Your Questions, Answered Honestly

We're the right fit if you're doing a custom home build, an ADU, a large-scale renovation, or a significant addition in Nevada County or the greater foothills region. We work best with clients who want quality over speed, value honest communication over happy talk, and want a contractor who will still be around and accountable after the job is done.

Before hiring any contractor, we also recommend reviewing these important questions to ask a home builder in Nevada County so you can make a confident and informed decision.

If your project is a small handyman repair or cosmetic refresh, we'll tell you that too and point you in the right direction.

We serve Grass Valley, Nevada City, Penn Valley, Auburn, Lake Wildwood, Lake of the Pines, Alta Sierra, Truckee, and Granite Bay. For custom homes and larger projects, we also work throughout Nevada and Placer Counties.

See our service area pages →

Start with a free consultation. We'll visit your property, understand what you want to accomplish, and give you an honest picture of scope, timeline, and budget range. We don't do ballpark guesses over the phone because your home is too important for that.

Schedule a Free Consultation →

It varies by season and project type. We maintain a selective project calendar so that every client gets our full attention, not divided focus across too many jobs at once. The best way to know your place in line is to reach out now. We'll tell you exactly where we stand.

New custom home construction in the Nevada County foothills typically runs $350 to $550 per square foot, depending on design complexity, site conditions, material selections, and finishes. Truckee projects often run higher due to elevation and snow-load requirements. We give you a detailed, line-item estimate before any commitment with no surprises mid-build.

Whole-home renovations in our market generally range from $150,000 to $500,000+, depending on scope. Kitchen and bath renovations are usually $60,000 to $150,000. The most important number is yours. Tell us your budget and we'll tell you honestly what's achievable within it.

Projects go over budget for three reasons: inadequate planning, hidden site conditions, and scope changes after work begins. We address all three upfront through thorough pre-construction planning, honest assessments of what we find during site evaluation, and clear change-order processes so you're never surprised by a cost you didn't approve.

A custom home typically takes 10 to 16 months from permit issuance to final walkthrough. Large renovations run 3 to 8 months depending on scope. ADUs typically take 4 to 8 months once permits are issued. We give you a detailed project schedule at the start and communicate proactively if anything changes.

We provide an industry-leading 5-year extended structural warranty, one of the strongest in the region. Most contractors offer the 1-year minimum required by California law. We go significantly beyond that because we build to last, and we stand behind our work long after the final payment clears.

Read about our warranty →

A few things set us apart that are harder to fake than a website:

• We're owner-led. Matthew Sutherlin is a licensed general contractor (CSL #935362) who is personally involved in every project, not a sales team that hands you off after signing.
• We specialize in complex, high-end residential work including custom homes, ADUs, and large-scale renovations rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
• We hold a 5-year extended structural warranty backed by California Civil Code that most competitors don't offer or won't match.
• We're NCCA members (Nevada County Contractors Association), which means we're vetted, local, and connected to the county's professional building community.
• We have two decades of Nevada County foothill experience. We know the zoning, the soil, the fire hazard zones, the septic realities, and the county permit process.

Yes. California State Contractors License #935362, fully bonded and insured. We're also EPA Lead-Safe Certified and a BBB Accredited Business with an A+ rating. You can verify our license at cslb.ca.gov.

We tell you about them immediately and we don't hide cost implications. Every jobsite surfaces surprises. The question is whether your contractor communicates honestly and works with you to solve them, or buries the issue and hopes you don't notice. We've built our reputation on the first approach.

Not necessarily. For custom homes and major additions, you'll need architectural drawings before permit submission, but we work closely with local architects and can help you find the right design partner for your project if you don't have one yet. We're happy to be involved early in the design phase.

Yes. We manage the permit process on your behalf with Nevada County Building Department, Placer County, or Truckee/TTSA depending on your location. Navigating local permitting, well and septic considerations, and foothill-specific codes, is part of what you're hiring us to know.

Yes, with a formal change order. Changes mid-project are one of the most common causes of cost overruns and contractor-client tension in the industry. We document every change, price it out transparently before work proceeds, and get your signature. That protects you as much as it protects us.

In some cases, yes. We'll discuss what works and what doesn't during pre-construction planning. There are cases where sourcing your own materials creates scheduling complications or warranty limitations, and we'll be direct about those upfront.

Yes. ADUs are one of our specialties. We handle the full scope including design coordination, septic assessment, setback and zoning evaluation, permitting, and construction. Nevada County foothill ADU builds require specific expertise that most valley contractors don't have.

See our full ADU page →

A detached ADU is a fully separate structure on your property, such as a backyard cottage or guest house. An attached ADU shares a wall with your primary home. A JADU (Junior ADU) is a conversion of existing interior space, like a garage or bonus room, capped at 500 square feet. Each has different permit pathways, cost profiles, and use cases.

If you're considering converting an existing garage, read our guide on whether a garage conversion ADU makes financial sense in Grass Valley to better understand costs, ROI potential, and planning considerations.

We'll walk you through the options for your specific parcel.

Slope and site access, for one. Many foothill properties require engineered foundations, grading work, or retaining walls that flat-lot builds don't. Fire Hazard Severity Zones affect material requirements and insurance costs. Septic systems add complexity that doesn't exist on sewer. Well water introduces considerations for water pressure and supply. And county permit timelines differ from city timelines. We navigate all of this routinely. It's not a learning curve for us, it's our normal.

1. Free consultation – we visit your site, understand your goals, and assess feasibility.
2. Proposal – detailed scope, timeline, and budget.
3. Contract – clear, written agreement with no surprises.
4. Design coordination – working with your architect or ours if needed.
5. Permitting – we handle all submissions and county coordination.
6. Construction – regular communication, daily site management, proactive updates.
7. Final walkthrough – we don't consider a job done until you're satisfied.

You'll have direct access to Matthew throughout the project, not an assistant or a project manager you've never met. We provide regular progress updates and are reachable when something comes up. Our clients frequently cite communication as the thing that surprised them most, in a good way.

Yes. We have experience working alongside public adjusters and directly with insurance carriers on fire damage and rebuild claims in Nevada County. We understand how to document scope for insurance purposes and how to advocate for a rebuild that is accurate and complete.