Send it to Matt.
Three short steps, or just email the address. Matt reads it himself and replies within two business days, in writing.
Tell Matt who and where.
Name, number, town. Then what you are planning and when. Then plans, if you have them. Stop whenever you like: every step is sent on its own.
Matt takes calls from 9am to 5pm. Prefer to write it yourself? The email below opens with the useful questions already in it.
- 1Contact
- 2Project
- 3Plans
Matt has it.
He reads every one himself and replies in writing within two business days. Need to talk sooner? Call 805 886 0988.
Reply within two business days
The button below opens an email with the useful questions already in it. Delete what does not apply.
Open a pre-written email Or call 805 886 0988 Or ask Matt to call you
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.
What are you hoping to do?
Matt’s first question. Everything follows from it.
More light, an open kitchen, rooms that connect. $250K–$2M.
$250K–$2M How that works here → Build the right house, once.Ground up. Here entitlement sets the schedule, so we map it first. $1.5M–$5M.
$1.5M–$5M How that works here → A place for family, a tenant, or work.A guest house, a studio, an income unit. Utilities and setbacks set the cost. $250K–$550K.
$250K–$550K How that works here → Find out what the lot allows first.Before drawings, before a budget, before falling in love with anything.
First conversation Have the first conversation →Six questions, before anything else.
What Matt asks first, and why. Choose your answers and the email writes itself.
What do you want the house to do that it does not do now?
The real brief, rarely the room list. “More light” usually means a wall. Tell us the frustration; we will tell you what it takes.
Who lives there, and who might in ten years?
Building for the ten-year version costs less than adding on later.
What do you have to work with?
An address is most of the first answer. Drawings tell us whether it builds. A survey, whether it fits. No architect yet? Matt works with a team of wonderful architects who will help you build your dream.
What order of cost are you thinking in?
Not a commitment. A range, so we can say whether the wish and the number belong together.
When would you like to be living in it?
Review sets the schedule here. A Montecito project may spend nine months in review before a shovel moves. Give us your real date; we will tell you whether it holds.
Have you built or renovated before?
It changes how we talk, not whether we work together. First-timers get each phase explained. Experienced clients usually want the change-order clause on the first call.
Send it to Matt.
Your answers appear here as you choose them.
Email these answers to Matt Or call 805 886 0988
Nothing is submitted by these six questions. They open your own email. Add the address and send.
An address is enough.
It gives us the jurisdiction, the review bodies and the coastal position: most of the first answer. The rest helps.
| Send | What it settles |
|---|---|
| The property address or APN | Jurisdiction, review bodies, coastal position, hazard zone |
| Drawings, at any stage | Whether it builds, and what it costs to build |
| Photographs of the existing house | Era, construction type, the likely surprises |
| A survey, if one exists | Setbacks, easements, grade |
| The order of cost you have in mind | Whether we are the right builder for it |
| Your architect or designer | Who we coordinate with, and how early. |
A large plan set? Send a link.
Mail refuses attachments over about 25 MB. Use Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, whatever your architect uses.
Confidential? Say so. We publish no drawings, addresses or photographs without written permission.
What happens next.
Same day
Matt confirms he has it, and flags anything obvious that is missing.
Within two business days
A written reading of the parcel: jurisdiction, review bodies, an order of cost and the permit path.
Then nothing, unless you ask
No follow-up emails, no newsletter. The reading is yours to keep.
Updated October 2026