Building a new custom home in Beverly Hills in 2026 runs about $600 to $900 per square foot at a builder level of finish, $900 to $1,400 for a high-end custom home, and $1,400 to $2,000 or more at estate level. Those figures cover the house only. Land, demolition, site work, basements, pools, soft costs, and furnishing are separate lines. Plan about 30 to 48 months from the first drawings to move-in, including design review in the Central Area of the city.
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Building a new custom home in Beverly Hills runs about $600 to $900 per square foot at a builder level of finish, $900 to $1,400 for a high-end custom home, and $1,400 to $2,000 or more at estate level.
Those figures cover the house only. Land, demolition, site work, basements, pools and hardscape, soft costs, and furnishing are separate lines.
Beverly Hills reviews its own projects. New houses in the Central Area need design review, the Hillside Area and Trousdale Estates have their own standards, and Trousdale limits structures to 14 feet in height.
Plan about 30 to 48 months from the first drawings to move-in: 6 to 8 months of design, 6 to 10 months of city review and permits, and 18 to 30 months of construction.
In Beverly Hills in 2026, building a new custom home runs about $600 to $900 per square foot at a builder level of finish, $900 to $1,400 for a high-end custom home, and $1,400 to $2,000 or more at estate level. Those figures cover construction of the house only. Land, demolition, site work, basements, pools and hardscape, soft costs, and furnishing are budgeted on top.
Ranges based on Joelle Uzyel's Beverly Hills design-build projects.
After more than 15 years designing high-end residential interiors in Los Angeles, alongside the architects and licensed general contractors who build them, I am usually asked one number first: the cost per square foot. For a new house in Beverly Hills that number is real, but it describes only the building. This guide sets out the 2026 ranges by tier, then lists what sits outside them, what moves a house from one tier to the next, and how the city's review process shapes the schedule.
The cost ranges here are planning estimates for an early budget, not bids, and the city rules are summarized from the City of Beverly Hills and its municipal code, listed in the Sources. This guide covers new construction. For work on an existing house, see the Los Angeles home renovation cost guide, and if you are still choosing between the two, read renovate or tear down and rebuild in Beverly Hills.
These ranges cover construction of the house itself on a flat lot, priced per square foot of living area above grade. They assume a licensed general contractor building from complete drawings. None of them include land, design fees, permits, or furniture. Design fees are scoped to each project and set out in writing before anything starts.
Tier 1, Custom Home, Builder-Level Finish, $600 – $900 / sq ft: A new house built to a good custom standard: wood framing with some steel, aluminum windows and doors, stone counters, engineered wood floors, and cabinetry from an established cabinet line. About $3,000,000 to $4,500,000 for a 5,000 square foot house.
Tier 2, High-End Custom Home, $900 – $1,400 / sq ft: Steel frames for long spans and tall openings, large sliding glass walls, slab stone in the kitchen and baths, custom millwork throughout, architectural lighting, and whole-house automation. About $5,400,000 to $8,400,000 for a 6,000 square foot house.
Tier 3, Estate Level, $1,400 – $2,000+ / sq ft: Structural glass, book-matched stone on walls and floors, millwork and metalwork made to drawings in every room, and the mechanical systems to run a spa, a wine room, a screening room, and a chef's kitchen. About $14,000,000 to $20,000,000 or more for a 10,000 square foot house.
Ranges based on Joelle Uzyel's Beverly Hills design-build projects.
On a hillside lot, add 30 to 50 percent to any tier for foundations, grading, shoring, and access, the same premium used in the Los Angeles home renovation cost guide. Basement area is priced separately, as the next section explains.
A cost per square foot is only useful if you know what is inside it. In the tiers above, the figure covers the building: structure, exterior walls and roof, windows and doors, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, interior finishes, built-in cabinetry, and the general contractor's site management and overhead. Everything in the table below is budgeted on top.
Land: No | Set by the market, and the largest single cost of most Beverly Hills projects
Demolition of an existing house: No | About $50,000 to $150,000 on a flat lot, more when a pool or basement has to be removed and filled
Site work: No | Grading, shoring, retaining walls, drainage, and new utility connections. On a hillside lot this is where the 30 to 50 percent premium comes from
Basements: Priced separately | Excavation, shoring, and waterproofing mean finished basement area often costs as much per square foot as the floors above, or more
Pools and hardscape: No | A custom pool and spa runs about $150,000 to $400,000 or more. Paving, site walls, gates, and planting are a further line
Soft costs: No | Architecture and engineering drawings, surveys, soils reports, permits, and city fees, carried as their own line
Furnishing: No | About $50 to $100 per square foot at a high-end level, and $100 to $200 or more fully styled
Put together for a high-end custom home of 6,000 square feet on a flat lot: construction at $900 to $1,400 per square foot is $5,400,000 to $8,400,000, and high-end furnishing adds $300,000 to $600,000. That is about $5.7 million to $9 million before land, demolition, site work, soft costs, a pool, and landscape.
