The short answer
For a new custom home with mid-to-upper finishes, our planning range is roughly $400 to $700 per square foot of living space. That covers building the house, the finish allowances, and design and permit work through our design-build process. It does not cover the land, government fees or site work outside the house. Seven things move a house within or beyond that range: the site, the structure, the envelope, the systems, the finish level, design complexity and size. Hillside lots, basements and very high-end finishes regularly push custom homes well past it.
"What does it cost per square foot?" is the first question almost every custom-home client asks us, and it's a fair one. It's also the number most likely to mislead you, because two honest builders can quote very different figures for what sounds like the same house. This article explains what's inside our number, what isn't, and the seven things that actually move it.
We're a design-build general contractor in Studio City, building new homes, rebuilds and major remodels across West Los Angeles. The ranges here come from our own recent pricing. They are past-project ranges, not quotes, and every regulatory statement links to its official source.
What does a custom home cost per square foot in West LA?
For a new home with mid-to-upper finishes, our planning range is roughly $400 to $700 per square foot of conditioned living space. It comes from homes we've built and invoiced recently, and it is deliberately wide.
The range assumes a buildable lot without major grading, a conventional foundation, a reasonably efficient plan, and finish allowances in the mid-to-upper band: custom cabinetry, stone counters, quality tile and fixtures, but not imported one-off pieces throughout.
Homes outside those assumptions land outside the range. A hillside lot in the Hollywood Hills, a full basement in Brentwood or Beverly Hills, or a design built around large steel-framed openings can take a house well past it. Those projects aren't worse value; they're different houses.
What's inside a per-square-foot number, and what isn't?
Our per-square-foot range covers building the house (foundation, framing, roof, windows and doors, exterior finishes, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems, insulation, drywall, supervision and general conditions), the finish allowances, and design and permit work handled through our design-build process.
It does not cover:
- The land, or demolition of an existing house
- Design fees from an independent architect, if you hire one separately
- Permit, plan-check, school and utility fees charged by government agencies
- Site work outside the house: driveway, hardscape, landscape, pools, retaining walls
- Garages, basements and covered outdoor rooms, which we price separately
- Upgrades you select above the allowances in the contract
Site work varies too much by lot to put a percentage on, which is why we price it separately after seeing the property.
If one number you've been given looks much lower than another, the first question is which of these items each one includes.
What actually drives the number?
1. The site
The lot decides what happens below grade. A flat lot with good soils takes a conventional slab or raised foundation. A sloped lot, or soils that the geotechnical engineer flags as expansive or uncompacted, can call for caissons, grade beams, over-excavation or retaining walls. That work is invisible in the finished house and can be one of the largest single swings in the budget. Access matters too: a narrow street with no staging area slows deliveries and adds labor.
2. The structure
Simple, stacked walls are efficient. Wide openings, cantilevers, vaulted ceilings and second floors that don't align with the first all need more engineering, and often steel moment frames or beams. A home designed around a 20-foot opening to the garden will cost more than one with conventional windows, because of the structure needed to hold that opening, before you count the door itself.
3. The envelope
Windows, doors, roofing and exterior cladding are a big share of a new home's cost. Large sliding or folding door systems, steel-look windows, standing-seam metal roofs and hand-troweled plaster all sit at the upper end. In a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the wildland-urban interface rules also set requirements for roofing, vents, glazing and exterior walls. Those rules now sit in Title 24, Part 7, effective January 1, 2026 (see the Building Standards Commission).
4. The systems
Every new single-family home in California needs fire sprinklers, a code-compliant energy design and the systems that support it. The 2025 Energy Code, which applies to permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2026, expands the use of heat pumps in new homes. Beyond what the code requires, choices like radiant floors, whole-house audio and lighting control, battery storage or a generator add cost that you'll see in the line items.
5. The finish level
This is where same-size houses diverge most. Cabinetry, millwork, stone, tile, plumbing fixtures, lighting and flooring can easily account for a large share of the difference between the low and high ends of a range. In our proposals, these are set as allowances, so you can see the budget for each category and decide where to spend. Our page on how we price a project shows how allowances, overages and credits work.
6. Design complexity
Complex roof lines, many corners, curved walls, mixed exterior materials and custom details each add labor. None of them is wrong; some of the most beautiful Westside houses are complex. But a quiet, well-proportioned plan with a simple roof will always cost less per foot than a busy one of the same size.
7. Size
Kitchens, bathrooms, mechanical rooms and the foundation edge cost roughly the same whether a house is 2,500 or 4,000 square feet. Spread over fewer feet, they make a smaller house cost more per square foot, even though it costs less in total. Bathroom count is a good example: adding a bath without adding area raises the per-foot cost noticeably.
How big can I build, and how does that affect cost?
In the City of Los Angeles, lot size and zoning set how much floor area you're allowed to build. Most single-family lots outside hillside areas follow the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance and its later amendments, which cap residential floor area relative to lot size. Hillside lots follow a separate hillside ordinance. You can look up your parcel's zoning on ZIMAS. We check this at the very start, because the allowable area often decides the budget more than any finish choice.
Three ways the same budget question plays out
These are illustrations of how the drivers combine, not quotes.
A single-story home on a flat lot in Mar Vista
Simple footprint, conventional foundation, mid-to-upper finishes, attached garage priced separately. This is the kind of house that tends to land in the lower half of our range. The main variables are the window package and the finish allowances.
A two-story home with a basement in Brentwood
The above-grade house may sit in the middle of the range. The basement is priced separately and carries its own excavation, shoring and waterproofing costs. Two homes with the same above-grade square footage can differ by a wide margin because of what's below grade.
A hillside home in Hollywood
Foundations, retaining walls, access and staging can add significant cost before anything goes vertical. On these lots, the soils and geology reports are the most important early documents, and the per-square-foot number for the house alone tells only part of the story.
How do I compare two builders' numbers?
- Line up the scope. Use the "not included" list above and ask each builder to mark what's in and out.
- Compare allowances, not just totals. A low bid with low allowances often becomes the higher final cost.
- Check how square footage was measured. Conditioned area only, or garage and covered outdoor space included?
- Ask what's assumed about the site. Foundation type, soils, grading and utilities.
- Look at exclusions. Every proposal has them. What matters is that they're written down.
How should I set a budget before I design?
Start from the total you're comfortable spending, then work backward. Set aside the land-side costs and soft costs, set a contingency for things nobody can see yet, and divide what's left by a realistic per-foot range for your site and finish level. That gives you a target size before an architect or designer draws a line, which keeps the design aimed at a house you can actually build.
A survey and a soils report early on, plus a zoning check, remove most of the uncertainty that makes early numbers unreliable. If you'd like help pressure-testing a budget against a specific lot, that's exactly what a first consultation with us is for.
For a first range on your own lot, configure it in the pricing guide.
Sources
Rules and programs change. We link to the official source for every regulatory statement in this article; check it for the current version before you rely on it.
- California Energy Commission: 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (apply to permit applications on or after January 1, 2026)
- California Building Standards Commission: current codes (2025 Title 24)
- California Office of the State Fire Marshal: Building in the Wildland (WUI construction requirements)
- Los Angeles City Planning: Baseline Mansionization Ordinance Q&A
- ZIMAS: City of Los Angeles zoning and parcel information
- LADBS: Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety