Highlands Ranch additions and whole-home remodels.
Design-build across Highlands Ranch — additions, whole-home remodels, kitchens and structural work, with the three-layer approval process mapped before anything gets drawn.
Highlands Ranch needs three approvals, not one. Sequencing them is most of the job.
Highlands Ranch is unincorporated Douglas County, zoned Planned Community under the Highlands Ranch Planned Development Guide. A building permit comes from Douglas County — but the Metro District has to approve first, because the county will not issue a permit or a certificate of occupancy without it, and most exterior improvements also go to the HRCA Architecture Committee. Some sub-associations add a fourth layer on top.
Verified against official Douglas County, the Highlands Ranch Metro District and HRCA and Colorado Department of Local Affairs sources as of August 2026. Code editions and ADU rules change, and several Front Range jurisdictions are mid-revision right now. Treat this as the starting point for your project, not as legal advice, and confirm the current standard with Douglas County Planning and the HRCA Architecture Committee before you commit to a design. We do that on every job as a matter of course.
A Highlands Ranch primary bathroom, rebuilt around the shower.
Highlands Ranch Primary Bathroom Remodel
A frameless glass walk-in shower sized around a bench and a handheld, marble-look large-format wall tile, a dark mosaic shower floor and a double vanity in dark shaker cabinetry.
Highlands Ranch questions we get asked.
Why does Highlands Ranch need so many approvals?
Because it is unincorporated Douglas County zoned as a Planned Community rather than a city. Douglas County Building Division issues the permit, but approval by the Highlands Ranch Metro District is required before the county will issue a building permit or a Certificate of Occupancy. Most exterior improvements also require HRCA Architecture Committee approval, and some sub-associations add a fourth layer. It is not a blocker – it is a sequencing problem, and it is solvable if you start from the committee calendar.
How long does HRCA architectural review take?
The Architecture Committee has 30 days to decide and meets on the first and third Wednesday of the month, with complex requests due by noon on the Friday before a meeting. On an exterior project that calendar is usually the critical path rather than plan production. We work the schedule backwards from the meeting dates.
Can I build an ADU in Highlands Ranch?
This is genuinely unresolved and we will not guess. Douglas County’s June 2025 ADU resolution amends the A-1, LRR, RR, ER and SR districts, and Highlands Ranch is not zoned under any of them – it is Planned Community under the Highlands Ranch Planned Development Guide, which is silent on ADUs. Whether an ADU is permitted here at all is an open question we confirm with Douglas County Planning before advising anyone either way.
Bring us the house you already love.
We will look at what is standing, what it can carry and how your three approval layers actually sequence — then tell you honestly what it takes. It starts with a short phone consult, not a sales visit.
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Whole-Home Remodels
Down to the studs where it needs to be, staged so you can live through it where it does not.
Home Additions
Rear, side and bump-out additions engineered to what the existing structure can actually carry.
ADUs
Detached, attached and basement accessory dwelling units, designed to the standard that applies on your lot.
Second Storeys & Pop-Tops
Adding a floor without moving. The structural question gets answered before the design does.
Kitchen Remodels
Layout, structure and services together — most kitchens that disappoint were solved on paper only.
Basement Finishes
Egress, ceiling height, moisture and mechanicals settled before a single wall goes up.
Structural Remodeling
Load-bearing walls, beams and foundations — the work that makes open plans possible.
Custom Homes
Ground-up design-build on your lot, with the same documentation discipline as our remodels.
Nearby
Littleton
On the 2024 code, with historic review scoped so most interior work needs no approval.
Centennial
Full published permit turnaround times — and an unusual ADU design-match rule.
Lone Tree
Planned Development zoning — your setbacks live in your PD plan, not the municipal code.