Building in Santa Barbara.
The Riviera, the Mesa, San Roque, the Upper East. Inside the City, we know which board your address answers to before anything is drawn.
Same drawings, two different projects. A steep Riviera lot and a level Mesa lot part ways in site work, not finishes: on the hillside, access and drainage drive cost more than area does.
Mission Canyon and parts of the foothills have Santa Barbara addresses but are County land, reviewed by the County. We check which side first.
Our work in Santa Barbara.
Mission
Full remodel
A full remodel near the Mission in Santa Barbara, around the original vaulted ceilings and trusses: wide-plank floors, a walk-in pantry, a green quartzite vanity.
See the project
San Roque
Full remodel
A full remodel in San Roque, Santa Barbara: walnut paneling, a hand-troweled plaster hood over a marble slab backsplash, and baths in glazed tile and terracotta.
See the project
Westside
Full remodel
A full remodel on Santa Barbara's Westside: a new, optimized floor plan with an added home office, new skylights, custom cabinets and new tile baths.
See the projectThree City boards. Which one is yours?
The City runs its own building and planning, separate from the County. Most houses go to the Single Family Design Board; in El Pueblo Viejo, to the Historic Landmarks Commission, where new work follows “the adobe, Spanish Colonial Revival or Mediterranean tradition.” Commercial and multi-family go to the Architectural Board of Review. Each board has its own hearing calendar. We sequence around it.
Which City board, then the permit.
Single Family Design Board
Most exterior changes to a house, judged on fit with the neighborhood in size and design. Downtown, in El Pueblo Viejo, the Historic Landmarks Commission reviews instead. City of Santa Barbara
Coastal permit, where it applies
Coastal Zone parcels answer to the City’s Coastal Land Use Plan, certified August 2019.
City Building & Safety
Plan check, then inspections to final.
We build
Seven phases, three exits, and a price that holds. The road map.
1925June 29
The earthquake. The city rebuilt in Spanish Colonial Revival; an Architectural Board of Review formed within days. City of Santa Barbara
6–12inches a year
How fast the City’s bluffs have historically retreated. City LCP, coastal hazards
2025April
New CAL FIRE maps add fire hazard zones inside the city: parts of the Mesa near Cliff Drive, northern San Roque and La Cumbre. City of Santa Barbara
18.98inches of rain
An average year downtown, about 80% of it December through March. That is why the building year matters. NOAA 1991–2020 normals
6Title 24 climate zone
The state energy code lists Santa Barbara in Climate Zone 6. Confirm by ZIP for current work. California Energy Commission
Checked September 2026 against the sources linked. Boards, plans and maps change, and parcels differ; we confirm your parcel’s position in the assessment.
Which board, how long, what it costs.
Which design board will review my house?
How long does a City permit take?
Can you work on a designated historic property?
What does a Santa Barbara renovation cost?
Send the Santa Barbara address. We’ll tell you which board reviews it.
Write to purchasing@amnbuild.com. Two business days, in writing, at no cost.
- 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, constraints, an order of cost and the permit path.
- Then nothing, unless you askNo follow-up sequence, no call from anyone else. The assessment is yours to keep, and to take anywhere.