Build a Compound For Your People

Custom 2-4 home compounds · Concept to construction

Limited to 10 projects per year.

Build a compound for your people

Make your friends and family your neighbors.

Custom 2-4 home compounds · Concept to construction

Limited to 10 projects per year.

Popular with

• New parents: Childcare is 30 steps away, not 30 minutes
• Multigenerational families: Close enough to share dinner, private enough for space
• Friends aging in place: Build your village before you need it

Turn a single lot into a shared life

For the first time, the friends and family you’d choose as neighbors can actually become them. New California housing laws now allow 2–4 private homes on a single residential lot — no rezoning required.

The Friend Compound Recipe

Before

One home, large lot
Enabled by SB 9 · SB 684 · SB 1123 · ADUs
After

2–4 private homes, shared yard

Why Now

New California housing laws (SB9, SB 684, SB 1123, and ADU regulations) make this newly possible in traditional residential neighborhoods with good schools — no rezoning required.

• SB 9: Allows homeowners to split a single-family lot into two parcels and build up to two units on each parcel.
• SB 684: Streamlines approval for small housing projects of up to 10 units on infill sites.
• SB 1123: Expands SB 684 to allow up to 10 homes on vacant lots in single-family zones.
• ADUs: An Accessory Dwelling Unit is a secondary home on a residential lot.

The Friend Compound Field Guide

Get inspired with some example projects.

Jayne Avenue Compound

New ADU with an Existing Primary Home
$1.3M 10 mo 2 Homes

Pomona Avenue Compound

A New Single-Family Home, a new ADU, and an Existing Primary Home
$3.6M 21 mo 3 Homes

Fifteenth Avenue Compound

New Duplex
$4.4M 21 mo 2 Homes

University Avenue Compound

Four New Single-Family Homes
$6.6M 24 mo 5 Homes

Physical Foundation

• Site planning for shared living
• Architecture for privacy + proximity
• Permits
• Construction

Social Foundation

• Finance strategy
• Legal agreements
• Governance & decision frameworks

Working with Live Near Friends

From dream to keys, we manage every stage. Here's exactly who does what.

1. Find the right property
   Identify lots with compound zoning potential in your target neighborhoods
   Live Near Friends' role: Send curated options for your group, assess zoning feasibility and costs. Your role: Tell us your target neighborhoods, budget, and group size.

2. Purchase property
   Acquire the property with the right ownership and financial structure for your group. Live Near Friends' role: Pair with licensed specialist agent to handle the purchase, provide legal and financial structuring options. Your role: Align your group on budget and ownership splits.

3. Design + entitlements
   We pair you with a specialized design-build partner.
   Live Near Friends' role: Match you with an architect or design-build firm, ensure permitting and subdivision steps are handled end-to-end. Your role: Work directly with your design partner, approve designs at milestones.

4. Build
   Select a builder and construct the homes.
   Live Near Friends' role: Introduce vetted builders with standardized bids, contract review support. Your role: Choose your builder, manage the build relationship.

We design the relationship, not just the buildings.

What happens when one family wants to sell in 5 years? We plan for all of this on day one — so your compound is built on solid ground, socially and legally.

In your corner: LNF founder Phil Levin

• Built 4 friend compounds
• Author of Supernuclear, the leading newsletter on living near friends

Phil built his own compound first.

Live Near Friends founder Phil built his friend-compound Radish in 2019.

14,000 sq ft
6 homes
3 shared spaces

Ready to build a compound for your people?

Limited to 10 projects per year. Typical timeline: ~2 years from search to move-in.