Who supports this site
Farnsworth Builders
This site is produced with the support of Farnsworth Builders. Rather than bury that, here is a full account of who they are — so you can weigh it yourself.
Reviewed July 27, 2026
- CSLB license
- #947797
- Classifications
- B · C10 · C36 · C39
- Based in
- Marina del Rey, CA
- Phone
- 310-733-7645
- Website
- farnsworthbuilders.com
A family firm that builds what it designs
Farnsworth Builders is a close-knit, family-run design-build company operating out of Marina del Rey, working across the Westside from Malibu to Encino. Wes Farnsworth is CEO; Erin Farnsworth leads business development; Nicole Farnsworth is CFO. The firm works with long-standing journeyman tradesmen alongside its own site superintendents and project managers.
Their ordinary work is custom luxury homes and full renovations — the kind of ground-up and whole-house projects that a fire rebuild most closely resembles. That matters more than it might sound. Rebuilding a destroyed home is not a restoration trade; it is new construction on a lot with history, and it demands a builder who does new construction routinely.
They describe themselves as among the very first builders to break ground and frame new homes in the fire-affected areas. Their published Palisades rebuild projects include an Alphabet Streets rebuild and a Sunset Mesa rebuild — one in the neighborhood permitting fastest, one in the coastal stretch where Coastal Development Permit exposure is highest.
The firm is a member of the National Association of Women in Construction.
How they work
What a design-build firm changes on a fire rebuild
Summarised from their published description of their process, read against what the Palisades rebuild actually demands.
Design-build, as one team
Architects, designers and contractors work under one contract rather than in sequence. On a fire rebuild — where the geotechnical findings, the insurance number and the permit track all constrain the design — that consolidation is the difference between resolving conflicts on paper and discovering them in the field.
Permitting as part of the job
They handle the complex and evolving local regulations specific to fire rebuilds rather than handing permitting to the owner. Given that submittal completeness is the single biggest determinant of plan check duration, this is where a lot of schedule is won or lost.
Trades performed in house
They self-perform many trades to keep quality under their own control. Their license carries general building, electrical, plumbing and roofing classifications — an unusually broad set for a firm this size, and directly relevant to Chapter 7A work where roofing and envelope detailing determine performance.
Site-specific planning for fire lots
Palisades parcels are not interchangeable. Hillside lots in the Highlands need caissons and retaining structure; bluff parcels carry coastal review; Marquez Knolls lots carry recorded view covenants. Their pre-construction process addresses the lot before the design.
Resilient material selection
Building to the 2026 WUI code is a permitting requirement. Building so the assemblies actually perform as tested is an execution question about continuous detailing — which is the argument for keeping the envelope trades in house.
Solar and energy infrastructure
They design and install their own solar systems rather than subcontracting, including Tesla Powerwall, Tesla Solar Roof and REC panels. On a ground-up rebuild there is an opportunity to integrate that infrastructure into the structure rather than retrofitting it later.
Their work
Projects
Site secured, ready to build
A cleared Palisades lot under their control, fenced and awaiting permits.
Under construction
Envelope closed in, window and door assemblies set.
Completed
Vaulted timber ceilings and full-height glazing in a finished home.
Our disclosure
Farnsworth Builders funds this site. That is a commercial relationship and you should factor it in when you read anything here that points toward them.
What we have tried to do in exchange is make the underlying information genuinely useful regardless of who you hire — every statistic sourced and dated, every process page written from published city guidance, and no figure inflated to make a rebuild look easier or harder than it is.
You should interview several licensed contractors, verify any license with the CSLB, and take the information on this site to whichever builder you choose.
Common questions
Who is Farnsworth Builders?
A family-run design-build firm based at 475 Washington Blvd, 2nd Floor, Marina del Rey, California, led by Wes Farnsworth as CEO with Erin Farnsworth and Nicole Farnsworth. They build custom luxury homes and full remodels across the Westside, and they take on Palisades fire rebuilds directly.
Are they licensed?
Yes — CSLB license #947797, carrying General Building (B), Electrical (C10), Plumbing (C36) and Roofing (C39) classifications. You can verify any California contractor's license directly with the Contractors State License Board.
What Palisades rebuild work have they done?
They describe themselves as among the very first builders to break ground and frame new homes in the fire-affected areas, and publicly list Palisades rebuild projects including an Alphabet Streets rebuild and a Sunset Mesa rebuild.
What areas do they serve?
Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, Pacific Palisades, Culver City, Venice and Encino.
Do I have to use them?
No. Farnsworth Builders supports this site, and we say so plainly. Everything published here is intended to be useful whichever licensed contractor you choose, and we would encourage you to interview several.