What we know, written down.
Costs, permits and how the review boards on this coast actually behave. The answers we give on the phone, here to read first.
Everything here is dated. Rules change and parcels differ, so confirm your own address. Where we are unsure, we say so.
September 2026Design7 minutes
Seven South Coast house styles, and how to tell them apart
Adobe to Coastal Modern, drawn, with the features a review board looks for. Choose a style, then a feature.
August 2026Fire3 minutes
Building for fire on the South Coast, ember by ember
Most homes lost to a wildland fire are lost to embers, not flame, and that changes what is worth specifying.
August 2026Entitlement2 minutes
The Montecito Board of Architectural Review, from a builder who has been through it
Two review processes, not one, and the one that meets every three weeks sets your schedule.
July 2026Entitlement2 minutes
Coastal zone review in Carpinteria and Summerland, in plain terms
The question is not whether you need a permit. It is whether the decision can be appealed.
Send us the address. We'll tell you the truth about it.
Email it to purchasing@amnbuild.com. A written assessment, free, in two business days. Yours to keep, whether or not we build together.
- 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.