Before the Eaton fire, Altadena’s streets were an eclectic mix of vintage bungalows and period revivals of all shapes and sizes.
This landscape anchored residents, standing in stark contrast to the mass-produced master plans common throughout much of Southern California. Today, wildfire survivors still struggle to find a way back to their beloved foothill community.
While Redfin shows the median sales price for an existing Altadena home hit $1.275 million in January, the alternative — building from scratch — is no less daunting.
Cutting the red tape
Enter Genesis Builders, a joint venture between veteran Southern California homebuilders Cityview and Montage Development formed in the aftermath of the 2025 firestorms.
The firm is cutting through the red tape by offering 24 house plans already vetted by Los Angeles County, with eight more in the pipeline.
Anish Saraiya, director of Altadena Recovery for Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office, admits the old system wasn’t built for a disaster of this scale.
“The county doesn’t build this many homes in a single year,” Saraiya said, explaining a plan that applies specifically to the burn areas. “The idea here is that if you can get a plan that’s approved through the county, it’s something that somebody can simply pick up and replicate.
“Prior to the fire, the permitting process could take up to eight months. We reduced that down to weeks,” he added. “We, the county, should not hold your plan for more than 30 days.”
Breaking ground on Marcheta Street
This model is currently being put to the test by someone who understands the stakes personally, Rebecca Zandovskis, Genesis Builders’ senior director of business development, who lost her one-story traditional home in the Eaton fire.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the firm broke ground on her Marcheta Street corner lot with prepared speeches, tears and the ceremonial tossing of soil. It’s the first of 30 groundbreakings planned in the next few months.
Zandovskis and her husband are building a 1,750-square-foot, two-story Spanish style. The plan allows for a larger yard on their 7,259-square-foot lot, which boasts a view of the downtown Los Angeles skyline.
“All in — drainage, grading, permits, finishes, the whole nine yards — it’s about $860,000, and that’s with a garage,” Zandovskis said. “When this started moving and shaking as much as it did, we were like, OK, it’s on now.”
A disaster of historic proportions
The urgency for a streamlined recovery is underscored by the sheer scale of the 2025 Eaton fire, ranked as one of California’s most devastating disasters.
For 24 days starting Jan. 7, 2025, Cal Fire data shows the wind-driven blaze scorched 14,021 acres and destroyed 9,418 structures, claiming 19 lives. While the environmental and human toll was immediate, the legal fallout is only beginning.
A civil lawsuit filed on Sept. 4, 2025 by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges the blaze was ignited by faulty utility equipment owned and operated by Southern California Edison. The legal battle over accountability continues to loom over the neighborhoods now fighting to rebuild.
Fixed prices, fast timelines
To provide stability, Genesis Builders offers six floor plans, ranging from 1,250 to 2,200 square feet, and four locally inspired architectural styles, including Mediterranean, traditional, craftsman and bungalow.
Fixed base pricing starts at just under $700,000 to $880,000, with the option to personalize the space with finishes and upgrades for an additional cost. Homeowners can expect to move into their finished, turnkey residences within a year from the start of construction. If the firm misses the deadline, it pays a daily penalty to the homeowner.
“We eat any cost overruns — whether from tariffs or delays,” said Sean Barton, chief executive officer of Cityview.
By purchasing materials in bulk for dozens of homes simultaneously, the firm leverages the same supply-chain scale as large housing developments. This keeps individual rebuild costs predictable, even for smaller-scale projects like this one.
“We’re doing between five and 10 at a time,” Barton said.
A growing market for rebuilds
Genesis Builders isn’t the only firm racing to restore the foothills. Smaller custom outfits and regional firms like Brookfield Residential, PLC Communities and others have also pivoted to fire-recovery models.
While these firms often focus on one-off custom builds rather than pre-approved template homes, the sheer volume of need has created a competitive ecosystem of contractors specializing in new, more stringent fire-resistant building codes.
A blueprint for recovery
Residents can explore the pre-approved plans at the new Genesis Builders Design Gallery, located at 1365 N. Hill Ave. The showroom, which hosts an invitation-only grand opening on Thursday, March 5, features more than 100 interior and exterior finishes and a fully built sample kitchen.
By moving the rebuilding process off the web and into a physical space, the gallery allows people to work directly with the people behind the plans.
While Barton admits the model could work in other disaster areas, Genesis Builders remains focused on the foothills.
“We’re just really focused on getting this right here,” he said.
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