to stay in her home and have a multigenerational household, but I wanted it to be special," Alexis told The Star.

When South Pasadena started allowing homeowners to build ADUs on their property, Altounian decided to convert her garage into the ADU of her dreams.

Toshi Kawabata, a Japanese-American carpenter and woodworker, was the architect of this dream; Altounian trusted that Kawabata would help her create a beautiful home and that his work would allow her to "live with less."

When Alexis found out that he knew the host of "At Home With Venetia in Kyoto," she said to The Star, "That's when we knew it was meant to be."

While Altounian's home is fulfilling a lifelong cultural wish of hers, it's also fulfilling a wish to live minimally. Tiny houses are also starting to pop up more in Japan itself. Japanese residents have noted that their tiny houses allow them to live minimally, sometimes even with other family members, and still get the same quality of life as they would have in a regular-sized house.

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Tiny houses also allow residents to save money and decrease their negative environmental impact. While they may not be for everyone, learning from people who live a tiny house lifestyle can benefit everyone.

Though Altounian wishes she had an HVAC system, the addition of a second ADU as a workspace allows her to focus on her work in a specific setting. Even better, both ADUs have brought Altounian an immense amount of comfort.

When reflecting again on her family living together, Alexis said: "We wanted her to have peace and tranquility and something that gives her joy. It brought us all together after losing my dad. It has brought us a lot of comfort."

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