Building custom homes in the Greater Los Angeles area is rewarding yet challenging. From hemmed in lots by the beach to hillside mansions, the varied terrain is as difficult to navigate for contractors as the complex permitting systems for gated communities and urban infills. The contractors on this list are experts in executing a client’s vision for a custom home in spite of all of the potential obstacles.

10) Baldwin Construction Group

Website | (310)378-4812 | 1230 Rosecrans Avenue Suite 620 Manhattan Beach CA 90266

Baldwin Construction Group, a general contracting firm led by Dave and Hunter Baldwin,  Baldwin Construction Group works with respected Los Angeles architectural firms KAA Design, Tomaro Architecture Inc., and Michael Lee Architects. Baldwin Construction Group’s work has appeared in Los Angeles Magazine and 21st Century Beach Houses. The company has pulled permits for residential custom builds valued at tens of millions of dollars.

Featured Projects

Baldwin Construction Group built Monterey Boulevard, a 2,000 square-foot bungalow that stands as a high-end homage to life in Southern California. KAA Design took inspiration from a local lifeguard station. The ground floor, which is set behind street-side landscaping for privacy, is a mostly transparent volume. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors topped with clerestory windows connect the outdoors to the kitchen and living room within, and take full of advantage of sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. The upper story is cantilevered over the lower and is clad in warm, vertical, wood siding, a material that draws on the coastal aesthetic, and is repeated in the plank ceiling above the kitchen. The residence won an AIA South Bay Award for Excellence in Design. Baldwin Construction Group also worked on a 4,761 square-foot, six bedroom property in Manhattan Beach. Michael Lee Architects designed 3300 The Strand, a three-story home with a basement that makes the most of a coveted corner-lot near the beach.

9) Structure Home

Website | (818) 598-1330 | 21860 Burbank Blvd Suite 110 Woodland Hills CA 91367

Robert Kleiman, CEO of Structure Home, co-founded the firm in 1995 as a licensed contractor and real estate broker. Drawing on his 34 years of experience in construction, development, and marketing, Kleiman oversees Structure Home in land acquisition, business development, and design. Structure Home manages 10 to 20 home builds per year, making significant contributions and partnerships in their Los Angeles community.

Featured Projects

The Los Angeles Vision House is a spec project designed by KAA Design and P2 Design, to provide a template for the future of sustainable luxury living. As described in L.A. Times, the contemporary home in Pacific Palisades features high-end yet eco-friendly finishes. The bathrooms are dressed in glamorous Venezia porcelain tile. The great room flips the traditional with polished concrete flooring and a teak panel ceiling. Though the house seems compact from the street, it includes luxury amenities, like shaded terraces, an interior patio with a firepit, a front family room fashioned after a solarium, perimeter gardens, a master suite, and a chef’s kitchen complete with high-end appliances. Structure Home has also completed luxury projects in completely different styles, including an East Coast Colonial mansion, and a Mission Revival villa with second-story open air walkways and an interior courtyard with a pool.

8) Jones Builders Group

Website | (310) 456-6655 | 23823 Malibu Road Suite 50 Malibu CA 90265

French singer and television personality David Charvet partnered with construction veteran Nathan Jones to create Jones Builders Group, a high-end custom home builder. Between Jones’ experience building unique luxury homes in Venice, Malibu, and the Hollywood Hills, and Charvet’s design sensibilities, the young company has managed to carve out a place for itself in the competitive bespoke home market in Southern California. Projects with high-profile collaborators, like Burdge Architects, have drawn attention from L.A. Times and The Wall Street Journal. Charvet has even appeared on Entertainment Tonight to discuss the firm’s luxury developments. Besides building tasteful yet indulgent residences, Jones Builders Group also tackles select commercial projects.

Featured Projects

Jones Builders Group built a home for actress and dancer Brooke Burke-Charvet to share with the firm’s co-founder, David Charvet. Celebrity architect Doug Burdge designed the Malibu mansion, taking inspiration from the chateaus of the South of France. The home is half the size of the family’s first Jones Builders Group home but manages to include a 4,000-bottle wine cellar. Outside, the courtyard is finished with hand-plastered walls that bounce warm light from gas lamps around the perimeter. From the cabana, the Charvets and their guests enjoy their view of cypress trees and an infinity pool. The outdoor fireplace is framed in large stones, topped with a 2,000-pound mantel.

