Chapter 02 · The Homes · Primary Residences

A factory-built primary home, on your land, in months.

Most people know us as ADU builders, and that's our deepest experience. But the same 14 models, factory process, and all-inclusive pricing work for primary residences too.

405–1,200

square feet

40+

years building experience

2x6

exterior framing

97%

built off-site

Who Builds a Primary Home With Us

Four real situations where a factory-built primary home is the right call.

  1. Right-sizing your primary residence

    You're downsizing from a 2,500+ ft² house but want a real home, not a condo. Our 945 to 1,200 ft² configurations give you a full 2 to 3 bedroom home with everything that matters and nothing you don't use.

  2. Replacing a tear-down with a new build

    You bought an older home on land you love. The structure is past saving. A factory-built primary home goes up in months, not years, and you live in the existing structure until delivery day.

  3. Vacation or second home

    You own land in California's wine country, coastal communities, or rural lots. A primary-home-quality build that arrives ready to inhabit, no on-site contractor chaos.

  4. A lot you bought specifically to build on

    You bought raw land or a teardown lot intending to build. We handle the permitting process, foundation, and the home itself, with a permitting budget built into your price and the exact permit cost confirmed in your feasibility study.

Same Factory · Honest Differences

Same process. Same family. A different permit.

Primary-home builds use the same construction approach, factory, and people who've delivered Framework First homes across the Monterey Bay and Central Coast. The home itself is identical in quality and finish to our ADU configurations. What changes is the permitting pathway and a few site-work details.

What stays the same

  • ＋14 configurations from 405 to 1,200 ft²
  • ＋Three design styles: Classic Craftsman (included), Urban Farmhouse, Ultra Modern
  • ＋2x6 exterior walls (50% thicker than 2x4)
  • ＋97% factory-built in our climate-controlled Salinas factory
  • ＋Title 24 energy compliance and CALGreen standards on every build
  • ＋All-inclusive pricing locked at contract: a permitting budget, plans, foundation, factory build, delivery, hookups, appliances, inspections (permit costs are set by your city or county and confirmed in your feasibility study)
  • ＋CSLB licensed contractor (CSLB #1047146) plus manufacturing license (MFG #1595931)
  • ＋Best-case 4-month delivery on our smallest model, up to 9 months on the largest, vs 16 to 24 months site-built

What's different for a primary home

  • ≠No detached-ADU permit pathway: a primary home is permitted as a primary dwelling, which has more design-review steps in some cities
  • ≠Larger building footprint usually means more site work (driveway, more extensive utility connections, sometimes a septic system instead of sewer hookup)
  • ≠Permanent foundation specs may differ slightly (deeper footings, additional engineering for primary dwelling code)
  • ≠Mortgage financing works differently: primary-home construction financing is generally more competitive than ADU financing (a primary-home is treated like a conventional residential construction loan)

Best Sizes for a Primary Home

The configurations most clients pick as a primary residence.

Nine Forty-Five 2/2 2 Bed · 2 Bath · L-Shaped · 6 mo → Twelve Hundred L 3 Bed · 2 Bath · L-Shaped · 7–9 mo → Twelve Hundred U 3 Bed · 2 Bath · U-Shaped · 7–9 mo →
See all 14 models, including smaller right-sizing options →

An Honest Note

Primary homes are a smaller share of what we do, but we do them.

Most of our deliveries are ADUs. A smaller share are primary homes for clients who own raw land, are replacing a tear-down, or are right-sizing from a larger home. We treat them with the same factory process and same family ownership, but we want you to know up front: ADUs are our deepest experience.

That said, the build quality is identical. A 945 ft² Nine Forty-Five built as a primary residence in San Benito County is structurally and aesthetically the same as the same model built as an ADU in San Jose. What changes is the permitting pathway (slightly more steps for primary dwellings in most cities) and the site work (driveway, septic, more involved utility runs).

If you're building a primary home, we recommend starting with the same 30-minute property analysis as our ADU clients. Our team will tell you straight whether your lot, your budget, and your timeline align with what we can deliver, and if a custom local builder is a better fit, we'll say so.

Start With Your Land

A free 30-minute property analysis for your lot.

A member of our team will pull your property records, check zoning and setbacks, and tell you which Framework First models qualify as a primary residence on your specific lot.

See If My Property Qualifies → Talk to Our Team
BBB A+ 4.9 Google ReviewsCSLB #1047146MFG #1595931James Hardie® Siding