New Construction in Yucca Valley

[Jacqueline Levi]

Hi, we own 15 acres up on the Yucca Mesa and are finally, after a year and a half, starting the permitting process with San Bernardino County. As evidenced in these forums, building in the hi desert is no joke - you have to be in it for the long haul. 

We are building our primary residence, 1200-1400 square foot home. In addition, we will be renting out our tiny home school bus, plus a guest cabin, on the other end of our property (via airbnb/other outlets). 

We also want to make the 10 acres where the rentals will be an event space for photoshoots, small weddings, bridal shower glamping etc, so there is an entire business aspect to this. Therefore, we are following all the rules and regulations to a tee. 

Building is expensive and we are looking to do as much ourselves as possible and subcontracting for the big things: septic, foundation, roofing, HVAC, electrical etc, because we are doing this cash. We got lucky in that the county/water district made an exception and allowed us to buy a water meter 660 feet away from our land (we already have an easement with neighboring property for this)- that's going to be a lot of digging and laying pipes but its still cheaper than a well and cheaper than bringing up the main water line for $100 a foot. For electrical we are going solar. In addition, we are insulating with hempcrete, (or at least trying to, as this is an alternative material not sure it will get approval, although they said I just need a structural engineer to sign off on the Rvalue.) 

I'd like to know if anyone has successfully built with San Bernardino County permitting process, what your timelines were, budget, any specific challenges? 

Thanks! 

[David Jarvi]

sounds like you are doing a pretty good job.  -- While I have not built from ground up, I did do a full remodel. 

I had plans drawn up by a draftsman, stamped by a structural engineer out of the area... and this caused me all sorts of pain -- mostly trying to communicate with the structural engineer.  A lot of GC's in the high desert area grew up building homes in 1980's and don't understand the building techniques needed to comply with the 2020 codes.  many of the GC's I requested to quote remodel couldn't even interpret the 
confusing plans that the structural engineer created.    

So, I guess looking back You can take the long road or the short road  (either have it's benefits)

the long road is doing it yourself  (owner builder style) and learning how to find/manage sub-contractors/inspectors, get the best price, plan revisions to get exactly what you want, etc..

the shorter road - hiring a GC with his architect who has experience in the high desert.  these guys are hard to find (but perhaps doing some 4x4 driving up pipes canyon area would yield you a few builder names) 
a lot of the better builders up in the desert don't advertise (don't need to) and have 6 month wait lists.

but the hardest part of the whole process (IMO)  will be insuring the structural engineer is willing to understand 1) your goals  and 2) san bernardino codes  3) communicate clearly throughout project

good luck!