Two new houses of the same size on the same street can sit a full tier apart. These are the five things that move the number most.
Hillside or flats: A flat lot in the Central Area and a lot in the Hillside Area are different projects. Caissons, retaining walls, shoring, and limited truck access add cost before the house itself begins, which is where the 30 to 50 percent hillside premium comes from. In the Hillside Area the city also limits how much earth can be moved on and off a site without a Hillside R-1 permit.
Basements: A basement adds area without adding height, which is why so many new houses here have one. It also adds excavation, shoring, waterproofing, and drainage. In the Hillside Area the city counts basement floor area, as measured under its code, together with the rest of the house toward the 15,000 square foot threshold for a Hillside R-1 permit.
Structural glass and steel: Long spans, cantilevers, and walls of sliding glass need steel frames and engineered connections in place of standard wood framing. The floating stair, the glass guardrail, and the pocketing door wall each come with their own engineering and fabrication.
Stone and millwork level: Slab stone, book-matched walls, paneling, and cabinetry made to drawings are the largest swing inside the house. The same floor plan can move a full tier on stone and millwork alone.
Mechanical systems: Zoned heating and cooling, air filtration, radiant floors, lighting control, audio and video, security, and backup power are a small share of a builder-level house and a large one at estate level.
Kitchens and dressing rooms carry more cost per square foot than any other rooms. The kitchen renovation cost guide and the custom closet cost guide give room-level numbers.
Beverly Hills is its own city, with its own planning and building departments. The city divides its single-family neighborhoods into three areas, the Central Area, the Hillside Area, and Trousdale Estates, each with its own development standards for floor area, height, setbacks, and parking. The city's zoning map shows which area a parcel is in.
In the Central Area, all new single-family residences require design review. A project can qualify for staff-level Track 1 review if it is designed by a California-licensed architect in a pure architectural style under the city's Single Family Style Guide. Otherwise it is a Track 2 project, reviewed by the Architectural and Design Review Commission, which looks at design compatibility, neighborhood character, and scale and mass.
The city states that there is no design review process in the Hillside Area, but the Hillside standards add limits on landform alteration and view preservation. A Hillside R-1 permit, decided by the Planning Commission at a public hearing, is needed when, for example, the floor area on a site counted together with its basements would exceed 15,000 square feet, or when the earth imported or exported would go over the standard limit.
In Trousdale Estates the maximum height of any structure is 14 feet, building is restricted to the level pad, and the pad cannot be regraded higher than its existing elevation. Buildings that lawfully exceeded 14 feet on October 15, 1987 can be rebuilt or remodeled, but not beyond the height or envelope they had on that date without a Trousdale R-1 permit.
If there is a house on the lot today, the city does not issue a permit to demolish it unless the building permit for the replacement housing project is issued at the same time, and it requires a bond. The guide to renovating or rebuilding in Beverly Hills covers the demolition and historic review rules in detail.
Beverly Hills also limits when work can happen. Construction that requires a city permit is not allowed between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m., on Sundays, or on the city's listed holidays, and in a residential zone it is not allowed on Saturdays, unless the city has issued an after hours construction permit. A five-day work week belongs in the schedule from the start.
A 90210 mailing address does not settle which city reviews the plans. Addresses in the area known as Beverly Hills Post Office are in the City of Los Angeles, so permits there go through the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), not Beverly Hills. Check the parcel on the Beverly Hills zoning map or on ZIMAS, the Los Angeles zoning map, before design starts.
These are summaries of the city's published rules, not legal advice. Confirm how they apply to a specific parcel with the City of Beverly Hills Community Development Department.
A new custom home in Beverly Hills takes most owners between two and a half and four years from the first drawings to move-in. The phases below are planning estimates, and they overlap in practice, since drawings continue while the city reviews.
