Whole-Home Remodeling Built for Burlingame's Older Homes
Burlingame is a town of houses with strong opinions. Walk a single block in the Easton Addition and you will pass a 1920s Tudor with arched doorways and original wide-plank floors, a Spanish Revival with a tile roof, and a Craftsman quietly modernized inside. New Key Construction remodels these homes for the way Peninsula families live now, without erasing the character that made you buy on this street. We are a design-build firm, so one team handles both the design and the construction of your whole-home remodel, with priced options up front and photoreal 3D renderings before any permit is pulled.
A whole-home remodel here is rarely a clean slate. It is plaster walls, knob-and-tube remnants, a kitchen that faces the wrong way, and a floor plan that was right for 1928 and wrong for a household working from home. Our job is to open the house up, bring it to current code, and make the new work feel like it was always there. Keeping design and construction under one roof is the difference between a remodel that flows and one that stalls between a designer and a contractor who have never met.
One Team, Priced Options, Renderings Before Permits
Most remodels go sideways in the gap between design and build. You hire an architect, fall in love with a plan, then watch the bids come back over budget, and the redesign starts. We close that gap. Because our designers and builders sit at the same table, the design is costed as it is drawn, so the priced options you approve are the options we build. You see fixed numbers before demolition, not a moving target.
Before we pull a single permit, we hand you photoreal 3D renderings of the finished home: the new kitchen oriented to the backyard, the way light moves through a reframed living room, the exact tile, cabinetry, and trim. For a Burlingame remodel that is a safeguard, not a luxury. The city's design review scrutinizes changes to street-facing facades, including doors and windows, and renderings let you and the planners see the result before it is committed to lumber. White-glove project management ties it together: one point of contact, a clear schedule, and a crew that respects your home and your neighbors through every phase.
Designing Around Burlingame's Architecture
The styles that define Burlingame each ask for a different hand. A Tudor wants its arched openings, leaded glass, and steep rooflines honored even as you open the back of the house for an island kitchen. A Spanish Revival rewards plaster, arches, and warm tile and punishes anything generic. A Craftsman lives or dies on its millwork and the proportion of its windows. We design new work to match these vocabularies, sourcing trim, cabinetry, and finishes that sit comfortably next to original detail.
We also design for how these homes get used today. Burlingame buyers consistently prefer kitchens that open to the rear yard for flow and family living, so we plan circulation, sightlines, and indoor-outdoor connection deliberately. Whether your home sits in the Easton Addition, Burlingame Park, Lyon-Hoag, or the Burlingame Hills, we tailor the layout to your lot and the way you move through your days.
Permits, Process, and the Peninsula Reality
Burlingame remodels run through the City of Burlingame Building and Planning Departments, within San Mateo County. Interior whole-home work that does not add habitable square footage typically falls under a Residential Alteration permit, while additions that expand the footprint require a Residential Addition permit. If your project changes a street-facing facade, adds a second story, or alters more than half of a facing elevation, the Planning Department's design review comes into play, and Title 24 energy compliance applies as well. We prepare and manage these submittals through the city's online permitting portal and build the review timelines into your schedule from day one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need design review for a whole-home remodel in Burlingame?
It depends on what changes outside. Interior-only remodels that do not alter the exterior usually proceed under a building permit alone. If your project changes a street-facing facade, including doors and windows, adds a second story, or modifies more than 50 percent of a facing elevation, the City of Burlingame Planning Department requires design review. We assess this early and prepare the application if it applies.
How long does a Burlingame whole-home remodel take?
Design, pricing, and approvals generally run several months before construction begins, and the City of Burlingame asks for a minimum of fifteen business days for plan review once you submit. Construction on a full home varies with scope and the condition of the existing structure. We give you a realistic schedule with your priced options up front rather than an optimistic guess.
How does design-build save money on a remodel?
With one team handling design and construction, every decision is costed as it is drawn, so you are not redesigning after bids come in over budget. You approve fixed, priced options before demolition, and the team that drew the plan builds it. That continuity removes the handoffs and change orders that inflate cost on traditional architect-then-contractor projects.
Can you remodel a Tudor or Spanish Revival without ruining its character?
Yes, and it is much of what we do in Burlingame. We honor original detail like arched openings, leaded glass, millwork, and tile while opening floor plans and bringing systems to current code. New work matches the home's architectural vocabulary, and our 3D renderings let you confirm how old and new meet before construction starts.
If you are planning a whole-home remodel in Burlingame, let's start with a conversation about your house, your timeline, and what you want it to become. We will show you priced options and 3D renderings before any permit is pulled, with one team from first sketch to final walkthrough. Reach out to New Key Construction to begin.
