Service Area · Los Angeles County
General Contractor in South Pasadena, CA
Additions, ADUs and whole-house projects for South Pasadena's Craftsman blocks and Monterey Hills lots, planned from the first sketch with the city's historic and design review steps in mind.
- Licensed California general contractor
- Custom homes, ADUs & additions
- Permits with the City of South Pasadena
- Written, line-item estimates
South Pasadena, CA
Building and Remodeling in South Pasadena
Simply Construction is a licensed California general contractor in South Pasadena for homeowners taking on larger work: second stories, room additions, ADUs, garage conversions and new custom homes. A good share of the city's houses sit in designated historic districts or appear in its historic resources inventory, so the drawings submitted here have to answer design questions before they answer structural ones.
We run each project under one contract, from early feasibility and the Cultural Heritage Commission or Design Review Board submittal through plan check, construction and final inspection. Our office is a few miles south in Monterey Park, which keeps site walks, engineer meetings and inspection days easy to schedule. You get one point of contact who understands both the preservation side of a South Pasadena project and the construction side.
Local Knowledge
Building in South Pasadena: Historic Blocks and Hillside Lots
South Pasadena's older neighborhoods are known for Craftsman bungalows and Spanish and Mission Revival houses, with post-war and mid-century homes filling in between and occasional Colonial Revival and Tudor designs. Districts such as Oneonta Park, Oaklawn, and Oak and Laurel keep the early pattern intact: one- and two-story houses behind deep setbacks, detached garages at the back of the lot, mature trees and stone retaining walls along the street.
That character is protected. Alterations, additions and demolitions on a designated landmark or a historic district property generally need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Cultural Heritage Commission, which relies on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and expects new work to be clearly distinguishable from the historic building. Other exterior projects, second-story additions among them, can go before the Design Review Board, where neighbors may speak and compatibility with the surrounding houses is a central question.
The Monterey Hills tell a different story. Altos de Monterey, developed starting in the 1960s, became the city's largest post-war single-family neighborhood, with custom and tract houses on sloping lots. Parts of the Monterey Hills are mapped as high and very high fire hazard severity zones, and the city has adopted a wildfire resilience strategy for the area, so materials, vents and defensible space matter there in a way they don't on the flat Craftsman blocks.
Services
Construction & Remodeling Services in South Pasadena
From ground-up homes to kitchens, here is how each of our services applies to South Pasadena properties.
Custom Home Building in South Pasadena
The hillside streets of Altos de Monterey are where a ground-up custom home in South Pasadena most often makes sense to study, since many of the post-war houses there sit on sloped lots with room to rethink the plan. A new house on those streets has to respond to fire hazard severity mapping, which affects roofing, vents, siding and glazing, and to the grading and retaining walls a slope requires. On the older flat blocks, replacing a house is a harder case, because demolition of a landmark or district property needs Cultural Heritage Commission approval. We confirm designation status before anyone draws a floor plan.
ADU Construction in South Pasadena
South Pasadena's ADU ordinance tracks state law, so a detached backyard unit of up to 1,200 square feet is generally possible, and the city must act on a complete application within 60 days. The local twist is design. On a historic property, the Cultural Heritage Commission can require an ADU that is visible from the street to be compatible with the main house in materials, windows, siding and roof form. Behind a Craftsman, that can mean wood siding, exposed rafter tails and a roof pitch borrowed from the bungalow in front. A unit placed well behind the house and out of public view usually carries fewer design conditions.
Garage Conversions in South Pasadena
Many older South Pasadena lots still have the original detached garage at the back of the property. Converting one into an ADU avoids any replacement parking requirement under state law, but the building itself is usually the hard part: shallow or missing footings, no insulation, and walls that sit close to the property line. We start by testing whether the structure can be saved and upgraded or should be rebuilt. On a landmark or district property, a garage built during the district's period of significance can be part of the historic setting, which limits how much its exterior can change.
Room Additions in South Pasadena
A ground-floor addition on a South Pasadena Craftsman or Spanish Revival house is usually planned toward the rear, which keeps the street face of the house intact and leaves the deep front setback alone. The Cultural Heritage Commission expects additions to be distinguishable from the original, so we plan rooflines, siding and window proportions that sit comfortably beside the old house without copying it exactly. All oak species are protected under the city's tree ordinance, and a mature oak in the backyard can decide where the new room goes.
Second-Story Additions in South Pasadena
Adding a second floor is the most visible change a South Pasadena homeowner can make, and the city reviews it that way. Second-story projects can go before the Design Review Board, where neighbors can comment and compatibility with the block carries real weight. In the Oak and Laurel historic district, the Cultural Heritage Commission has approved a two-story addition to a 1910 Craftsman with design conditions attached, which shows the path exists but is not automatic. Structurally, an engineer has to confirm whether the existing foundation can carry a second floor, and early houses often need new footings.
Garage Construction in South Pasadena
A new garage in South Pasadena usually replaces an aging detached structure at the rear of a deep lot. We design it with the foundation, ceiling height and utility capacity to support a future ADU conversion or EV charging, and on a historic property we shape its roof, doors and siding so it relates to the house. Because a period garage can count as part of what a district protects, we confirm its status before planning a teardown. In the Monterey Hills, steep driveways and slope drainage add their own layout questions.
Whole-House Remodeling in South Pasadena
A whole-house remodel of a South Pasadena Craftsman is often a restoration and a modernization at once: new wiring, plumbing, insulation and foundation bolting, alongside careful repair of original windows, built-ins and trim. Exterior changes on a landmark or district property go through a Certificate of Appropriateness, while purely interior work generally stays with plan check. The 2025 Energy Code applies to permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026, so a full remodel filed now has to meet the newer standards, and we plan for that with your designer from the start.
