Flat lots and deep back yards north of Ventura, hillside estates south of it. We build on both sides of the boulevard.
Licensed & insured · Free in-home consultation · Fixed written pricing
Tarzana exists because Edgar Rice Burroughs bought a 550-acre ranch here in 1919 and started subdividing it a few years later. That history still shows in the street pattern: the tracts closest to Reseda Boulevard were laid out early with generous lots, and the community grew outward from there through the postwar decades.
For a contractor, the useful way to read Tarzana is as two markets split by Ventura Boulevard. North of it, flat lots in a regular grid with 1950s and 1960s ranch and mid-century houses, real driveways, and deep rear yards. South of it, the ground climbs toward Mulholland, the lots grow to half an acre and beyond, and the housing runs to mid-century estates, gated pockets, and newer custom construction with valley views.
We work out of Encino, a couple of minutes east on Ventura, so both halves of Tarzana are effectively our home turf. That matters most on the hillside side, where knowing which streets a delivery truck can actually manage is not a detail you want to discover on the day the cabinets arrive.
The flats are also, in our experience, some of the better ADU lots in this part of the Valley. Deep back yards and detached garages are close to ideal for either a new detached unit or a conversion.
Tarzana permits through the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. Properties south of Ventura in the Santa Monica Mountains hillside area carry additional requirements around grading, height, and access. Several hillside pockets also sit within designated fire hazard severity zones, which affects exterior materials and detailing on the main house, on additions, on ADUs, and on outdoor structures. We check the parcel before specifying anything.
Reseda Boulevard is the spine, running from Ventura up into the hills along roughly the line of the old ranch. The streets branching off it as it climbs narrow and switchback, and some driveways will not accept a full-size delivery truck. We measure the delivery path during the consultation, size orders to fit it, and haul debris the same day rather than leaving a bin on a street with one usable lane.
A fixed written price after the walkthrough, with allowances itemized. On hillside lots we flag foundation, retaining, and drainage questions up front, because those are the items most likely to move a Tarzana budget.
Call (818) 881-8333Three broad categories, and they hand us very different problems.
The core of the housing north of Ventura. Single story, usually slab on grade, compartmentalized plans, a kitchen walled off from the living space, and a service panel sized for a very different era of appliance. Expect galvanized supply lines, aluminum single-pane windows, ducting added after the fact rather than designed in, and insulation that is thin where it exists at all. These are rewarding houses to remodel. The lots are generous, the structure is simple, and opening the kitchen to the living space is usually the change that most transforms daily life in one. The slab is the constraint: moving plumbing means trenching, and that is the largest single cost jump in most of these projects.
Post-and-beam construction, glass walls, low-pitch roofs, and exposed beam ceilings with no attic above them. Beautiful houses and genuinely more complex to remodel, because there is nowhere to hide a duct, a recessed can, or a bathroom exhaust. Those runs get solved with soffits, floor chases, or exterior routing, and all of it belongs at the drawing stage rather than the framing stage. Many also have original single-glazed window walls, which are the largest comfort and energy issue in the house and the most expensive one to address properly.
Larger properties on the hillside side, including the areas bordering El Caballero and Braemar and the gated pockets further south. Projects here run to additions, whole-house renovations, and substantial outdoor living work. The constraints are typically slope, retaining, drainage, protecting mature landscaping, and staging on a street where there is nowhere to put a container.
The oldest residential fabric in the community, dating to the original 1920s subdivisions along streets like Otis Drive and Tarzana Drive. Housing here is mixed, since lots sold over decades, and it is not unusual to find a 1920s structure that has been added onto three separate times by three separate owners. Those layers are worth investigating before demolition rather than during it.
On a slab-floor Tarzana ranch, the cheapest good kitchen is the one that keeps the sink and the range roughly where they are and spends the money on cabinets, lighting, and opening a wall. Relocating the plumbing is not impossible, it is simply the most expensive way to buy the same amount of counter space.
From the flats near the boulevard up into the hills toward Mulholland. If your street is not listed, call and ask.
A remodel on a flat lot near Ventura and a remodel on a sloped half-acre off Reseda are different projects at the same square footage. We price each on what is actually in front of us.
Six services, one crew. Tap any of them for full scope and process.
Layout, cabinets, counters, lighting, and the electrical a modern kitchen needs.
Primary suites, hall baths, and tub-to-shower conversions built from the membrane out.
Detached units, garage conversions, and JADUs from feasibility through final.
Rear additions, primary suites, second stories, and bump-outs.
Repiping, rewiring, structure, and every room on one schedule.
Covered patios, enclosures, outdoor kitchens, and hardscape.
Seven phases from first call to final walkthrough. Plan check runs alongside your material lead times rather than after them.
We walk the space, measure everything, open the panel, and check the access. On a hillside lot we look at the driveway, the street width, and whether a full-size truck can reach the house at all.
A measured layout, material options at three price points, and a fixed written price with allowances broken out. Revisions are free until the plan is right.
Long-lead items go on order first, sized to the delivery path we measured. LADBS submittal happens in parallel where a permit applies.
Dust walls up, temporary prep station set, old finishes out. Debris hauled the same day rather than sitting at the curb on a narrow street.
Plumbing, electrical, and framing while the walls are open. Galvanized lines and undersized circuits get dealt with here. The inspector signs off before anything is closed up.
Cabinets set and scribed, stone templated off installed boxes, then tile, flooring, lighting, and paint.
We walk it with you, write down every item, and clear the list before final payment.
On top of the usual variables, these are the ones that show up on a Tarzana quote and not on a quote three suburbs east.
Hold 10 to 15 percent in reserve. Most of this housing stock predates 1975, and the hillside lots add site variables the flats do not have. On the projects where the reserve goes unused, you keep it.
We do not publish a price range on this page. A number without a walkthrough behind it is a marketing figure, and it climbs the moment someone actually sees the house.
Tarzana sits in the middle of our service area. These are the communities closest to it.
The full list is in the footer. Not on it? Call (818) 881-8333 — we travel outside our core area for the right project.
We will walk the property, check the panel, the slab, and the access, and put a fixed written price in front of you. No charge, no obligation.