AMN Construction · Montecito

General contractor in Montecito.

In Montecito the permit is rarely the obstacle. The calendar is. We learned that building the Loureyro Property through County review and the Montecito board.

License 802739 (opens in a new tab)InsuredTwo-year written warranty5.0 on Google, 4 reviews (opens in a new tab)Read the warranty wording

The short answer

Who permits and reviews a house in Montecito?

Montecito is unincorporated, so permits come from Santa Barbara County Planning and Development, not a city. Exterior design goes to the Montecito Board of Architectural Review in three stages: Conceptual, Preliminary and Final. The southern part of Montecito is in the Coastal Zone, and the Montecito Fire Protection District checks driveway access, water supply and landscape on its own checklist. AMN is a licensed general contractor (CSLB 802739) that works through all of it.

Checked against official sources, November 2026. Sources: County board of architectural review (opens in a new tab) · Montecito Fire plan checklist (2026) (opens in a new tab)

Compare all five towns: who permits and reviews, with sources

The road in Montecito

Three stops. Then we build.

Stop 1Montecito Board of Architectural Review
Stop 2County Planning and Development
Stop 3County Building and Safety
ThenWe build

Which stops apply depends on the parcel and the work. We name them for your address before design starts. The file on Montecito

Services in Montecito

Custom homes in Montecito Renovations in Montecito Accessory dwellings in Montecito Kitchen remodels in Montecito Finish carpentry in Montecito Owner’s rep in Montecito Project management in Montecito

Four ways AMN works in Montecito.

General contractor

AMN builds it: custom homes, renovations, kitchens and accessory dwellings, for one fixed contract sum. This page is the detail.

Project management

The Montecito Board of Architectural Review meets on its own calendar, and the Fire District has its own list. Matt keeps both on the build schedule. Project management in Montecito

Owner’s representative

When another firm is building your Montecito house, Matt reads its drawings, bids and bills for you. Owner’s rep in Montecito

Finish carpentry

Cabinetry and paneling made to fit large, unusual rooms, by Tom and Nic. Finish carpentry in Montecito

Featured project · Montecito · 2019 to 2023

The Loureyro Property: four years, one family, one Montecito house.

Built from the ground up to one brief: make a large house feel like somewhere a family actually lives. It went through County Planning and Development and the Montecito Board of Architectural Review, and it is the clearest answer we have to what building a house in Montecito involves.

The front of the Loureyro Property at dusk: dark board-and-batten siding, black-framed windows glowing warm, and a long covered porch on timber posts above a gravel path edged in fieldstone — The approach: dark board-and-batten siding, black-framed windows and a long covered porch on timber posts, above a gravel path edged in fieldstone.

Locale: Montecito
Scope: Custom residence
Duration: Four years
Completed: 2023
Authority: County · Montecito BAR

The brief

Comfort and belonging were the owners’ words. A house this size becomes a sequence of rooms nobody sits in unless someone works to prevent it, so the plan follows how the family moves through a day.

They wanted it open to the garden: at the back, the kitchen’s glass wall slides away onto a stepped deck and the lawn.

The constraint

A new house in Montecito is a permitting project before it is a building one. The house went through County Planning and Development and the Montecito Board of Architectural Review, which normally meets every two to three weeks.

That review was the hardest part of the job, and the part a family most needs someone else to carry.

The kitchen: a concrete-finish waterfall island with oak stools, oak drawer fronts in gray-green frames, a white paneled range hood over handmade tile, and the glass wall slid open to the garden — The kitchen: a concrete-finish waterfall island, oak drawer fronts in gray-green frames, handmade tile, and the glass wall open to the garden.

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 garden elevation at dusk: white plaster under a dark roof, and the kitchen’s glass wall open onto stepped hardwood decking and the lawn.

“Almost none of the work that makes a large house feel like a home is visible in the finished rooms.”Matt Newman, principal

Chosen for a house close to the ocean

Fixtures, fasteners and window assemblies that last indefinitely two miles inland start failing here within a few seasons, so the specification was written for the coast. We publish the list so an architect can see at once whether we understood the drawings.

Exterior wallsBoard-and-batten siding in a dark stain at the approach; smooth white plaster at the garden elevation
GlazingBlack-framed windows with horizontal divided lites; a wide sliding glass wall at the kitchen
Porch and deckTimber posts and exposed rafters at the porch; stepped hardwood decking to the garden
KitchenConcrete-finish waterfall island; oak drawer fronts in painted gray-green frames; handmade glazed tile; open oak shelving
FlooringWide-plank oak
LandscapeGravel path edged in fieldstone; drought-tolerant grasses

The owners led the final punch walk themselves, as we prefer: the people who will live in a house write a better list than the people who built it.

