Castro Village · Five Canyons · Palomares Hills · Lake Chabot · Crow Canyon · Cull Canyon
Schedule a Discovery ConsultationCastro Valley is really two places: the flats around Castro Valley Boulevard and Castro Village, and the canyons that climb east toward the hills. Crow, Cull, Redwood and Palomares canyons shape how the neighborhoods sit, and they shape how a backyard has to be built.
We design and build outdoor living spaces for homeowners in Castro Valley, with plans that account for slope, water and wildfire from the first sketch.
Lake Chabot Regional Park. Photo: Oleg Alexandrov, CC BY-SA 4.0
Castro Valley Boulevard was once part of the Lincoln Highway, and it still works like a main street, with the Castro Village center at its heart. Rowell's Saddlery, founded in 1941, still repairs saddles on the boulevard, and the Rowell Ranch Rodeo, first held in 1925, still runs just off I-580.
Lake Chabot, built in the 1870s by Chinese laborers, sits in the northwest part of town and is now part of the East Bay Regional Park District. Its trails and marina are a short drive from most homes, and plenty of hillside yards look out over the same ridgelines.
Answer five quick questions and see the features and projects built for the way you live.
Castro Valley is unincorporated, so permits go through Alameda County rather than a city hall. Fire protection comes mainly from the Alameda County Fire Department, while Five Canyons is served by the Fairview Fire Protection District. In very high fire hazard severity zones in unincorporated Alameda County, the county fire department runs defensible space inspections. Projects in those zones often have added requirements for materials and plant spacing. We check your address on the state fire hazard map and confirm requirements with the county during planning.
In Five Canyons and Palomares Hills, the rear yard often drops away or climbs steeply behind the house. Before we talk about a kitchen or a fire feature, we solve the grade with terracing, retaining walls and drainage that moves winter runoff where it belongs.
Once the ground is stable, we can build level outdoor rooms with views, connected by steps and walkways that feel natural on the hill.
Every project begins with a discovery consultation. We learn about your home, your goals and how you want to live outside, then recommend the right next step.
Schedule a Discovery ConsultationAlameda County, since Castro Valley is not an incorporated city. We handle the permit path as part of planning.
In most cases, yes. Terracing with engineered walls is the usual answer. We will be clear about what the slope allows and what it costs to do it right.
You can check your address on the state fire hazard severity zone map, and we review it with you. If you are in a very high zone, we design with ember-resistant materials and defensible space in mind.
The Fairview Fire Protection District serves Five Canyons. Most of the rest of Castro Valley is covered by the Alameda County Fire Department.
A Discovery Consultation at your home, so we can see the grade, the views and the drainage in person.
