Live Tooele listings, filtered
Homes with an ADU or casita in Tooele.
Tooele listings with an accessory dwelling unit, whether that is a basement apartment, a detached casita, or an attached mother-in-law suite, fed straight from the MLS and sorted newest first, with a clear read on what makes one legal here and what to verify before you write an offer.
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Newest first
The newest ADU and casita listings.
Fed straight from the local MLS and filtered to homes that note an accessory dwelling unit, whether that is a basement apartment, a detached casita, or an attached mother-in-law suite. New Tooele listings appear here as they list, and sold homes drop off. The read on what makes one legal is just below.
Buying here
Sort legal from existing before you tour.
The word that matters most here is permitted: a second kitchen and a side door do not make a unit legal on their own, so confirm the permit history and the egress on any sleeping room below grade with Tooele City before you count on the space. Tell me what setup you need and I will have the Tooele-area partner agent I work with pull that history on any home you flag.
Selling here
Own a Tooele home with a documented ADU or casita?
Buyers on this page want a legal accessory unit with the paperwork to back it up, not just a finished basement with a kitchenette. List it with the Tooele-area partner agent I connect you with and it goes in front of exactly that search.
Listing information comes from the local MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
The local read
What an accessory dwelling really means in Tooele.
An accessory dwelling is a property feature, not a promise. On a Tooele listing it means a secondary living space that can function on its own: a second kitchen, its own bathroom, a separate exterior entrance, and sometimes a separate utility meter. The words move around. A basement apartment is a lower level built out that way, a casita is usually a detached unit set apart from the house, and a mother-in-law suite is usually an attached apartment on the main or upper floor. The configuration shows up for two honest reasons, a separate space under one roof for extended household living and a usable suite where the unit is legal, and both turn on the same homework, which is whether the space is actually permitted.
Tooele is reasonable ground for this search, and the form it takes here is mostly the basement apartment. This is a cold, snow-heavy valley at nearly 4,915 feet with about 75 inches of snow a year, so foundations go down and full basements are the norm. The post-war and mid-century ramblers on the original downtown grid, and the broad 1990s-through-2010s subdivision wave that spread north through Overlake and east up the Oquirrh bench, carry a deep stock of full basements that already double the living space. Finishing one of those with a second kitchen and a private entrance is exactly the conversion these listings describe, and on the east-bench lots a daylight or walkout lower level can make that space live like its own floor rather than a dark basement. A fully detached casita is the least common shape, since it takes a lot with real room for a second structure, but Tooele County's active growth means the bigger Overlake, east-bench, and Copper Canyon parcels have more of that room than the tight original grid, so treat a detached casita as a find on those bigger lots rather than an expectation anywhere else.
Here is the part that matters more than the photos. A finished basement is not the same as a legal apartment, and neither is an attached suite or a detached structure out back. A second kitchen and an outside door do not make a unit conforming on their own, and a great many existing accessory units in older Utah housing were finished over the years without permits or were built before today's rules. That is not a reason to walk away, but it is the reason to verify rather than assume. The two questions that decide everything are whether the unit is permitted with Tooele City and whether it has its own legal egress, meaning a code-sized window well or door out of every sleeping room below grade. What an accessory dwelling is allowed to be on a given property depends on that parcel's zoning, so the answer is property-specific, not citywide.
Treat any income angle with the same caution. I will not put a rent number or a payment number on a page like this, because what a unit could do depends on its legal status, the specific space, and rules that change, and a non-conforming unit cannot be counted on at all. What I can do is point you at the right stock. If a true separate suite is the goal, the older grid ramblers are the natural hunting ground, so the single-story page is a useful next stop. If you only want the extra square footage and not a second kitchen, the homes with a basement page is the wider search, and because a separate entrance is easier on a bigger lot with no shared community framework over it, the no-HOA page pairs naturally with this one. Earlier in the process than show me listings? Start with the Tooele guide, and when a home below reads right, that is the moment to reach out.
What counts as an accessory dwelling
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The form it takes: in Tooele most of these are basement apartments, since full basements are the norm in this stock. Attached mother-in-law suites turn up too, and a detached casita is rarest, so read the listing for where the space actually sits.
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Second kitchen: a full or kitchenette setup is the core marker. A finished basement with no kitchen is just finished space, not a separate unit, so read the listing for the actual layout.
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Separate entrance: the second front door of the page title. A private exterior entry, often a walk-down or a side door, is what makes the space usable on its own rather than as a through-the-house extension. On a sloped east-bench lot it is often a true grade-level walkout.
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Separate egress: every sleeping room below grade needs a code-sized window well or a door to the outside. This is a safety item and a legality item at once, and it is the first thing to confirm in person.
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Separate utilities: some units have their own gas or electric meter, or at least split HVAC. It is a convenience, not proof of legality, so note it but do not read it as a permit.
The local map
Where the accessory units actually are.
Homes with a second living space turn up across Tooele, but the forms concentrate in a few patterns, and the basement apartment is by far the dominant one. Here is where to look, and the due-diligence note attached to each.
The downtown grid (the 1850s core)
The early-1900s cottages and post-war ramblers on the original grid around Main and Vine sit over the oldest full basements in the city, on smaller lots under mature trees. This is the most likely place to find a real basement apartment, and also the most likely place to find one finished without a permit, so it is the area where verification matters most.
The 1960s-80s split-levels
Tooele's older multi-level stock between the vintage grid and the 1990s subdivisions lends itself to a lower level with its own grade-level door, because a split or tri-level layout can put a private entrance just a half-flight down. That is why so many conversions started in this kind of home. Confirm the egress windows on the bedrooms below grade.
Overlake and the subdivision wave
The 1990s-through-2010s rambler and two-story product through Overlake at the north end has younger systems and plenty of full basements, some finished as separate living space, and the larger Overlake lots are also where a detached casita or an attached mother-in-law suite has the most realistic room to sit. A newer build is more likely to have been finished with permits, but you still verify it rather than assume.
The east bench
On the streets climbing toward the Oquirrh foothills east of downtown, the slope supports daylight and walkout lower levels that open to grade with full windows and a real door. That is the ideal setup for a separate space that lives like its own floor, and the bigger bench lots are a second place a detached casita has room to sit, though snow lingers longer up here.
Larger two-story plans
The bigger two-story floor plans, more common in the newer north-edge and Overlake pockets, often have the deepest and tallest basements, which makes a comfortable second kitchen and a real bedroom downstairs more workable than in a low older basement. Measure the ceiling height before you count on it.
The north end and Copper Canyon edge
Around Copper Canyon and the continuing buildout at the city's new-construction edge, newer lots and current systems make a permitted, conforming lower level more likely than on the tight original grid. These are newer homes, so the question shifts from whether it was permitted to exactly what was finished and when.
Before you tour: what to actually check
Is it permitted: ask the listing agent for the permit history and confirm the unit's status with Tooele City. What is allowed depends on the parcel's zoning, and a second kitchen and a side door do not make a unit legal on their own.
Egress on every bedroom: each sleeping room below grade needs a code-sized egress window and well, or a door to the outside. Look at the actual window wells, not just the listing photos.
Conforming vs. existing: many older basement apartments are non-conforming, finished before today's rules or without permits. Understand exactly what you are buying and what can and cannot be relied on.
Attached, detached, or below grade: note which of the three forms you are actually looking at, because they live very differently, and confirm the room size and access match what the listing calls a suite.
Separate systems: check whether the kitchen, HVAC, and any meter are genuinely separate, and whether the wiring and gas work for the second kitchen were done to code and inspected.
Ceiling height and light: an older grid basement can be low. Stand in it. A tall, daylight, or east-bench walkout lower level lives very differently from a short, fully below-grade basement.
Systems and snow: on any older-core home, date the roof, furnace, electrical panel, and sewer lateral, and remember this valley runs about 75 inches of snow a year, so a walk-down entrance and its drainage are worth a hard look.
Want a real accessory dwelling without the guesswork?
Tell me your budget, the part of Tooele you like, whether you want a basement apartment, an attached suite, or a detached casita, and whether you need a fully permitted, conforming unit or are open to an existing space you would verify and possibly bring up to code. I will connect you with a trusted Tooele-area partner agent for the on-the-ground work and stay on the file for the homework and the financing, with straight answers about which spaces are legal separate units and which are just finished basements with a door.
Selling a Tooele home with a basement apartment, a casita, or an attached accessory suite? The buyers reading this page want exactly that. List it with the Tooele-area partner agent I connect you with, and your home gets featured across MovingUtah, on the pages they are already reading.
Quick answers
ADU and casita shopping, answered.
It is a secondary living space that can function on its own, and the listings use several words for it. In Tooele the most common form is a basement apartment, a lower level built out with a second kitchen, its own bathroom, and a separate exterior entrance. A casita usually means a detached unit set apart from the main house, and a mother-in-law suite usually means an attached accessory apartment on the main or upper level. All of them are property features describing the space, nothing more. The big thing to know is that a second kitchen and an outside door do not make a unit legal on their own, so the real work is confirming whether it is permitted and conforming with Tooele City and what the specific parcel's zoning allows.
Some are and some are not, which is exactly why you verify rather than assume. An accessory dwelling has to be permitted with Tooele City to be treated as a separate living space, and what is allowed depends on the parcel's zoning. Many existing basement apartments and converted suites in older homes were finished over the years without permits or were built before today's rules, so they are non-conforming. That is not a dealbreaker by itself, but you need to know which one you are buying. Confirm the zoning, the permit history, the unit's status, and the egress independently before you rely on it, and I will help line up those checks.
Most often in the older downtown grid, the early-1900s cottages and post-war ramblers around Main and Vine, which sit over the city's oldest full basements, and in the 1960s-80s split-levels whose layout suits a grade-level lower entrance. The newer two-story product through Overlake and Copper Canyon carries built-out lower levels too, and on the sloped east bench a daylight or walkout lower level can make the space live like its own floor. A detached casita is the rarest form here, since it takes a lot with real room for a second structure, which points toward the bigger Overlake and east-bench parcels rather than the tight downtown grid. The live listings above are the honest count on any given week.
Only where the unit is legal, and that is the whole point of the verification. A permitted, conforming accessory dwelling is a different thing from a non-conforming space that happens to have a kitchen, the rules around accessory dwellings and rentals can change, and what is allowed depends on the parcel's zoning, so this is a question to confirm with Tooele City for the specific property, not to assume from the listing. I will not put a rent figure on a page like this, because it depends entirely on the unit's legal status and the specifics, but I can connect you with a local agent who will get you straight answers on what the city allows.
Egress is a legal, code-sized way out of every below-grade sleeping room, usually an egress window with a window well sized for a person to climb out, or a door to the outside. It is both a safety requirement and a piece of what makes a basement bedroom or apartment count as legal living space. It matters most on the basement units that make up most of this search, and it is the first thing to confirm in person, because a room marketed as a bedroom downstairs is not really one without it. We check the actual window wells, not just the photos.
Tell me the budget, the part of town, and whether you need a fully permitted suite or are open to an existing space to verify, and I will connect you with a Tooele-area partner agent and flag matching listings as they go live. Pair that with a pre-approval so you can move when the right separate-space home lists, since these are a narrow slice and they do not sit long.