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The 13 Best Custom Home Builders in East Palo Alto, California

14 Min Read

Nestled in between Menlo Park to the west and the San Francisco Bay to the east, East Palo Alto, California is a city with scenic landscapes and a rural feel that still offers residents the unique urban lifestyle characteristic of the San Francisco metropolitan area.

It’s a warm, sunny spot known for its rich history and its exceptional arts scene. The area is perfect not just for those visiting but also for those who wish to stay and get comfortable in this beautiful little city. If you’re looking to build your new home here, check out our list of the best custom home builders in East Palo Alto, California. This list was ranked based on the number and quality of their projects, the styles they are most known for, their recognition, and of course, the process they go through to build your dream home.


Paragon Custom Builders

PO Box 1299 Palo Alto, CA 94302

Making a home an experience worth living in is what Paragon Custom Builders is known for. It thrives on designing forward-looking homes made by seasoned, innovative contractors and project experts with a combined experience of over four decades.

Paragon Custom Builders is passionate when it comes to providing responsive, knowledgeable service. The firm specializes in producing new high-end residential homes and provides remodels, additions, and renovations. The team makes sure to put customers first from concept to completion and never cuts corners or rushes: they take the time to achieve greatness. The company provides a customer-centered service that fosters a friendly atmosphere and creates breathtaking, cost-effective homes.

A Better Business Bureau accredited business since 2014, Paragon Custom Builders received an A+ Business Rating from the BBB in 2020 and has earned top design awards from trade websites. Its style is a mix of 21st century and contemporary as seen in the custom farmhouse featured here that blends luxury with nature. 


Silicon Valley Builders

12169 Dawn Lane, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Licensed as a Certified Green Building Professional, Silicon Valley Builders serves the highest quality of craftsmanship and service and uses green home building practices in all of their custom home development projects. It blends the core practices of homebuilding into its work and makes high-quality decisions that ensure the strength and beauty of all its projects.

What sets Silicon Valley Builders apart, aside from its green practices, is its unparalleled expertise in engineering and its experience in design and development. The company is always ensuring the longevity and highest possible quality of every property. The goal is to build the client’s dream home and Silicon Valley Builders does that best with its self-imposed higher standards for each aspect of the job. 

The roots of design and development in Silicon Valley Builders are deep and can be traced to founder Mike Zaidi’s practice as a licensed Mechanical Engineer. His experience in designing for biotech and biopharmaceuticals allows him to bring in a different kind of finesse to the firm’s projects.

The company is known for creating a mix of new traditional and mansion-style homes in East Palo Alto, with an emphasis on integrated home systems and quality green materials as exemplified in the stunning transitional home featured here.


Clarum Homes

412 Olive Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306

When it comes to building high-performance, energy-efficient custom homes in East Palo Alto, Clarum Homes is the go-to. Since its inception in Northern California in 1994, Clarum Homes has been incorporating superb design choices into innovative construction practices with energy-efficient technology and sustainable building materials. With each project, Clarum transforms the way custom homes are built by focusing on homes that are healthy for both the occupants and the environment.

With an emphasis on passive home technology, Clarum Homes provides custom houses that ensure substantial energy savings that take up 90% less energy than conventional houses. The firm provides clients the best service it can offer through continuous communication and active listening to the client’s needs. This practice turns the entire experience into an engaging and exciting experience.  

Clarum Homes has completed over 1,000 projects in various areas of Northern California. The firm is known for building a mix of modern and contemporary homes incorporating passive house technology for maximum energy efficiency. You can see these techniques in the featured property. This stunning home features exceptional floor-to-ceiling windows that provide natural lighting and great ventilation.


Lifetime Remodeling Inc.

3723 Haven Ave. Suite #103, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Lifetime Remodeling was founded to address the need for quality, honest workmanship. The firm’s staff believes that more isn’t always better; it focuses, instead, on giving clients the best value for their money through experience and thoughtfulness. 

Lifetime Remodeling is dedicated to its clients and to the practice of providing the highest quality and the best building practices, whether you’re looking to build your new high-end home or looking to add to an already existing one. In every project, the firm is committed to providing an experience of a lifetime with its hands-on service and attention to details that make a house stand out.

Over the years, the company has received a wealth of positive reviews for its great work and service. Lifetime Remodeling, Inc. Is an ultimate provider of innovative custom home and renovation expertise in the area and it is known for building and remodeling homes in the new traditional style as seen in the project featured here. 


