Kitchen remodeling in Stevenson Ranch is now reaching the community's first generation of homes. Building began in the late 1980s and about 1,500 homes were finished by 1996, so a kitchen that has never been remodeled may be well over 30 years old.
We are a kitchen remodeling specialist based in Santa Clarita, a short drive across I-5. Our work is limited to full and major remodels, with permits included in one contract. We pass on standalone cabinet or countertop swaps, because the results are better when the whole kitchen is designed at once. Each engagement opens with an in-home visit to measure, followed by 3D renderings of the new kitchen.
What Kitchen Remodeling in Stevenson Ranch Involves
Stevenson Ranch began as one large plan. In the early 1980s, Dale Poe Development Corp. bought the land, and in late 1985 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a first phase of 4,378 single-family homes, condominiums and apartments on 3,057 acres. Sources differ on whether construction started in 1986 or 1988. Poe's heirs sold to Lennar in 1996, and the original vision called for about 10,000 homes over time.
That gives the community a newer housing stock than central Santa Clarita, with most homes dating from the late 1980s onward. Newer does not mean current, though. A first-phase kitchen was built to the finishes and appliance sizes of its day, and its drawers, hinges and counters have carried three decades of family use.
The setting matters too. Stevenson Ranch sits in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains at about 1,529 feet, west of I-5.
Stevenson Ranch Proper, Westridge and The Old Road
The community has two main parts, connected by The Old Road.
- Stevenson Ranch proper. The central and southern areas, home to Pico Canyon, Stevenson Ranch and Oak Hills elementary schools, Rancho Pico Junior High and West Ranch High.
- Westridge. The northern part, developed as part of Valencia around The Oaks Club at Valencia golf course. It lies inside the Stevenson Ranch census-designated place, so it is county territory. All of Westridge, about 1,300 homes, was evacuated during the 2017 Rye Fire.
- Mentryville. The historic oil town next door, founded in 1875 or 1876 depending on the source, where the Pico No. 4 well pumped until 1990.
The 2020 Census counted 7,040 housing units here, 66.2 percent of them owner-occupied. We design each kitchen from its own measurements, not from an assumption about the tract.
Kitchen Services Suited to Stevenson Ranch
Replacing a first-phase builder kitchen is a chance to rethink the whole room, so each service below is one part of a complete remodel.
Inset Cabinetry and Quartzite for First-Phase Kitchens
When the structure and systems check out, the budget can move to quality. Inset or frameless custom cabinetry replaces the original builder boxes, quartzite or marble takes over from dated counters, and panel-ready appliances and layered lighting finish the room. These upgrades come together in our luxury kitchen remodeling work, planned and built as one kitchen rather than piece by piece.
Islands With Prep Sinks and Seating
A builder kitchen from the first phase may have a small island or none at all. A new one can add seating, a prep sink and power, sized to the clearances the room can actually support. It is built with the full remodel, never as a stand-alone island, and its plumbing and electrical go into the same county EPIC-LA application as the rest of the kitchen. More on kitchen islands.
Butler's Pantries and Sculleries for Entertaining
A second work zone keeps small appliances, cleanup or a coffee and bar setup out of the main kitchen. In a first-phase home, the space can come from a dining room, laundry nook or hall closet beside the kitchen rather than an addition, which keeps the project inside the existing walls. It is built in the same remodel as the main kitchen. See butler's pantries and sculleries.
Outdoor Cooking on Hillside and Foothill Lots
Stevenson Ranch has no climate station of its own, but nearby Santa Clarita averages summer highs of 90 to 95°F, so we favor granite or exterior-rated porcelain over standard quartz and plan shade where the grill sits. An outdoor kitchen is something we add only alongside an indoor remodel, with gas, power and water for both kitchens drawn in one set of plans. See outdoor kitchens.
LA County Permits for Stevenson Ranch Kitchens
Stevenson Ranch is unincorporated, so the City of Santa Clarita does not issue its permits. They go through Los Angeles County Public Works Building and Safety, Santa Clarita District Office, at 23757 W Valencia Boulevard, and applications are filed in the county's EPIC-LA system. Westridge follows the same county process even though it carries the Valencia name.
The county's Santa Clarita referral sheet lists items reviewed in plan check, including Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone status, geology such as faults, liquefaction and landslides, and hillside grading on slopes of 25 percent or more. Those items mostly concern a property's site and exterior, which is why we flag them as soon as a kitchen plan reaches outside the existing walls. If your neighborhood has a homeowners association, check its architectural rules before changing a window or exterior wall.
