Rebuilding After a Fire: What We’re Seeing While Working With Families in Altadena and the Palisades

Over the past few months, our team has spent a lot of time in both Altadena and the Palisades meeting with homeowners, walking sites, and helping families understand what their rebuild journey might look like. Every situation is different, but many of the same questions and concerns come up across both communities.

Many homeowners are planning without the full picture

A lot of families are thinking through ideas for what their future home could be and, at the same time, trying to estimate what the construction budget should look like. The challenge is that without real design work or clarity on what the site actually requires, those early numbers are simply rough placeholders.

This is completely normal. People are juggling insurance conversations, temporary housing, and the emotional weight of losing a home unexpectedly. It’s hard to make confident decisions when so many pieces are still unknown.

A few things worth keeping in mind early

These aren’t instructions, just themes we’ve seen consistently across the families we’re working with:

• Make sure you understand your insurance position before locking in a design
  
  
• Be clear about the budget tied to your vision so the team can guide you toward something realistic and buildable
  
  
• Hillside, slope, and fire-affected lots come with additional considerations that should be accounted for
  
  
• Understanding how design and permitting connect helps keep everything aligned
  
  
• The design needs to match a budget that can actually be built
  
  
• Having one team guide both design and construction keeps the process coordinated and predictable
  
  

Every property and every family has its own circumstances. The goal early on is to make decisions based on clarity, not assumptions.

Have the conversations early

One thing we see over and over is that homeowners benefit from talking through their situation sooner rather than later. Even a short conversation helps bring clarity to the unknowns and gives families a better sense of what is possible, what is realistic, and what steps should come next.

There is no perfect moment to start, and you do not need every answer before reaching out. The earlier you speak with someone who understands ground-up construction, the faster you can move from uncertainty to a plan that fits your situation.

Why the right experience matters

Our background in custom homes, along with the multifamily ground-up projects we’ve completed, has given us experience managing complex builds where structure, budget, logistics, and schedule all have to be aligned. We’ve worked through hillside challenges, difficult terrain, and neighborhoods that require precision and a higher standard of execution. This experience is what allows us to guide families through a process that stays grounded, predictable, and accountable from start to finish.

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Our Team on the Ground

You’ll find our team in both communities throughout the week meeting with homeowners, reviewing insurance scopes, walking properties, and helping families understand the road ahead. Our approach is simple. We ask the right questions early, we bring clarity when things feel uncertain, and we tailor the plan to each family’s situation.

Rebuilding a home is personal, and our goal is to make the process feel clear, manageable, and aligned with what each homeowner needs.