Project Overview

Single-family residential fire rebuild in Altadena following the Eaton Fire. The 0.2398-acre lot drops 13 feet from street to rear, with a single-story house, a small guest house at the rear, and a carport on the opposite rear side. This was one of our first Altadena fire rebuild projects, and it holds significance as the first approved Altadena fire rebuild drainage plan from our firm. We learned on this project that plastic-lined rain gardens could manage stormwater without requiring a full hydrology report to prove the numbers.

At the front of the property, we kept the existing walkway and a short wall, tying the new entrance into these existing elements. Downspouts along the front and west sideyard pipe into a plastic-lined rain garden that handles stormwater from the primary structure. On the east side, we preserved the existing driveway apron and matched a portion of it, extending a new driveway from front to a rear garage. The garage has a trench drain in front, piped to a second plastic-lined rain garden. The rear of the property steps down from the main house level to a deck, then a smaller lower deck, with pavers leading to the rear yard. Keeping slopes at or under 5:1 (20%) simplified the LA County approval process since the project qualified as a drainage plan rather than a full grading plan.