Building in Portola Valley, on hillsides that have their own opinions.
Custom homes, whole-house remodels, additions and ADUs on Portola Valley's large sloping lots, from a Peninsula builder with four finished projects in town and a working knowledge of the ASCC.
Four Portola Valley homes, on the kind of lots the town is made of.
Nuvision has four completed projects in Portola Valley on record, remodels and additions on hillside and valley-floor lots from the Alpine Road side of town to the streets off Portola Road. It is the largest share of our work west of Interstate 280, and it has taught us how the town reviews a project and how its ground behaves under a foundation.
Each one is a red house on our map of where we have worked, drawn near rather than on the property. We also build over the ridge in Woodside and down the hill in Menlo Park, and we are glad to introduce you to a Portola Valley client when you are deciding.
Mid-century hillside houses, big lots and a town that keeps them rural
Portola Valley was laid out in the 1950s and 60s, and much of it still is what it was then: low, wood-sided ranch and post-and-beam houses on one-acre and larger lots in Ladera, Westridge, Portola Valley Ranch and along Alpine Road, under oaks and against open hills. The town has worked for sixty years to keep it that way, which shapes what owners build and how. They ask us for a few things in particular.
Whole-house remodels of mid-century homes
Opening a 1962 ranch to the view it was built for, new kitchens and baths, and the structural, seismic and energy work a sixty-year-old hillside house needs, done so the outside still belongs to the street.
Additions on sloping lots
A primary suite or family room stepped down the slope, drawn to the town's floor-area and impervious-surface limits, with engineered foundations where the soils report asks for them.
Custom homes and ADUs
Ground-up homes and teardown-rebuilds from your architect's drawings through ASCC review and the county's septic permits where there is no sewer, and detached ADUs or guest houses sized to what the lot and the septic field will carry.
What the Town of Portola Valley asks of a project
- ASCC design review — the town's Architectural and Site Control Commission reviews new homes, additions and most visible exterior work, with the Planning Department at Town Center on Portola Road handling the submittal. Low profiles, natural materials, dark-sky lighting, native planting and keeping a house below the ridgeline are the recurring themes. We build the ASCC calendar into the schedule from the start.
- Geotechnical review — Portola Valley sits on the San Andreas fault, and the town's geologic map and its own town geologist review every project. Soils reports, engineered foundations and setbacks from fault traces and landslide zones are part of our first budget, not a surprise later.
- Septic, fire and trees — much of the town is off the sewer, so San Mateo County Environmental Health permits the septic system; the Woodside Fire Protection District reviews access, sprinklers and defensible space; and the town protects its oaks closely. All three decide where a house can sit and how big it can be.
- Reach code and Title 24 — Portola Valley adopted all-electric amendments for new construction. Heat-pump mechanical, electric-ready kitchens and panel capacity are priced into our proposals.
- One quote that holds — detailed, line-item proposals before demolition, and changes priced in writing before they happen.
"Tomio communicated early and often. We always knew where we stood and when things would get done next. Tomio ensured our house was move-in ready on time, by the agreed upon date."
"Responsive, friendly, great attention to detail, and they don't break the bank! Working with Tomio is always a treat."
A Portola Valley property with a project on it?
Send a few photos and your wish list. We'll walk it with you and tell you honestly what it takes.