What we build · Guest Houses & Accessory Structures
Guest Houses, Pool Houses and Accessory Structures
A guest house is a small building governed by disproportionately complicated rules. Zoning, not design, determines what is possible.
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are. An honest range and the decisions that move it, before anyone quotes.
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Self-perform
Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations in house
Leadership
Delivered Fifth Avenue and Central Park West interiors
Open book
Where the contract is cost-plus, the books open
Zoning first, everything else second
Whether a second dwelling is permitted at all, whether it may have a kitchen, its maximum size, its setbacks, whether it can be rented, and whether it counts against lot coverage — all of that is decided by zoning and it varies street by street. Designing before confirming it is the standard way these projects waste money.
What zoning decides
- Whether an accessory dwelling is permitted on the parcel at all.
- Maximum size, often expressed as a fraction of the main house.
- Whether a full kitchen is allowed, which is frequently the dividing line.
- Setbacks and separation from the main structure.
- Rental restrictions, which matter if that is the intent.
How we handle it
- 01Confirm what the zoning permits before any design work.
- 02Establish utility routing and capacity from the main house.
- 03Design within the permitted envelope rather than seeking variances by default.
- 04Permit and build, coordinating with the main house services.
Utility routing is the cost people underestimate. Running water, sewer, power and data to a separate structure across a finished landscape is trenching, restoration and sometimes a service upgrade — and it can rival the cost of the building shell.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If the parcel does not permit a second dwelling, we will tell you rather than start a variance process with a low probability of success. Variances exist and they are not a plan.
FAQ
Common questions
- Can I build a guest house on my lot?
- A zoning question, and it varies street by street. Confirm before designing anything.
- Can it have a kitchen?
- Frequently the dividing line between an accessory structure and a second dwelling. Jurisdiction-specific.
- Can I rent it out?
- Often restricted. If that is the intent, establish it before you build.
- Why is it expensive for its size?
- A small building still needs foundations, systems and a full envelope — plus utility runs across your finished landscape.
The decisions
Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the unknown, and both answers are legitimate. What is not legitimate is a fixed price on drawings that cannot support one.
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Choosing a Builder
Three builders will show you three beautiful portfolios and three numbers that differ by a lot. The portfolio tells you what they photograph, not what they are like to build with.
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Allowances & Selections
An allowance is a placeholder for a decision you have not made. A contract full of them is a contract whose final number has not been decided.
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The Program
Every owner is told a number at the start and most projects take longer. The gap is usually permitting, long-lead items and decisions — rarely the building itself.
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Change Orders
Change orders are normal. Designs evolve, owners change their minds, and buildings reveal things. What is not normal is finding out about them at the end.
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More what we build
Custom Homes
A custom home is the only project where every decision is still open, which is exactly why it is the easiest one to lose control of financially.
Read more →
Waterfront Construction
On a waterfront lot the building is often the straightforward part. The water table, the seawall, the flood elevation and the permitting are what decide the program and a large share of the cost.
Read more →
Whole-House Renovation
Renovating an existing house is harder to price than building a new one, because a meaningful part of the scope is behind finishes nobody has opened.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.