Bay Area Custom Homes

611 Industrial Rd. Suite 1, San Carlos, CA 94070

If you’re looking to build a home that will stand the test of time, the elements, and even your dog, Bay Area Custom Homes guarantees that it can do that for you and more. With a rich history and plenty of experience in building homes, the company continues to build long-term partnerships founded on trust and respect by working hard and doing things right.

The firm’s founder and president, Jason Skinner, comes from a long line of builders. Not only does his family history explain his commitment to the craft, but he also went under the guidance and tutelage of many fine craftsmen. His experience and education have given him a keen eye for detail, exact practices, and perfectionism in every aspect of the job. Jason is backed by a collaborative team of people who are the best at what they do. The staff ensures efficiency in every project while providing for client’s needs and realizing their desires. 

The company has earned a number of awards, including Best New Home Development from the San Mateo County Times. Bay Area Custom Homes guarantees quality, as you can see in the stunning Modern Coastside Home featured here.


Alftin Construction

2995 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062

For over 30 years, Alftin Construction has been providing home building services in the Bay Area with a specialization in building select luxury homes. The company has completed everything from a custom estate home to a complex custom home remodel. 

As a family-owned luxury home builder, Alftin Construction knows what it means to provide exceptional service to its clients by prioritizing them. The company currently only builds for a few select homes each year so it can fully pay attention to every detail of every project and ensure its quality. Alftin Construction takes care of its community like family. Its team does this best by forging lasting relationships with its clients and their families, partners, employees, and neighbors. These relationships are nurtured by fluid communication between all the team members to make sure they provide thorough service.

Alftin Construction, with its commitment to providing the best, works with some of the top designers and engineers in the area. It often assists in recommending an excellent design team including architects and interior designers that it can comfortably and easily collaborate with. Its work is often characterized by a mix of contemporary and ranch styles, as you can see here. This home’s beautiful stonework gives it a distinctive façade that fits wonderfully with its surrounding greenery. 


Plemons Construction

1125 Guinda Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301

With nearly 60 years of experience in the business, Plemons Construction has been providing the Peninsula with stunning homes since its inception in 1961. Plemons Construction is a family-owned and operated business with a tradition of quality construction, good customer service, fair pricing, and commitment to the craft. 

In every project, Plemons Construction provides a guarantee that it will provide the same careful attention to detail it always has, regardless of the project size. Plemons Construction prides itself on its team of remarkable craftsmen. Their expertise is evident in their work; they collaborate closely with homeowners and architects to maintain the company’s goal of creating dream homes with the high level of standard and professionalism clients have come to expect. The project doesn’t end with Plemons handing the clients the keys. Instead, its team remains available to them when it comes to ensuring that every aspect of the house is functioning how it should. 

With a rich experience and commitment to taking care of its clients, Plemons Construction is among the top 5% of California licensed contractors according to BuildZoom’s scoring system. The company builds a mix of deconstructivist and 21st-century styles as seen in the Atherton Contemporary featured here.


Markay Johnson Construction

1019 Sevier Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025

Markay Johnson Construction is committed to applying its meticulous craftsmanship to every project. The company is backed by over 30 years of experience in commercial, retail, and custom high-end residential construction.

Among the country’s elite custom home builders, it has a client list that includes California, Utah, and Florida.

The company works to exceed client expectations in every aspect of what it does, and you can see its success in the stellar reviews the company has received over the years. This guarantee is backed by Markay Johnson’s diverse background in structural engineering, construction management, and his emphasis on even the finest details in residential and commercial work. In every project, he takes the customer’s ideas and dreams and then manifests what they truly desire. 

Markay Johnson Construction is a recipient of multiple awards including the People’s Choice Award from the Utah Valley Parade of Homes. Its work is also backed by a vote of confidence from clients who have time and again returned to the company for their construction needs. The company is known for building large-sized projects that are a mix of modern and new traditional designs, as exemplified by the Bear Hills Residential pictured here.


Cox Bros. Construction

855 El Camino Real Suite 13-A-452 Palo Alto, CA 94301

With decades of history in Palo Alto, Cox Bros. Construction is a family-run construction company with a rich experience in custom home remodeling and building a new home from the ground up. The team behind the business is backed by the experience and expertise that has cemented their reputation as a widely respected and recognized company for quality new homes and remodels in Palo Alto, Stanford, Menlo Park, and the Peninsula.