Design and drawings: 6 to 8 months | Site survey, soils report, architecture, interior design, and engineering, developed to a permit set
City review and permits: 6 to 10 months | Design review where it applies, plan check, corrections, and the demolition and building permits
Construction: 18 to 30 months | Demolition, excavation, structure, systems, finishes, and landscape, with hillside and estate-level houses at the long end
Furnishing and install: Runs alongside construction | Furniture is ordered while the house is being built and installed once it is complete
Total: About 30 to 48 months | From the first drawings to move-in
Two rules in the city's building code set outer limits on that calendar. A permit application expires if no permit has been issued within 545 calendar days, or 18 months, of the application date, and demolition has to begin within 180 days of the demolition permit being issued.
The schedule that holds is the one where selections are final before construction starts. Stone, millwork, and made-to-order furniture are all produced from approved drawings, and a whole house of furniture ordered at one time usually installs 5 to 8 months later, so ordering starts well before the house is finished.
The interior is where a new house earns its tier. Structure and systems set the floor of the budget, and the finish level, meaning stone, millwork, plumbing fixtures, lighting, and hardware, decides whether a house lands at $900 or $1,400 per square foot. That is why interior design belongs at the start of the drawings, not after framing. Ceiling heights, window sizes, and the lighting plan all follow from how the rooms will be used and furnished.
Furnishing is a separate budget. A common rule of thumb is about $50 to $100 per square foot at a high-end level and $100 to $200 or more fully styled with custom pieces. For a 6,000 square foot house, that is about $300,000 to $600,000 at a high-end level and $600,000 to $1,200,000 or more fully styled. The guide to what it costs to furnish a whole house breaks that down by level and by room.
For how the studio works with the architect and a licensed general contractor on a new house, see interior design services and design-build services. For more on working in the 90210, see the Beverly Hills interior design page and hiring an interior designer in Beverly Hills.
Treating the cost per square foot as the whole budget: The figure covers the house. Land, demolition, site work, basements, the pool, soft costs, and furnishing are all separate lines.
Assuming a 90210 address means Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills Post Office addresses are in the City of Los Angeles and are permitted by LADBS. Confirm the city, and the area within it, before design starts.
Designing past the envelope: Height, floor area, and setbacks differ between the Central Area, the Hillside Area, and Trousdale Estates. In Trousdale the height limit is 14 feet. Design to the standards for the parcel, not to the house next door.
Bringing the interior in after the structure is drawn: Ceiling heights, window sizes, lighting, and millwork all depend on how the rooms will be furnished. Changing them after framing costs more than drawing them once.
Leaving selections for construction: Late choices on stone, millwork, and fixtures push the schedule, because each one is made or ordered from approved drawings.
Planning a home in Beverly Hills?
I design high-end residential interiors for new homes in Beverly Hills and across Los Angeles, working alongside the architect and a licensed general contractor from the first drawings through the final install. Joelle Uzyel Interior Design takes on a limited number of full-service projects each year.
In 2026, plan about $600 to $900 per square foot for a custom home with a builder level of finish, $900 to $1,400 for a high-end custom home, and $1,400 to $2,000 or more at estate level. These are planning ranges for construction of the house on a flat lot. A hillside lot can add 30 to 50 percent.
Land, demolition of an existing house, site work, basements, pools and hardscape, soft costs, and furnishing. Soft costs, meaning architecture and engineering drawings, surveys, permits, and city fees, are carried as their own line. Furnishing runs about $50 to $100 per square foot at a high-end level.
Plan about 30 to 48 months from the first drawings to move-in: 6 to 8 months of design and drawings, 6 to 10 months of city review and permits, and 18 to 30 months of construction. Hillside lots and estate-level houses sit at the long end.
In the Central Area, yes. All new single-family residences there require design review, either at staff level as Track 1 or by the Architectural and Design Review Commission as Track 2. The city states that there is no design review process in the Hillside Area, which has its own development standards.
No. Addresses in the area known as Beverly Hills Post Office share the 90210 ZIP code but are in the City of Los Angeles, so building permits go through the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. Check the parcel on the Beverly Hills zoning map or on ZIMAS before design starts.
A common rule of thumb is about $50 to $100 per square foot at a high-end level and $100 to $200 or more fully styled with custom pieces. For a 6,000 square foot house, that is about $300,000 to $600,000 at a high-end level. Furnishing is separate from the construction budget.
Begin your project. Share the location, the scope, your budget, and your timeline. Every inquiry gets a personal reply. Start your project