See the whole project Email Matt about a Montecito parcel

The ground

The land here is older than the house. Protected oaks, private lanes and long utility runs are priced before any interior decision, and drainage and grading review carries real weight.

HedgerowThe Golden QuadrangleUpper VillageLower VillageSycamore CanyonRiven RockEast Valley

Toro Canyon, to the east, answers to its own County community plan. We check which applies.

The Loureyro Property

Mission

Westside

Montecito and its neighbors, from our map of the South Coast. Select a photograph to see the project. The whole coast

Authority

County permits. A board every few weeks.

Montecito is unincorporated: County permits, not City. Its Board of Architectural Review asks for no particular style; the Community Plan’s aim is “semi-rural character.” Then there is fire. Montecito Fire’s access, water and defensible-space rules can fix the driveway and where the house sits. We raise them first, not in plan check.

Assess your parcel

The file on Montecito

County design review, then County permits.

Design review
Montecito Board of Architectural Review
No required style; the Community Plan it applies aims to keep Montecito’s “semi-rural character.” County of Santa Barbara (opens in a new tab)
Planning
County Planning & Development
Unincorporated, so the permits are the County’s. Southern Montecito is in the Coastal Zone. Montecito Community Plan (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Building
County Building & Safety
County plan check, then County inspections to final.
Then
We build
Seven phases, three exits, and a price that holds. The process.

Worth knowing

1992Community Plan

Goal G-M-1: “maintain and preserve the residential, low intensity, semi-rural character” of Montecito. Montecito Community Plan (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

3weeks between meetings

The Board of Architectural Review’s cadence. It sets the pace of design review. County of Santa Barbara (opens in a new tab)

1947Tremaine House

Richard Neutra’s Montecito house, built in concrete partly against fire. Neutra Institute (opens in a new tab)

37acres, Lotusland

Ganna Walska bought the estate in 1941; the garden opened for tours in September 1993. Lotusland (opens in a new tab)

Checked September 2026 against the sources linked. Boards, plans and maps change, and parcels differ; we tell you where your parcel appears to stand in the assessment.

Finish carpentry in Montecito

Cabinets, trim and built-ins we have made in Montecito.

Tom and Nic build the cabinetry and trim in our small shop in Carpinteria and fit it on site. These are photographed jobs, each with the full story on the past-projects page.

Birnam Wood, Montecito: Casework beside steel-and-glass doors

Birnam Wood, Montecito: White built-in drawers and cabinets in the hall

Square Ipe-wrapped spa in a Montecito garden with the ocean beyond

All finish carpentry in Montecito, with notes on each job

Questions

The board, the calendar, the architect.

What is the Montecito Board of Architectural Review?

The County board for exterior design, siting and materials here. It normally meets every two to three weeks, and that calendar sets your schedule more than plan check.

How long does a Montecito residence take?

Ten to eighteen months of construction once permits issue. Entitlement runs at the long end of the process page’s six weeks to nine months, or past it.

Does the fire district affect the design?

Materially, and it is far cheaper to settle in schematic design than in a hearing.

Do you work with my architect?

Almost always. We are not design-build. Matt works with a team of wonderful architects who will help you build your dream. We price the set your architect drew, flag what will not build before plan check, and leave the client relationship where it belongs.

What does Montecito Fire require for a driveway?

The Montecito Fire Protection District’s 2026 plan checklist sets a minimum driveway width of 14 feet for a single parcel, requires Fire Code Official approval for slopes over 15 percent (20 percent is the maximum), and sets turnarounds, gate setbacks and hydrant distances. We read the checklist against your parcel before design starts.

What are the three stages of Montecito Board of Architectural Review?

Conceptual review is informal and takes no formal action. Preliminary review is formal and can be appealed to the Planning Commission, and it is accepted only after a development application has been filed with the County. Final review must be in substantial conformance with what was approved at Preliminary.

Can Matt act as my owner’s representative in Montecito?

Yes. If another firm is building, Matt can work for you instead: drawings, bids, payment requests and the schedule, checked and reported in writing. Owner’s rep in Montecito.

Who manages my project in Montecito?

Matt Newman, the principal. He carries the schedule, the budget, the permits and the trades himself and writes to you every Friday. Project management in Montecito.

Send the Montecito parcel. We’ll name every review it faces.

Email it to purchasing@amnbuild.com. Matt reads it himself and replies in writing within two business days.

Email Matt about your parcel Or call Matt · 805 886 0988 Or leave your number: three short steps

Same dayMatt confirms he has it, and flags anything obvious that is missing.
Within two business daysA written reading of your parcel: jurisdiction, review bodies, an order of cost and the permit path.
Then nothing, unless you askNo follow-up sequence, no call from anyone else. The reading is yours to keep.

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

Updated November 2026