AMN Construction
EspañolES 805 886 0988Contact

General contractor · Santa Barbara & Montecito · CSLB 802739Twenty-five years,
one name on the line.

A few custom homes, renovations and accessory dwellings a year. Matt Newman walks the parcel, prices the work, runs the site and signs the contract.

Send us the address
Call Matt 805 886 0988

In writing, within two business days, or price it yourself first.

5.0 on Google, 4 reviewsLicensed since 2001

The rear of the Loureyro Property at dusk: white plaster walls under a dark roof, and a wide glass wall slid open from the lit kitchen onto stepped hardwood decking and the lawn
The Loureyro Property · MontecitoThe garden elevation at dusk, the kitchen opened to the deck

Sheet A-1 · Selected work

Selected work.

A partial record. Several clients prefer their homes unpublished.

Where we build

RenovationCustom residenceAccessory dwellingCommunities we serve

The South Coast, Goleta to Carpinteria. An illustrated map of the coast, the mountains behind it, the six communities we build in, and the animals that live here: monarch butterflies and snowy plovers at Goleta, a colony of harbor seals on the rocks at Carpinteria, humpback whales breaching, a blue whale, a gray whale and leaping dolphins in the Channel, pelicans and gulls along the shore, a mule deer family, quail, a coyote and a bobcat in the foothills, and a red-tailed hawk and a golden eagle over the range. Stearns Wharf, the harbor, the lighthouse on the Mesa and the Goleta pier mark the shore; sailboats cross the Channel, and a surfer rides the wave at Rincon Point.

Beyond the South Coast

California, from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, with the South Coast map's extent marked.

The South Coast map

The projects on this map

Every pin is a neighborhood, never an address. Select one to see the project; select a town to read about building there. Drawn with the neighbors: monarchs at the Ellwood grove, snowy plovers at Coal Oil Point, the harbor seals of Carpinteria, humpback, blue and gray whales in the Channel, and the surf at Rincon.

All six projects, with photographs and briefs

See a project like yours? Call Matt.

Call Matt 805 886 0988

Sheet A-2 · Principal

Matt Newman in a red cap and tool vest at a plan table inside a framed house, beside a man in a hard hat reading the drawings
Matt Newman, left · Principal

Matt Newman

The person who prices it builds it.

Matt Newman came the long way: Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, twenty years up and down this coast, and Santa Barbara since 2019. He has carried every AMN project since his license in 2001. No account manager between you and him. Three projects at a time, occasionally four, never five.

Add a layer of managers and you defend decisions you did not make. I would rather run fewer projects and be the one who walked the parcel.

Read Matt’s storySix questions to ask any builder

Anyone can say yes. I’ll tell you whether it works, before you’ve paid for a single drawing.

Matt Newman

CSLB 802739 · Class B General Building · 805 886 0988

Call Matt 805 886 0988
Built from your drawings

Your architect draws; we build. No architect yet? Matt works with a team of wonderful architects who will help you build your dream. For architects

One price, fixed

The contract sum is fixed at preconstruction. After that it moves only by a written change you approve in advance. The paperwork

Two years, in writing

Two years on our workmanship from final signature, and a return visit at twelve months whether or not you call. The warranty

Three at a time

Matt carries every project himself, so AMN takes three at a time, occasionally four, never five. Matt’s story

Two answers

What, and where. We’ll show you the road.

What do you want to do?
Where is the house?

A renovation in Montecito.

  1. 1Montecito Board of Architectural Review
  2. 2County Planning and Development
  3. 3County Building and Safety
  4. 4We build
How long
7 to 21 months, end to end
Published range
$250K to $2M

RenovationsGeneral contractor in MontecitoEmail Matt about it

What we do

Custom homesRenovationsKitchen remodelsAccessory dwellingsFinish carpentryOwner’s representativeConstruction project management

Where we do it

General contractor in MontecitoGeneral contractor in Santa BarbaraGeneral contractor in Hope RanchGeneral contractor in SummerlandGeneral contractor in Carpinteria

Questions

Six things people ask first.

