Los Angeles Pool House Design & Build — Cabana, Bathhouse, ADU-Eligible

Simple cabana ($25K-$55K): 80 sq ft, open-air or three-sided, cedar T&G or stucco, asphalt-shingle or torch-down flat roof, a built-in bench, a single GFCI outlet, a hose bib, no plumbing inside, no permit required under LA zoning if it is under 120 sq ft and meets the setback. 3-5 weeks. Three of these in Sherman Oaks and Studio City in 2026. 150 sq ft pool house with bath ($65K-$120K): permit-required accessory structure, conditioned space, half-bath with a toilet and a vanity, an outdoor shower head plumbed to the side, mini-split for AC, recessed LED lighting, tankless water heater shared with the pool equipment pad, finished interior, vinyl plank or porcelain tile floor. 7-10 weeks. Four of these in Encino and Tarzana in 2026. 300 sq ft bathhouse ($130K-$260K): full bath with separate water closet, indoor shower plus outdoor rinse, changing room with built-in lockers, a kitchenette (sink, beverage fridge, microwave shelf — but no permanent cooktop so it stays accessory, not ADU), a lounge area with a TV mount and a wet bar, custom millwork, slab quartz counters, designer tile, a covered porch facing the pool. 12-16 weeks. Two completed in Brentwood and Hancock Park in 2026. Premium 500 sq ft with kitchen + lounge ($260K-$450K): ADU-eligible if homeowner wants it (full kitchen with cooktop and oven, full bath, designated sleeping area meeting Building Code), Bi-fold or accordion glass doors opening fully to the pool deck, vaulted T&G ceiling, fireplace (gas or wood), integrated outdoor kitchen with built-in grill and refrigeration sharing the back wall, slab stone counters, custom cabinetry. 16-22 weeks. Three Holmby Hills and Beverly Hills builds in the last 18 months. Estate detached 800 sq ft ($480K-$900K): full ADU treatment, two-bedroom one-bath or one-bedroom-plus-loft, separate gas/electric meters if the homeowner wants future rental, Mediterranean or Spanish Colonial palette to match the main house, structural engineered for hillside if applicable, fireplaces (indoor and outdoor), full HVAC, smart-home integration, fully landscaped courtyard between main house and pool house. 22-36 weeks. Two completed in lower Bel-Air and one in Beverly Crest in 2025-2026.

LA Building Code allows a detached accessory structure under 120 square feet to be permit-exempt provided it (a) has no plumbing, (b) has no permanent electrical above a single 120V circuit, (c) meets the required setback from property lines (typically 3 feet rear, 3 feet side for an accessory under 120 sq ft in most R1 zones), and (d) does not exceed 12 feet in height. Cross any of those thresholds — add a toilet, run a sub-panel, exceed 120 sq ft, exceed 12 feet, or violate the setback — and the structure becomes a fully-permitted accessory build with a full LADBS permit package: site plan, structural plans (or pre-engineered drawings), Title 24 envelope compliance, energy calcs, plumbing and electrical permits, and an inspection schedule. Push it further — install a permanent cooktop, designate a sleeping area, run a separate utility meter — and California state ADU law applies. ADU treatment gives you the right to build up to 1,200 sq ft of accessory living space on most R1 lots regardless of side-yard zoning, but it triggers full residential code (Title 24, full Building Code, full energy compliance, full impact-fee schedule, separate address option). We size and configure your pool house to the result you actually want — not to whatever sketch the designer drew before checking zoning.

Estate pool houses in the four westside premium ZIPs share a vocabulary: bi-fold glass walls (Fleetwood, NanaWall, or LaCantina, typically a 12-to-24-foot run), 12-foot vaulted T&G or beamed ceilings, slab marble or honed travertine counters running floor-to-counter and floor-to-ceiling on the splash, integrated outdoor kitchens with built-in Wolf or Hestan grills, beverage drawers, ice machines, refrigerated drawers under stone counters, gas fireplaces flanking the lounge with full slab surrounds, and full-height pivot or pocket doors at the bath entrance. The Mediterranean palette dominates Bel-Air and Beverly Hills above Sunset — limewashed stucco, terra-cotta or clay-tile roof, board-formed concrete accents, olive trees, succulent and Mediterranean drought palette in the surround. The Spanish Colonial palette dominates Hancock Park and lower Holmby — smooth stucco, half-round clay-tile roof, wrought-iron details, arched openings, mission tile entry, fountain or tile-rim spa feature. We design to the main house — the pool house should read as a younger sibling of the architecture, not a transplant from a different decade.

On a 300+ sq ft pool house, the most cost-effective configuration is back-to-back: indoor kitchenette or full kitchen on the interior, full outdoor kitchen sharing the back wall on the patio side. One gas line run, one electrical sub-panel, one plumbing stack, one ventilation rough-in, two finished kitchens. Outdoor side typically gets a built-in grill (Wolf, Hestan, or Lynx for the premium tier; Bull or Blaze for mid-tier), a side burner, a refrigerated drawer or beverage fridge, an ice maker on hillside builds where the ice run is long, an under-counter outlet for blender and beverage prep, a sink with hot-and-cold (LA winter mornings get cold, you want hot water at the prep sink for cleanup), and a covered ventilation hood if the grill is under a solid roof — required by Title 24 fire code if the cooking surface is within 36 inches of combustible roofing. Stone counters: dolomite or quartzite for outdoor (avoid carrara marble outdoors — it etches under acidic drink spills), porcelain slab for the budget-conscious build that still wants the look.

Because NPLD has been architectural-design-first since 2016 and added our own CSLB GC license in 2023, the pool-house design-build runs through one company. Step one: free 90-minute consult on-site, we walk the yard with the pool design (or the existing pool), we ask what the pool house is actually for — changing/storage cabana? guest-bath utility? full entertaining pavilion? future ADU rental? Step two: we draw three concept floor-plans (sub-120 permit-exempt, mid-tier permitted accessory, ADU-eligible) at no cost and we walk you through the cost-and-permit tradeoff of each. Step three: you pick a tier, we develop the design with renderings, we issue a fixed-bid within 7-10 business days, the bid is line-itemed across foundation, framing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, finishes, outdoor kitchen, landscape integration, LADBS permit, and any HPOZ or Coastal review. Step four: 10% deposit, contract logged with CSLB (license 1105249), draws tied to milestones. Step five: one project lead, weekly Friday photo-and-video update, closeout walk-through, closed permit certificate, manuals binder, 2-year workmanship warranty.

Pool houses on existing pool decks usually mean we are working over or next to a slab the original pool builder poured. Three common surprises: existing slab is undersized for the load — a 4-inch unreinforced patio slab cannot support a 150 sq ft enclosed structure with a tile roof, so we typically saw-cut and pour an engineered footing perimeter ($2,800-$5,500 added scope, pre-priced in your contract amendment). Buried utility conflicts — pool gas, pool electrical, pool plumbing, and pool autofill lines often run in the exact zone where the pool-house footing wants to go, and the original installer rarely buried them to code depth; we scope these with locate-service ($350-$650) before we cut and we route around or relocate as needed. Drainage — the existing pool deck likely slopes toward the pool, but the new pool-house roof needs to discharge away from both pool and house, which sometimes means we add a 30-foot trench drain or French drain in the cut between pool and pool house. All three are pre-priced in your contract so the bid does not slide when we open the ground. Lighting, audio, and gas pre-stub for future outdoor kitchen are run during framing whether you pick those options now or not — much cheaper to run a stub than to retrofit through finished walls later.