Foundation-built tiny homes, accessory dwelling units, guest houses, in-law suites, backyard cottages, and garage apartments — designed, permitted, and built for coastal North Carolina by a licensed NC general contractor.
An accessory dwelling unit is a complete, independent living space on a lot that already has a primary residence — full kitchen, full bathroom, private entrance. In the Cape Fear region people build them for rental income, for aging parents, for adult children, for guests, or simply to add permitted square footage to a property before land gets any more expensive.
Whatever you call it — tiny home, ADU, guest house, in-law suite, mother-in-law suite, granny flat, casita, backyard cottage, garage apartment, carriage house, secondary dwelling — BTL Buildings handles the whole thing: zoning research, design coordination, permitting, construction, and final inspection.
The hardest part is not the building. It is finding out what your specific lot will legally allow. That is where we start.
Start With a Site AssessmentFind out what fits before you pay an architect to draw something that does not.
Same permitting path, same code requirements, different names depending on who is asking.
A standalone dwelling in the rear or side yard with its own entrance, kitchen, and bath. The highest-value configuration for rental income and appraisal, and the most flexible long term. Typically 300–900 sq ft.
Built for family. Single-level, no-step entry, wider doorways, curbless shower, and grab-bar blocking in the walls if you want it. Aging-in-place detailing costs almost nothing to include during framing and a fortune to retrofit later.
Living space above a one, two, or three-car garage. Two uses out of one footprint — the right answer when lot coverage or impervious surface is your binding constraint. Requires upgraded foundation, framing, and egress detailing.
Purpose-built for visitors, seasonal use, or short and mid-term rental. Full kitchen and bath so it functions independently, sized so it does not swallow the backyard.
A separate, conditioned, permitted structure with a bathroom — and, if you spec a kitchenette, a building you can convert to a full ADU later. Build the plumbing rough-in now even if you finish it later.
Changing room, bathroom, storage, kitchenette, covered porch. A pool house is often the easiest permitting path to a structure you can expand into a true guest house down the road.
Converting an attached or detached garage into conditioned living space. Cheaper per square foot because the shell exists, but it means insulating, adding egress, upgrading the slab detail, and replacing the parking you just gave up.
An addition with a private entrance, kitchen, and bath that shares a wall with the main house. Lowest cost per square foot of the dwelling options, and the least disruptive to the yard.
Built for a tenant from day one — durable finishes, separate utility metering where feasible, its own mailbox and address, dedicated parking, and a layout that shows well. See the income case →
A tiny home and an ADU are, in most cases, the same building called two different things. If you have been searching for tiny homes in Wilmington, tiny home builders near you, or tiny houses for sale in New Hanover County, this section is the honest version of what is actually available here — and what your lot will legally allow.
Tiny home on wheels (THOW). Built on a trailer chassis and titled as an RV or park model. Movable, and usually cheaper up front. The catch in southeastern North Carolina is that a THOW is generally not classified as a dwelling. That means most local zoning will not let you live in one full-time on a residential lot, it does not add appraised square footage to your property, it is difficult to finance with a mortgage, and it depreciates the way a vehicle does.
Tiny home on a permanent foundation. Stick-built on site, on footings, permitted and inspected under the residential building code. In zoning terms this is an accessory dwelling unit. It is legal to live in year-round where ADUs are allowed, it counts toward your home's appraised square footage, it can be financed and insured like a house, and it appreciates with the property.
BTL Buildings builds the second kind. Not because it is trendier, but because it is the one that is actually permittable as a residence on a Wilmington lot and the one that is still worth something in twenty years.
If mobility is genuinely your priority, a THOW may be the right answer — just go in knowing it is a vehicle, not real estate.
We are a licensed general contractor, not a tiny home dealer or manufacturer. We do not have finished units sitting on a lot for sale. We build a tiny home to order on land you already own, permitted through your county, at 300 to 900 square feet. If you are looking to buy a finished movable unit and tow it somewhere, that is a manufacturer or dealer purchase — and worth confirming where you can legally place it before you buy. If you want a small, permanent, legal home on your property, that is exactly what we build.
Ranges for stick-built, permitted, finished living area in southeastern North Carolina. Site work and fees are separate.
Not included above: lot clearing and grading, driveway and parking, water, sewer or septic connection and any septic expansion, electrical service upgrade, permit and impact fees, survey, engineering, variance applications, and landscaping. On an easy infill lot these can add $10,000–$25,000; on a difficult lot with a septic expansion they can add far more. This is exactly why we do a site visit before quoting.
All figures are general market ranges for southeastern NC, not quotes. Final pricing requires a site visit. The $250 estimate fee is credited to your project at signing.
We pull your parcel data and check the ADU allowance, setbacks, lot coverage, impervious surface, height limit, flood zone, and septic or sewer capacity. You get a straight answer on what fits.
Size, bedroom count, foundation type, exterior style, and finish allowances in writing. $250 paid estimate, credited back at signing.
Construction drawings, structural detailing for the applicable coastal wind zone, and any required survey or soil evaluation.
We submit, respond to review comments, and pull the permits in the correct jurisdiction. You do not sit in a permitting office.
Site prep, foundation, framing, dry-in, mechanical rough-ins, insulation, drywall, finishes. Typically 12–20 weeks depending on size.
Final inspections, certificate of occupancy, and a walkthrough. Then it is a rental, a guest house, or your mother's front door.
Before you shop floor plans, find out what your zoning, setbacks, and septic will actually allow. That is where every good ADU project starts.