Service area · North Hollywood
Room Additions in North Hollywood
North Hollywood is part of the City of Los Angeles, so permits run through LADBS and the citywide zoning code applies. What makes NoHo its own problem is the housing: a lot of it is small, a lot of it is multi-unit, and a lot of it sits on flat rectangular lots with an alley at the back, which is the single best starting condition for a detached addition anywhere in the Valley.
Local conditions
What North Hollywood homes are built like
The older core around the Arts District runs to 1920s Spanish and Craftsman bungalows. North and east of that, the dominant stock is 1940s and 1950s stucco: single-family homes, but also a large number of duplexes, triplexes and small courtyard apartment buildings built during the post-war expansion. Lots are typically 6,000 to 7,000 square feet, flat, regular, and frequently served by a rear alley.
Alley access changes the economics of a detached structure. A backyard unit or a converted garage that opens onto an alley gets its own approach without cutting a new driveway across the front yard, and construction traffic stays off your street. Where a lot has that, it is usually the first thing we look at.
North Hollywood at a glance
- Permitting authority
- LADBS handles plan check and inspection. NoHo is flat, so the Baseline Hillside Ordinance does not apply and the governing limits are the ordinary ones: setbacks, lot coverage, height and floor area. The wrinkle here is zoning mix. A lot of NoHo is zoned R2 or R3 rather than R1, which affects how many units a parcel can carry and therefore what an addition or an accessory unit is allowed to be. That gets confirmed against the actual zoning of your parcel before design.
- Neighborhoods we work in
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- NoHo Arts District
- Valley Village
- Toluca Woods and the Toluca Lake edge
- Whitsett South
- Camellia Square and Chandler Boulevard
- The Laurel Grove and Bakman pockets
On the ground
What we run into in North Hollywood
Original electrical service is the most common upgrade. A lot of the post-war stock still runs a 100 amp panel, which will not carry an addition plus a modern kitchen plus air conditioning. We price the panel in from the start rather than discovering it at rough electrical.
Sewer laterals in the older sections are frequently clay and frequently at the end of their life. If an addition adds fixtures, the lateral gets scoped before we commit to a plumbing plan.
Valley summers drive the mechanical design. An addition here needs its glazing oriented and shaded deliberately and its cooling sized for August rather than for the average day, or you end up with a room nobody uses for three months of the year.
Most requested here
What we build most often in North Hollywood
Garage Conversions & Additions
Alley-served garages are the cheapest square footage on most NoHo lots.
See details →Custom Room Additions
Ground-up additions on flat, regular lots with room to work.
See details →Kitchen Additions
Opening up the small closed kitchens of the post-war stock.
See details →What we build
Room addition services we build in North Hollywood
The same crew handles all of it. Whichever of these you are considering, the estimate and the permit work run the same way.
Service area
North Hollywood and the surrounding neighborhoods
Straight answers
North Hollywood questions we get asked
Is North Hollywood permitted through LADBS?
Yes. North Hollywood is part of the City of Los Angeles, so plan check and inspection run through LADBS. The Van Nuys office is the closest counter, and it is one of the locations that offers expanded counter plan check, which matters for medium-sized additions.
My lot has an alley behind it. Does that help?
Usually a great deal. Alley access lets a detached structure have its own approach without a new driveway across the front, keeps construction traffic off your street, and makes a backyard unit far easier to lay out. On a flat NoHo lot with an alley, a detached addition is often the cheapest and least disruptive option.
My property is a duplex. Does that change what I can build?
It changes the zoning math rather than the construction. A lot of North Hollywood is zoned R2 or R3, and the number of units a parcel already carries affects what else it can carry. We confirm the parcel's actual zoning and existing unit count before drawing anything, because that determines the whole envelope.
Will an addition need a new electrical panel?
In most 1940s and 1950s North Hollywood homes, yes. Original service here is commonly 100 amps, which will not support an addition alongside a modern kitchen and air conditioning. We include the upgrade in the estimate rather than raising it as a change order once walls are open.
Start here
Planning an addition in North Hollywood?
We'll come out, look at the house and the lot, tell you what North Hollywood's rules will actually allow, and put a written, itemized estimate in your hands.
Call (626) 726-3989, or use the form and we'll get back to you, usually the same day.
We also serve: Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Woodland Hills, Northridge, Reseda, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks.
Talk to us about your North Hollywood project
Send us the shape of it and we'll call you back, usually the same day. You will talk to someone who builds these, not a scheduler.
Ready to talk about your addition?
Tell us what you are picturing and we will tell you what it takes to build it, what your city will allow, and where the money actually goes.