When it comes to projects, Cox Bros. Construction prefers working on larger, more ambitious ones where it can guarantee value-added construction methods that are within budget. Since the company is focused on extending and targeting its services on where the team is based, they know the lay of the land and the building systems in the area well.

When it comes to building styles, Cox Bros. Construction builds a mix of modern and mid-century style homes that have the highest value in every aspect of the building process as seen in the quaint house pictured here that radiates the energy of a welcoming, comforting home.


Livio Builders

889 San Antonio Road Suite 110 Los Altos, CA 94022 

With its focus on materials, project planning, and up-to-date construction technology, Livio Builders ensures clients a unique building experience that offers them peace of mind. The firm guarantees the lowest prices on new construction projects without cutting corners or sacrificing the quality of the project.

Livio Builders takes the hassle off of the client’s shoulders by being hands-on from start to finish with a guaranteed completion timeline and a fixed-price contract. With this process, the homeowner doesn’t need to deal with the subcontractors themselves – Livio Builders does that for them and ensures that the home is built exactly the way the clients envision it to be. The beautiful end result is a product of their meticulous, collaborative pre-construction process.

Named as the Best Custom Home Builder by the Home Builder Digest, Livio Builders is supported by several great reviews that are proof of their wonderful work ethic. When it comes to style, the company provides a mix of minimal traditional and mid-century style homes that stand out, including this tasteful and well-designed Loyola home.


NorthWall Builders

664 Gilman Street Palo Alto, CA 94301 

With top-notch teamwork, the people behind NorthWall Builders guarantee excellent custom homes that meet client expectations yet remain within budget and always right on schedule. Founded in 1996, the firm has always believed that the key to fine-quality homes is building a relationship with the homeowners to fully understand their needs. With that understanding, NorthWall brings a deep appreciation for art and the fine science of homebuilding to bring everything into place.

Right off the bat, NorthWall Builders provides clients with a thorough analysis of the costs and construction ideas in the design process to keep them in the loop on how their dream home will turn out. The company guarantees you a great product with a service to match it where the team walks with you through the process. They provide exceptional communication, precise scheduling, and quality workmanship during construction, whether you’re looking to remodel your current home or build a new one from the ground up.

NorthWall Builders is among BuildZoom’s top 3% licensed contractors in California and is backed by stellar reviews from professionals and clients that confirm their work ethic and commitment to their craft. Their work is often characterized by their blend of new traditional and modern styles as seen in this sprawling Old Palo Alto home that spells luxury in every small detail.


Bay West Builders

1500 Tacoma Way Redwood City, CA 94063

With 20 years of experience, Bay West Builders has adhered to the highest standards of exceptional quality and craftsmanship, backed by its experience in the business. Since its inception, the firm has always approached homebuilding as a personal service that deserves strict attention to detail on every aspect of the process.

When it comes to business, Bay West Builders has a twofold objective. First, the team builds some of the finest homes in the Peninsula with only the highest quality materials, and second, they build lasting relationships founded on honesty, integrity, skill, and competence. In their projects, Bay West Builders streamlines and tailors the experience to fit their clients’ busy schedules while maximizing efficiency which is supported by a highly trained staff that provides excellent customer service topped with professionalism. 

Take for example this Eichler residence in San Mateo Highlands. It’s a stunning property characterized by floor-to-ceiling windows that bring all of the beauty of the highlands inside. The build of the home doesn’t sacrifice quality: each small detail—from the wooden beams to the house’s beautiful interior—all add up to create a wonderful visual experience worth living in.


Canaan Builders

1839 Tampa Way, San Jose, CA 95122

With over 20 years of combined experience from its team, Canaan Builders has established itself as a reliable custom builder for homeowners and construction partner for its peers. Owners Carlos Orellana and Salomon Ramirez have extensive knowledge in construction and building. They lead a team of in-house professionals in providing a smooth and hassle-free process. The company specializes in custom home building, framing, and finishing. It also does complete remodels, installation of countertops and cabinets, refacing, flooring, and plumbing upgrades. The company serves Saratoga, Cupertino, and surrounding areas.

The company touts itself as the right expert for the right price. Clients love the company because of its quality work, attention to detail, and professionalism. Pictured here is one of the company’s custom home building projects. It works with a variety of styles, from traditional and classic to transitional and contemporary.