ClarityConstruction Design · Build · Remodel

Serving Los Gatos · Santa Clara County

Your remodeling contractor in Los Gatos

Remodeling for a town with real architecture and real rules: Victorian districts, hillside standards, protected trees, and homes worth doing properly.

Remodeling in Los Gatos

Los Gatos remodeling, from the Victorian districts to the hillsides.

Los Gatos holds some of the South Bay's best residential architecture: five historic districts, with Broadway, the town's first subdivision from 1881, and Fairview Plaza, where three quarters of the homes predate 1900, carrying genuine Victorians and craftsman houses, and the hillsides above town carrying homes with views that deserve their remodels. We serve all of it from Santa Clara, twenty minutes down the road.

This is a town where who draws your plans matters, because the town reviews carefully: historic districts have their own design expectations, the hillsides have adopted development standards, and the tree canopy is protected. Our approach fits that: measure carefully, draw honestly, price it fixed, and take the package through review without drama.

City hall, handled

Permits in Los Gatos, handled for you.

The town's Community Development Department runs an all-digital process: no paper plan sets, everything filed through the online permit portal, with direct online issuance for minor residential work like water heaters, reroofs and panel upgrades. Full remodels, additions and ADUs go through electronic plan review, which we manage end to end, and the town offers pre-application meetings we use to de-risk bigger projects before you spend real money.

Homes in the historic districts, Broadway, Almond Grove, Fairview Plaza, University-Edelen, carry design review tied to each district's character. On the hillsides, the town's Hillside Development Standards govern homes in the mapped hillside areas, and grading, height and siting are all designed to those standards from the first sketch.

Trees are protected town-wide, with permits required for many removals and even some pruning, and canopy replacement standards. We put the arborist's survey on the table before the floor plan.

The housing stock

What Los Gatos homes ask for.

The Victorians and craftsman homes near downtown want restraint outside and modern performance inside: kitchens and baths rebuilt to today's standards, systems quietly replaced, and street faces kept true to the district. That balance is the whole craft, and it is one we enjoy.

The hillside homes are a different discipline: structure first, water management always, and additions engineered to the slope. They are also where a fixed written price earns its keep, because hillside surprises are real, and anything the slope might be hiding is flagged before you sign as a potential change order with an estimated range, not sprung on you mid-build.

Los Gatos questions

What Los Gatos homeowners ask us.

Do you handle historic district review in Los Gatos?

Yes. Each district carries its own design expectations, and we prepare drawings that respect them, then take the package through the town's review as part of the job.

What are the hillside rules?

The town's Hillside Development Standards and Guidelines apply to the mapped hillside areas and shape height, grading and siting. We design to them from the start, with the engineering the slope actually needs.

Can I build an ADU in Los Gatos?

Yes. The town routes ADU applicants through the countywide collaborative's guidebook and plan resources, and state law guarantees ministerial review on a 60-day clock with four-foot side and rear setbacks. Hillside lots take more engineering; flat lots near downtown are straightforward.

Do trees complicate remodels here?

They shape them. Los Gatos requires permits for many removals and some pruning, with canopy replacement standards, so we design additions around the trees that must stay.

Free consultation

Planning a remodel in Los Gatos?

Tell us what you are imagining. We will walk the space, explain what your city requires, and put a fixed price in writing.

We reply within one business day. No sales visit, no pressure. Prefer to talk now? Call (408) 443-2393.

Thank you. We have your details.

One of our project leads will call you within one business day. If you need us sooner, call (408) 443-2393.