Remodeling Beverly Hills takes on three kinds of job in Glendale: restoring the 1920s Spanish and Tudor stock in Rossmoyne and Adams Hill, building additions on the flat lots, and working the hillside parcels in Verdugo Woodlands and Chevy Chase Canyon.
Glendale reviews exterior design more closely than most cities in the county, which changes how a project is planned. Call (424) 766-1835 for an on-site estimate.
Design review is not optional here
Glendale runs its own Building and Safety division at 633 East Broadway, and it operates a Design Review Board process that applies far more broadly than the equivalent in most neighbouring cities. Exterior alterations, additions and new construction generally require design review approval before a building permit is issued.
For an owner, the practical consequences are two. First, the timeline has a step in it that inland cities do not have, and it should be in the schedule from day one rather than discovered at submittal. Second, the design itself is subject to judgement about compatibility with the surrounding streetscape, materials, massing and proportion, which means the design should be developed with that in mind.
Handled properly this is not an obstacle. Glendale's review has produced a coherent city, and designs that respect the context of the street move through it. Designs that ignore it collect revision cycles. We prepare and present design review packages as part of the contract.
The Rossmoyne and Adams Hill housing stock
Rossmoyne, Adams Hill and the streets around Brand Park hold a dense concentration of 1920s and 1930s architecture: Spanish Colonial Revival with clay tile and arched openings, Tudor Revival with steep roofs and half-timbering, and Colonial Revival and Craftsman elsewhere.
These are the houses where our workshop background earns its place. Three-coat plaster patched properly rather than skim-coated over drywall. Original steel casement and leaded glass restored rather than replaced. Barrel tile lifted, stacked, and relaid over new underlayment so an out-of-production profile survives. Millwork profiles run with custom knives to match what is already in the house.
Behind all of that, the systems are what a hundred-year-old house always has: knob-and-tube still live somewhere, galvanised supply, cast iron waste, an undersized panel and no insulation. Replacing them without wrecking the surfaces you are preserving is the actual skill in this work.
Hillside parcels in the Verdugos
Verdugo Woodlands, Chevy Chase Canyon and the streets climbing the Verdugo Mountains carry a hillside ordinance of the city's own, limiting floor area and grading relative to slope and imposing access requirements based on street width.
A geotechnical investigation precedes foundation design on any significant hillside project, and on steeper parcels that produces caissons and grade beams instead of a spread footing. Drainage is engineered rather than assumed. Intercepting slope runoff and routing it properly is the difference between a normal winter and an expensive one.
These parcels also sit within or adjacent to Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones along the Verdugo range, which brings wildland-urban interface construction standards: Class A roofing, ember-resistant venting, enclosed eaves, ignition-resistant cladding and multi-pane tempered glazing.
Multi-family work in the Glendale stock
Glendale has a substantial multi-family stock, much of it built in the 1960s and 1970s, and the city administers its own seismic retrofit requirements for vulnerable building types alongside its ordinary permitting.
We take unit turns, common-area upgrades and full building repositioning across the city, and we co-ordinate the design review element where exterior work is involved.
Talk to a Beverly Hills remodeling contractor
On-site estimate, straight answers on budget and schedule, and a written scope before anyone swings a hammer.
Call (424) 766-1835Frequently asked questions
Does Glendale require design review for my remodel?
For exterior alterations, additions and new construction, generally yes: Glendale's Design Review Board process applies more broadly than in most neighbouring cities and comes before the building permit. Interior-only work usually does not trigger it.
How long does Glendale design review take?
It varies with the scope and the board's schedule, commonly several weeks to a few months. The way to keep it short is to develop the design with compatibility in mind from the start, in massing, materials and proportion relative to the street, rather than submitting and revising.
Can you restore a 1920s Rossmoyne house?
Yes, and it is work we take on regularly. Three-coat plaster repair rather than drywall patching, steel casement and leaded glass restoration, lifting and relaying original barrel tile, and running millwork profiles with custom knives to match the original.
What applies on a Verdugo hillside lot?
Glendale's own hillside ordinance limits floor area and grading relative to slope and sets access requirements by street width. A geotechnical report drives the foundation, often caissons and grade beams, and parcels near the range carry wildland-urban interface fire construction standards.