Olesia Chikunova

Founder & CEO at HomeWiP

Speaker

Olesia Chikunova is the founder of HomeWiP, a house design and sales platform created to increase the number of people who build their own homes and simplify the sales process for small local builders.

Olesia Chikunova holds an MBA degree from INSEAD in France and an Executive Certificate in the Home Modifications Program from USC.

She became an ADU Specialist in 2019 at the first ADU Academy in Portland, Oregon, and has been helping homeowners with site evaluations and ADU permits ever since. Her ADU portfolio includes site-built and prefabricated dwellings, ranging from 220 to 1,000 square feet, built in more than 20 Bay Area locations.

When it comes to home building, she does what she preaches - her home has a wheelchair-accessible suite and a Platinum Green-point rating.

She considers the scope of work to be the biggest culprit for budget overruns. The HomeWiP team is currently developing tools that minimize mistakes made by beginners during construction.

The iPhone app ADU Viewer helps users visualize small homes in Augmented Reality right where they are. The free online ADU library allows one to view the house on a backyard map, its exterior and interior options, as well as preliminary ADU estimates for an early reality check. Most recently, the team has developed the Site Visit, which captures all construction-related details before starting work on the design.