Kitchen Remodeling in South Pasadena
Kitchens in early twentieth-century houses were typically small, closed rooms at the back, and a South Pasadena remodel often opens one to a family room or the garden. That usually means relocating a bearing wall, upgrading an undersized electrical service, and replacing old supply and drain lines while the walls are open. In a Craftsman, we like to carry the house's woodwork into the new cabinetry so the kitchen feels continuous with the dining room. Because the work is mostly interior, historic review usually comes into play only if windows or exterior walls change.
Bathroom Remodeling in South Pasadena
An original bathroom in a pre-war South Pasadena house, with period tile and a cast iron tub, is worth assessing before anything is demolished. Some owners keep that character and rebuild everything behind it: new waterproofing, drains, supply lines and a properly ducted exhaust fan. Others want a larger primary bath, which may mean borrowing space from a closet or a sleeping porch. Where a window on a street-facing wall has to change size on a designated property, the change can fall under historic review, so we flag it early in design.
Fire Rebuilds in South Pasadena
Wildfire risk in South Pasadena is concentrated in the Monterey Hills, where parts of the neighborhood are mapped in high and very high fire hazard severity zones. A rebuild there has to meet California's wildfire construction standards, which govern exterior materials, vents, roofing and glazing, and it has to fit the city's resilience goals for the hillside. For a house lost in one of the flatter historic neighborhoods, the rebuild questions shift toward design review and how closely the new house should recall the old one. In either case we coordinate the insurance scope, engineering and permit set.
Junior ADUs (JADU) in South Pasadena
A junior ADU fits well inside South Pasadena's larger older houses, where a bedroom, a sleeping porch or an attached garage can become a separate suite of up to 500 square feet without changing the footprint. The suite needs its own entrance and at least an efficiency kitchen, and the owner must live in either the main house or the JADU. Because the work stays inside existing walls, a JADU can be a quieter way to add a unit to a historic property than a new building in the yard.
SB 9 Lot Splits & Duplexes in South Pasadena
SB 9 is more constrained in South Pasadena than in many cities. The local urban lot split rules exclude parcels in historic districts, on the state historic resources inventory or designated as landmarks, and a new lot line cannot fall within 4 feet of a designated, contributing or candidate historic structure. AB 1061, in effect since January 1, 2026, narrows the state's historic exclusion so a two-unit project can proceed in a district when no contributing building is altered or demolished, and local rules now have to be read against it. In the Monterey Hills, fire hazard mapping is another screen.
Patios, Decks & Outdoor Living in South Pasadena
Outdoor rooms suit South Pasadena's deep lots and mature gardens. On a Craftsman, a covered patio or pergola can pick up the rafter tails, square posts and stonework of the house, and in districts like Oneonta Park, stone retaining walls along the street are part of the character worth keeping. Before digging footings, we map protected trees, since every oak species is protected by the city's tree ordinance. In the Monterey Hills, a deck over a slope needs engineered footings and fire-resistant decking rather than an off-the-shelf design.
Why Choose Us
Why South Pasadena Homeowners Choose Simply Construction
Licensed, Bonded and Easy to Verify
Simply Construction inc. is a licensed California general contractor, CSLB [CSLB LICENSE # PLACEHOLDER]. State law requires a license for any job of $1,000 or more in labor and materials, and anyone can check a contractor's license, bond and workers' compensation status on the CSLB website in about a minute. We encourage every South Pasadena homeowner to do exactly that before signing with anyone, including us.
One Team From Plans to Final Inspection
Design, engineering, permitting and construction sit under one contract and one project lead, so nobody points fingers between the designer, the engineer and the builder when a detail changes. You get one schedule, one point of contact and regular progress updates from the first site visit through the final inspection and sign-off on your South Pasadena project.
Care for Your Street and Your Neighbors
Large projects happen next door to people who live there. We plan staging, dumpster placement, deliveries and working hours around South Pasadena rules, keep the site secured at the end of each day, and give you notice before loud or disruptive phases such as demolition, concrete pours or crane lifts, so you can give your neighbors a heads-up too.
Nearby Service Areas
We Also Build Near South Pasadena
FAQ
Building in South Pasadena: Common Questions
Do I need Cultural Heritage Commission approval to remodel my South Pasadena house?
It depends on whether the house is a designated landmark or sits in one of the city's historic districts. Exterior alterations, additions and demolitions on those properties generally need a Certificate of Appropriateness, reviewed against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. We check the property's status in the city's historic resources inventory before design starts, because it changes both the design approach and the schedule.
Can I build an ADU behind a Craftsman in a historic district?
Yes. State law still protects your right to build one, and the city has to act on a complete application within 60 days. What changes is the design review. If the unit can be seen from the street, the city can require materials, windows, siding and a roof form compatible with the main house. Placing the unit well behind the house often keeps those conditions simpler.
Are Monterey Hills homes treated differently from the rest of the city?
In some important ways, yes. The Monterey Hills include high and very high fire hazard severity zones, so new houses and major additions need ignition-resistant materials and attention to defensible space. The lots are also sloped, which brings soils reports, retaining walls and drainage planning that the flat Craftsman streets rarely need.
What happens if an oak tree stands where I want to build?
All oak species are protected under South Pasadena's tree ordinance, and removing a mature protected tree requires a permit reviewed by the Public Works Department, which has a certified arborist on staff. Removal is approved only under limited conditions, so we usually design around a healthy oak and plan root protection for the construction period.
Start Your Project
Start Your South Pasadena Project
Tell us what you are planning. We will visit the property, talk through options and costs, and send a written, line-item estimate.
Licensed California General Contractor · CSLB [CSLB LICENSE # PLACEHOLDER]