Kellow Construction · Design-Build · Santa Barbara, CA
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Santa Barbara General Contractor for Home Remodeling
Kellow Construction is a licensed general contractor in Santa Barbara, specializing in home renovation and the design-build process. As a design build contractor in Santa Barbara, we bring home design, interior selections, planning, permitting coordination, and construction together. Our model has proven time and again that there is real power, efficiency, and an overall better client experience in having the designers and the builders all on the same team.
High-Touch, Small-Team Experience on Large Projects: Big enough and experienced to handle complex, high-end projects.
Small enough that homeowners still get senior attention.
Small enough that homeowners still get senior attention.
Most of our clients come to us with a vision for their home remodeling project and the desire to have a different and better experience than the traditional design bid build model that they may have been frustrated with in the past. We develop your design, value engineer it throughout the process, and present a fixed price before construction begins, so you understand the agreed scope, construction price, and exclusions before we ever break ground. Price certainty, a strong process, and a highly experienced team are what set us apart.
How It Works
A thoughtful process, start to finish
A clear, guided path from concept to completion. Design, budget, permitting, and construction are considered together from the beginning, so you always know where you are, what comes next, and how each decision affects the whole project.
Initial Consultation
We start with a conversation about your home, your goals, your vision, and your investment range. We’ll talk through what you’re hoping to accomplish, how our design-build process works, and whether your project feels like the right fit for both of us.
If we’re a good fit, we meet at our office, then arrange a site visit. No pressure. Just an honest first conversation and a clear next step.
Phase 1: Design Discovery
With a signed Design Agreement and your Phase 1 payment in place, we explore your goals, initial concepts, and a Preliminary Construction Budget.
We take a closer look at your existing home, priorities, constraints, permitting considerations, and investment range.
The goal is a shared vision and a realistic path forward before detailed design begins.
Phase 2: Full Design and Development
With your signed Scope Revision and Phase 2 payment in place, our design team turns that direction into a real project, developing plans, layouts, materials, fixtures, finishes, and the details that make the home yours.
Because the people designing your project are working alongside the people who will ultimately build it, constructability and cost are part of the conversation throughout design, not something we discover at the end.
What we design should be beautiful, buildable, and aligned with the investment you’ve established.
Documents and Permitting
As the design comes together, we develop the technical drawings and specifications needed to build it, coordinate consultants and engineering, and guide the project through permitting.
At the same time, selections and details continue to be documented so the project becomes increasingly defined and trackable.
By the time we move into final pricing, we have a clearly defined package to price.
Fixed-Price Contract
Once the scope is fully defined, selections are dialed in, and the project is ready to build, we present a fixed-price construction contract.
We don’t ask you to commit to construction based on a rough estimate and figure out the details later. The work of design, documentation, selections, and pricing happens first.
Before we break ground, you’ll understand the agreed scope and fixed construction price, what is excluded, and how changes are handled.
Construction
When construction begins, the project doesn’t get handed off to a completely different team. Your project manager and site superintendent work from the plans, selections, budget, and decisions developed throughout the design process.
They oversee the schedule, trades, craftsmanship, jobsite, and communication, with regular updates and clear accountability along the way.
One integrated team, carrying the project from the first conversation through the final details of your home.
Our Warranty
We provide a one year limited workmanship warranty, as described in your construction agreement. If something needs attention after the project, we’re here to help you understand the next step.
Why Design Build?
What the design-build model provides
The advantages of a design-build versus GC and architect are:
From start to finish, you have experienced and trusted advisors advocating for you and your home, and educated in the right ways to make the dream a reality.
We have the unique ability to marry the client’s desires and needs with the budget throughout the entire process. Pricing and financial management are part of what we do with you, that is front and center, and not kicked down the road after too many design dollars have been spent.
There’s streamlined and consistent communication between designers and the trades who will actually be on your project. We’ve curated relationships with reliable, quality craftspeople, who have been vetted to meet our high standards.
Price Certainty
We work on a fixed price single number construction contract. We work toward complete selections and a clearly defined scope, so you can go into your build with the confidence that fixed pricing brings.
A Proven, Predictable Process
Design build is a unique skill set. We geek out on order, communication, and a clear sequence and we're contractors, so we balance that architectural rigor with real-world practicality and a no nonsense approach. Every phase follows a defined path, our designers are tempered with real life constraints and deadlines of a production and estimating team, and we keep you informed at every step.
Budget Alignment Throughout Design
We manage your goals, needs, and budget against the design from day one, value engineering your project throughout the process to keep selections aligned with investment and project goals, and in accordance with the overall vision, without compromising what you came to us for. Our goal is that your investment in design is razor sharp with nothing presented to you that would not be possible in your unique real world application.
One Team, Full Accountability
Your designer works full time directly with your project manager and field team. There's no gap between who designed it and who's building it, and your designer is steeped in our process and our construction driven world. When a question comes up, one team answers it together, with a hive mind that you just can’t get in a more fractured design bid (hope) build model. We are dreamers grounded in reality, which helps your design and construction dollars go further.
Local Expertise
We've navigated Santa Barbara's unique permitting processes and requirements, Montecito remodeling and overlay regulations, and Hope Ranch project considerations across dozens of projects. That familiarity informs how we approach feasibility and timeline from the very first conversation. Our entire team lives, works and breathes Santa Barbara remodeling, construction and design which is a client advantage and resource.
Clarity Before Commitment
We operate on a fixed price contract. We don’t ask you to commit to construction until the scope is clearly defined and priced, with selections documented. If an item remains open, we explain how it will be handled and its potential effect on cost and timing before you commit.
What We Build
Design-build services
Whole House Remodels
Full-scope Santa Barbara home remodeling transformations, from gut renovation to thoughtful updates that make your whole home work the way your life does.
Kitchen Design and Remodel
We design and build kitchens worth cooking in, with Santa Barbara kitchen remodeling from concept through construction, with layouts that work, finishes that hold up, and details that feel like they were always there.
Bath Design and Remodel
Santa Barbara bathroom remodeling done right, with spa-quality bathrooms designed and built by the same team. We handle layout, plumbing, tile, and every detail that makes the difference between fine and exceptional.
Home Additions
We design and build additions that feel like they've always been part of your home, from the first sketch through permits, construction, and close-out.
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We weren't just looking for a contractor. We wanted someone who could see what our house could become. Kellow did exactly that, and then they built it.Santa Barbara homeowner — Whole House Remodel
Serving Santa Barbara remodeling clients in: Santa Barbara · Montecito · Goleta · Carpinteria
Ready to explore what's possible?
Every project starts with a conversation. We'll talk through your goals, your investment range, and whether our process is the right fit, so you can move forward with clarity and confidence.
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Just need a general contractor in Santa Barbara?
Already have your own architect or drawings? We offer pre-construction and construction services for clients who are ready to build. Read our FAQs to learn how we work together.