Which towns does AMN Construction build in?
Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Summerland, Carpinteria and Goleta. Each town has its own review bodies, and we name the ones for your address before design starts. Where we build.
Is AMN a licensed general contractor?
Yes. California contractor license 802739, Class B General Building. You can check it at cslb.ca.gov. Matt Newman.
Who will run my project?
Matt Newman, the principal. He walks the parcel, prices the work, runs the site and signs the contract, and he takes three projects at a time. How a project is managed.
Can I hire AMN if another firm is building my house?
Yes. Matt works as an owner’s representative: he checks the drawings, the bids, the payment requests and the schedule for you, and reports in writing. Owner’s representative.
Do you take finish carpentry on its own?
Yes. Tom and his son Nic build cabinetry, built-ins, doors and trim in our Carpinteria shop and fit them on site. Finish carpentry.
What does it cost?
Published ranges: renovations $250K to $2M, custom homes $1.5M to $5M, accessory dwellings $250K to $550K, kitchens $120K to $450K. The contract sum is fixed at preconstruction. What it costs, and when.

All questions, with numbers

Before you hire anyone

→How to hire a general contractor in Santa Barbara, in seven checks→Owner’s rep, construction manager, general contractor: who does what→Who permits your house, town by town→How to read a construction schedule→When finish carpentry happens, and what has to come first

Before you call

What the first call is like.

An address is enough to start. Matt takes calls from 9am to 5pm. He asks, listens, and tells you what he sees.

He asks

What you want the house to do that it does not do now. Who lives there, and who might in ten years. What you have to work with, what order of cost you have in mind, and when you would like to be living in it. The six questions

He tells you

Whether it works, before you have paid for a single drawing. Which review bodies decide it, what the permit path looks like, and whether the wish and the number belong together. Six questions to ask any builder

Then nothing, unless you ask

A written reading of the parcel follows within two business days. No follow-up emails, no newsletter, and the reading is yours to keep. What happens next

Call Matt 805 886 0988

Want to hear from a past client first, or see a job in progress? Ask Matt. He can arrange a call with a past client, and a visit to a job when the owner agrees. More questions

In their own words

Matt and his team were a dream to work with on our San Roque kitchen and living room remodel + new bedroom and bathroom addition + new roof and other projects we tacked on along the way. We had interviewed and gotten quotes for several contractors and felt the most comfortable with Matt. …

★★★★★Sara Nickel · Google review, October 2026 Read the whole review

We had an excellent experience working with AMN Construction. From start to finish, their team was professional, responsive, and dedicated to quality. Communication was always clear, and any questions or changes were handled quickly. The workmanship was top-notch — everything was completed on schedule and exactly as promised. It’s rare to find a construction company that combines great customer service with such attention to detail. We’ll definitely use them again for future projects

★★★★★Brooke Langan · Google review, October 2025

Matt and team did a great job on our project. Good with communication and timelines and of course a high quality finish and product overall.

★★★★★Yishai Horowitz · Google review, October 2025

Great experience. Hired their finish carpentry crew for cabinet installs, shelving, etc. Excellent work, knew their stuff, plan on using them for more projects on my home build.

★★★★★Brad Hodges · Google review, October 2025

5.0 on Google from 4 reviews · read them all (opens in a new tab)

A field guide

Name it right. Then ask the next question.

The Montecito Standard is the guide we train on: architecture, fine woodwork and how a house in Montecito gets built. Twenty-three models you can turn and pull apart, each part named in plain English. It is open for anyone to read.

  • 233D models
  • 15sets of field notes
  • 255terms in plain English

Open The Montecito Standard

A 3D model of a classical column with its parts numbered from cornice to plinthTurn it in your hand

Start here

Send us the address. We'll tell you the truth about it.

Three short steps. Matt reads every one himself and writes back within two business days. Most of our work arrives by referral.

Call Matt 805 886 0988Price it yourself first

Prefer email? Write to purchasing@amnbuild.com, or see what helps Matt most.

CSLB 802739 · Class B General Building · Licensed and insured · Two-year workmanship warranty, in writing

  1. 1Contact
  2. 2Project
  3. 3Plans

Who should Matt call?

Three things. That is all it takes to start.

Matt reads it himself and replies in writing within two business days. What we do with it

Updated November 2026