Local Resources for Building or Reconstructing a Home in Tahoe

As we get into the summer building season, you may be thinking about how to begin that bathroom or kitchen remodel you’ve been dreaming about, or that deck or chimney you need to get rebuilt after last winter’s wet and heavy snowstorms. Or maybe you just bought a plot of land that you want to build a custom home on or are planning a full renovation. 

Therefore, if you need an excellent architect, engineer, or building company to help you get started (or even accompanying services such as a commercial cleaning/sanitizing crew), one that understands what works and doesn’t in the North Lake Tahoe environment, we have some recommendations of prestigious firms that are right here close to home: 

Greenwood Homes

Licensed to build homes in California, Nevada, and Hawaii, Greenwood Homes is an award-winning general contractor that specializes in creating gorgeous custom homes all around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond. Just look at its 6,000-sq.-ft. “Fairway Modern” home in Incline Village that won the 2019 Tahoe Quarterly Mountain Home Award with its light-filled simple beauty, and you’ll see what sets Greenwood Homes apart from the rest. 

James Costalupes General Contractor, Inc. 

James “Jim” Costalupes and his team have been conceptualizing and building homes in Lake Tahoe for more than three decades, all while keeping its stellar reputation for maintaining honest communication and giving forthright advice to its clients as it meets local and regional regulations down to the final walk-through. Headquartered in Incline Village, Jim prides himself on keeping a company that provides utmost craftsmanship and knowledge while keeping budget in mind. View James Costalupes’ portfolio online.

Smith Design Group

Based in Incline Village right on Country Club Boulevard, the Smith Design Group is an architecture and planning firm that has worked on everything from the Jack Rabbit Moon building to the Incline Skate Park. Along with dedicating themselves to enhancing and enriching the local environment for all of the community to enjoy, Smith Design Group has worked on the architectural projects for residential homes including “Pinecone” featuring knotted polished floor-to-ceiling wood finishings and sleek stone fireplaces to the interior bathroom remodel of a Mays Boulevard location that has a contemporary stand-alone bathtub, double sinks, and glass encased shower like what you would find at a five-star resort. Visit the Smith Design Group online.

Elise Fett Architect 

Integrating aesthetics, site characteristics, sustainable housing methods, and structural integrity in every project that it engages in, Crystal Bay’s Elise Fett & Associates specializes in architecture, engineering, and TRPA consulting for residential homes in the Lake Tahoe area. Along with building new homes, Elise Fett can provide cost-effective blueprints for home remodels that reflect their inhabitants’ personalities and lifestyles. “The construction process can be intimidating and full of unexpected surprises, but if you work with us, the one thing you know for sure is that we will listen to you and design a space that truly reflects your style,” the company proclaims. Learn more about Elise Fett.

Other Accompanying Services

After building or remodeling your custom Tahoe home, you may need some final additions like a keyless entry system or a cleaning company to help keep your Tahoe haven peaceful and secure. Here are some Incline Village/Crystal Bay property services that are great to work with: 

North Lake Tahoe Cleaning 

Whether you own one property or several, North Lake Tahoe Cleaning group is a professional commercial cleaning business that handles carpets, linen service, and sanitizing spaces so that you don’t have to. Working with property management companies, second homeowners, and short-term rentals as well, North Lake Tahoe Cleaning has spiffed up more than 2400 homes in its 38 years of business. As it says on its website, “You live and work in North Tahoe to ski the slopes of Northstar and paddle the beaches of Incline Village- not to hang out after work cleaning your office. Leave that to us.” 

Lake Tahoe Lockshop

Based right there in the Christmas Tree Village sandwiched between Crosby’s and the new Happy Tiers Bakery, Lake Tahoe Lockshop is your one-stop-shop for everything security-related. Padlocks, latches, key blanks, store-a-key lockboxes, and miscellaneous key accessories can be found in the store, along with high-security ASSA locks, keyless entry systems, and Schlage/Kwikset/Baldwin combination code keypads. If they don’t have it, they’ll order it, and you can install it yourself or Lake Tahoe Lockshop can do it for you. It’s open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm. Visit Lake Tahoe Lockshop online. 

Sierra Mobile Storage

Many homeowners find they need extra storage as they approach a building or renovation. Luke and Staci Stevenson’s Sierra Mobile Storage offer portable, attractive weatherproof storage and moving containers in two sizes and two styles, including a Tahoe-forest themed wrap. Storage containers can be delivered to remain onsite so you can access all your belongings and materials during the project or moved to their secure storage yard until you are ready to have them delivered back to your project. Think Inside the Box! Call Sierra Mobile Storage at 775-549-3333. Visit online to see the Tahoe wrapped version.

Additional Information About North Lake Tahoe Construction Season

To help preserve Tahoe’s natural environment, there are regulations and restrictions about new construction projects and upgrading existing homes. Along with going through the usual procedure of getting permits through the building department, the TRPA (Tahoe Regional Planning Association) decides if you can even build a home and if so, how big it can be. Permits to build a new house from the ground up can cost $25,000-$35,000 alone for a 1500-3000 square foot space, so that’s something to consider when launching your project. The window to complete new construction (because of weather) is between May 1-October 15. For more information about this process, click here.

Happy Building!