Los Angeles County
Building in Pasadena.
Pasadena runs its own building department and its own design and historic review, and it takes both seriously. That is not an obstacle so much as a thing to plan for: the schedule and the drawings both need to account for it.
The housing stock is a large part of why. Pasadena has one of the deepest collections of Craftsman and early-twentieth-century architecture in the state, much of it inside designated landmark districts.
Permits and inspections
City of Pasadena Building and Safety
What matters when you build here.
Historic districts change the drawings
If a property is in a landmark district or is itself a designated resource, exterior changes are reviewed on their merits rather than just against the building code. Window replacement and front elevations are the usual flashpoints, and the answer is normally a detail question rather than a no.
Old houses hide old systems
On a remodel of a house from the 1910s or 1920s, expect knob-and-tube wiring, galvanised supply pipe and framing that predates current practice. We budget for finding it, because on a house of that age it is not a surprise, it is a schedule item.
No published project in Pasadena yet.
We build across California and the nearest published projects are a short drive away. Rather than show you someone else’s house and imply it is ours, here is everything we have documented.
What we build in Pasadena.
New construction
Custom homes built from the ground up on an empty or cleared lot.
Whole-home remodel
Reworking a whole house (structure, systems and finishes) rather than one room.
Fire rebuild
Ground-up reconstruction on a cleared lot, from debris and survey through final inspection.
ADU
Accessory dwelling units: detached, attached, or converted from space you already have.
Kitchen & bath
The two rooms with the most going on behind the walls, done properly.
Foundations & framing
The structure everything else depends on, including on difficult ground.