7) Gonterman Construction

Website | (949) 697-0746 | 2043 Westcliff Drive Suite 213 Newport Beach CA 92660

Gonterman Construction began in 1996 with Founder and President Jason Gonterman, a passionate home builder and developer. As Project Manager, he brings his experience with both sides of the business to each of the firm’s luxury residential projects, with most of that business coming from word-of-mouth client referrals. Over the last 20 years, the firm has built and fully remodeled dozens of luxury homes. Gonterman Construction has appeared several times in Modern Luxury Orange County and California Interiors. Their work has also drawn the attention of Ocean Home Magazine and Modern Luxury Interiors California. As a collaborator with celebrity interior designer Jeff Lewis, Gonterman Construction has also appeared on Bravo’s home renovation show Flipping Out.

Featured Projects

Architectural Digest featured Gonterman’s full renovation of Crest, a modern vintage farmhouse in Huntington Beach. The house exudes character despite a subdued palette; herringbone, washed wood-plank floors, a painted white brick fireplace surround, and interior white wood cladding tell a story through texture. Rather than a modern floor plan, the home has defined living spaces that breathe. The dining room is open to the family room, but it can be closed off with sliding barn doors of glass panes between rough-hewn wood framing. A rare splash of black in the kitchen, the oversized floating island with seating for four anchors the center of this family home.

6) Richard Holz Builders, Inc.

Website | (310) 476-6761 | 520 South Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 407  Los Angeles CA 90049

Founder and President of Rich Holz Builders, Inc. (RHI), Rich Holz, has maintained a small team since establishing his firm in 1985. Also a licensed architect, Holz has led multi-million-dollar builds in Bel Air, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and the company’s native Beverly Hills. RHI frequently collaborates with KAA Design, Richard Manion Architecture, and Rios Clementi Hale Studios, leaders in Southern California architecture. Their work has drawn attention from California Home & Design and AIA South Bay chapter.

Featured Projects

Richard Holz, Inc. partnered with KAA Design on BalanceHill, a home perched on a hillside overlooking the Los Angeles basin. The AIA South Bay Design Award-winning house evokes a mid-century modern aesthetic along an architectural plan that plays to the property’s dramatic views. Inset floor-to-ceiling windows allow for expansive views, while also affording privacy and controlling sunlight. Inside and out, the house is a series of stone and wood volumes connected with transparent glass walkways and lighter plaster components. The house feels anchored on its coveted precipice, but still airy and open to the Southern California environment. In a high-profile renovation project, homeowners entrusted Richard Holz, Inc. with a full remodel of an historic home in Silver Lake. Legendary Southern California architect Paul R. Williams designed the home known as the Monterrey Mediterranean in 1935.

5) Gordon Gibson Construction

Website | (310) 396-9310 | 3000 31st Suite G Santa Monica CA 90405

Over the last 50 years, Gordon Gibson Construction has mastered construction of luxury homes in various sizes and architectural styles. Founder and CEO Gordon Gibson works with President Jason Maltas to deliver high-quality builds in some of Los Angeles’ most coveted neighborhoods. Veranda, Architectural Digest, California Homes, and Los Angeles Business Journal have featured some of Gordon Gibson Construction’s most luxurious residential projects. Philip Vertoch, Sinclair Associates, and Landry Design Group are among the Los Angeles architecture giants who have entrusted Gordon Gibson Construction with bringing their visions to life.

Featured Projects

Gordon Gibson Construction flipped a Mid-Century Modern, 5,368 square-foot home in the exclusive Trousdale Estates. Before the total remodel, the home sold for $4.3M, and after it went on the market, for $14.5M. The original home was built in 1964. Gordon Gibson Construction elevated it to a completely automated contemporary home, but maintained some of the original architectural features. The house has four bedrooms and five baths, and unique features like frameless, glass garage doors, a zero-edge pool, and solid Calacatta marble countertops and backsplashes. Wraparound floor-to-ceiling windows with minimal framing open the home to sweeping views.

4) Bonura Building

Website | (323) 478-0101 | 3235 San Fernando Road Building No. 5 Los Angeles CA 90065

Principal and Founder of general contracting firm Bonura Building, C.J. Bonura is a licensed architect known for building strong client relationships. A design-build and construction company, Bonura Building works on luxury custom homes, remodels, and high-end retail spaces. The firm specializes in mid-century modern and contemporary architecture. Architectural Digest, Curbed LA, LA Times, and Variety are among the publications that have featured Bonura Building’s beautiful homes.

Featured Projects

Bonura Building completed a total remodel of 3023 Longdale Lane, the former home of singer John Legend and model Chrissy Teigen. The couple were drawn to the 1960s-vintage aesthetic of the original Hollywood Hills home, but it was in need of an update. With designer Don Stewart, the team completely gutted the house and reimagined the 2,200 square-foot abode to include three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a recording studio, and multiple terraces, capitalizing on the Southern California lifestyle. A two-story vaulted ceiling rises over the great room, which is separated from an outdoor deck and green space by floor-to-ceiling sliding glass panels. Beyond are paths that weave in and out of drought-resistant hillside gardens and amenities like outdoor daybeds and a hot tub. For privacy, builders added a Cor-Ten steel garage at the front of the house, and enclosed the front yard behind an etched bronze entry gate.

3) Tyler Development Corporation

Website | (310) 478-9989 | 1932 Cotner Avenue Los Angeles CA 90025

Tyler Development has been building luxury homes in the Greater Los Angeles area for over 30 years. Ron Udall established the general contracting firm in 1980 following a career as a Sales Engineer and residential construction Project Administrator. Among the more than 275 custom homes the firm has built, Tyler Development has built luxury estates for celebrities such as Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen. They have also worked with top high-end residential architects Paul McClean and Richard Landry. With two LEED certified project managers on staff, Tyler Development stays committed to building beautiful and environmentally responsible homes. Their work has been featured in Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Luxe Interiors, Robb Report, and more.

Photo Courtesy of CM Peck

Featured Projects

Tyler Development is building a Bel Air residence that Jay-Z and Beyonce will soon call “home.” The music industry titans paid $88M for the property designed by Paul McClean, a complex of six buildings spread across two acres that features an eight-bedroom, eleven-bath main house. The 30,000 square-foot home has a recording studio, full-sized basketball court, and an extravagant four outdoor pools. Other features include a 15-car garage, separate staff quarters, and 10,000 square feet of outdoor living spaces. The famous family should feel safe behind their homes bulletproof windows and glass pocket-doors.

2) JD Group

Website | (310)575-5551 | 1537 Pontius Avenue Suite B Los Angeles CA 90025

Almost 30 years ago Dan McGhee saw an opportunity in the custom home building space to provide a higher quality of service than the average construction outfits. That was the goal back in 1989, and today, JD Group homes have been in the pages of California Homes, Luxe, and the luxury-lifestyle magazine Robb Report. The firm has completed everything from ground-up builds of Spanish Revival compounds to contemporary renovations of historic properties to great success. Their Fleur de Lys Estate project hit the market at $125M, and they frequently build in the celebrity enclave Beverly Park. With the help of LEED-experienced and LEED Accredited Professional staff members, the company specializes in both building green homes from the ground up and making gradual renovations to existing residences to achieve sustainable, eco-friendly designs.

Featured Projects

Fleur de Lys is a massive estate in Holmby Hills. The enormous mansion sits on a 4.6-acre property. Homeowners can spread out across the house’s sprawling 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, and ballroom with space for 500 guests. The estate, built from imported limestone, also includes a pool and spa, a tennis court, formal gardens, a library, designated staff quarters, and a 3,000 square-foot wine cellar with private tasting room sold for $102M in an all-cash deal, a record-breaking number for Los Angeles County. The sale surpassed the existing record by $8M.

1) Finton Construction

Website | (626) 445-1044 | 1199 East Walnut Pasadena CA 91106

John Finton established Finton Construction over 20 years ago, forging a path as a leader in luxury custom home building. The firm now manages thirty projects in the U.S. and abroad, working out of offices in Mexico, Orange County, and Los Angeles. Finton has worked with several of Los Angeles’ top architecture firms, including KAA and Landry Design Group. The company collaborated with the latter on Mark Wahlberg’s Beverly Hills mega-mansion. Modern Luxury Interiors, California Homes, Angeleno, Architectural Digest, and The Wall Street Journal are among the publications that have featured Finton residential projects. The firm has received numerous awards, including a Gold Nugget Grand Award and Award of Merit, and the Robb Report 2012 title Ultimate Home of the Year.

Featured Projects

Finton Construction remodeled a home designed by famed architect A. Quincy Jones. The Bel Air estate, which includes private wine vineyards, sold to Jennifer Aniston in 2012 for north of $20M. Designs by architect Frederick Fisher called for an intelligent reimagining of the Modernist property. Originally intended strictly for staff use, the 8,000 square-foot house’s main kitchen was transformed to an open floor plan entertaining space that would function as the family home’s center. Finton also added new fireplaces throughout and a pool house. All of the home’s finishes were updated to reflect a contemporary aesthetic. The contractor introduced rift-sawn white oak, concrete and teak flooring, and steel-framed fiberglass wall panels.

Finton also built Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Park compound, a sprawling Mediterranean-style property with 40,000 square feet of living space, a swimming pool, a home theater, and a two-story library.