Custom Home Builders Orange County
Marilynn & Co. builds luxury custom homes throughout Orange County — from waterfront estates in Newport Beach to hillside homes above Laguna. 32 years of experience. Fire-aware construction. Built for Southern California.
32+
Years Experience
500+
Homes Built
6
Counties Served
5.0
Client Rating
Orange County Custom Homes
Marilynn & Co. is a custom home builder serving Orange County and the surrounding communities of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Corona del Mar, and Irvine — with 32 years of experience building luxury homes across Southern California.
Orange County is a harder place to build than most people realize going in. Coastal sites in Newport Beach and Dana Point come with salt air exposure, wind load calculations, and view corridor rules that affect everything from how you spec the windows to how you design the roof. Lots in Laguna Beach require grading plans and retaining systems that catch first-time builders off guard. And if you are building in a gated community — Coto de Caza, Shady Canyon, Nellie Gail — you have HOA design review on top of city permitting, which adds time and a separate layer of coordination that most contractors are not set up to handle well.
We have been through all of it. We have built contemporary coastal homes in Newport with the indoor-outdoor flow the site demands. Traditional estates in the equestrian communities of Rancho Santa Margarita. Transitional homes in Irvine and Tustin where the lot is flat and the challenge is getting the most out of the footprint. Craftsman-influenced homes in the older neighborhoods of Fullerton and Brea where the streetscape has character worth honoring. We do not steer clients toward a house style that suits us. We build what the site calls for and what the client has in mind.
We serve clients throughout Orange County including Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Coto de Caza, Rancho Santa Margarita, Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, Placentia, Fullerton, Brea, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, and surrounding communities.
What We Build
Full design-build services for custom luxury homes throughout Orange County. Design, engineering, permits, and construction managed by one team from the first site visit through final walkthrough.
Orange County's hillside and canyon communities sit inside some of California's highest fire-risk corridors. Every home we build incorporates fire-resistant methods developed from 25+ years of Southern California firefighting experience.
Our ADU Series delivers the same design standards as our custom homes in a smaller footprint — well suited to Orange County lots where multigenerational living, a home office, or rental income makes sense.
Our Founder
Anthony Ferro spent 25 years on Southern California fire lines before founding Marilynn & Co. He has worked fires in the Santa Ana Mountains, the hillside communities above Laguna, and the canyon corridors that run through the middle of some of Orange County’s most expensive real estate. He knows where those fires go and how the homes in their path are built.
That experience changes how you think about construction. Not in an abstract way — in a specific, material-by-material way. Which roof assemblies hold up under ember exposure. Where vents need to be protected. How site grading and landscape decisions affect fire behavior around a structure. Anthony has seen the outcomes firsthand, and he built this company to do something about it.
What clients in Orange County get from Marilynn & Co. is a builder who takes the work seriously from the first conversation. Timelines get communicated and held. Problems get raised before they become expensive. And the finished home gets built the way it was designed — not value-engineered into something cheaper once the contract is signed.
32+
Years Building
25+
Years Firefighting
6
Counties Served
Our Work
A selection of custom homes built by Marilynn & Co. across Orange County.
How It Works
01
We start with the site and the vision. Bring us your lot address, your ideas, and your questions. We will walk the property, talk through what is realistic for the budget and timeline, and give you a straight picture of what the process involves before you make any commitments.
02
We work with your architect or ours to develop plans built around the site and around how you actually live. Materials, structure, energy systems, and fire-resistant detailing all get worked out in this phase — before anything gets built.
03
We manage the full permitting process — city planning, building permits, HOA design review, and coastal commission requirements where they apply. Orange County permitting has a lot of moving parts. We have run it hundreds of times.
04
Our crews build with the same care we bring to design. We communicate throughout the build, surface issues before they become problems, and hand over a finished home built the way it was designed.
Where We Build
Marilynn & Co. builds custom homes throughout Orange County — from the coastline along Pacific Coast Highway to the inland valleys and the hillside communities above them. Our team is based in the San Gabriel Valley and works across the county on every project.
Communities we serve in Orange County include Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Capistrano Beach, Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza, Foothill Ranch, Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, Placentia, Fullerton, Brea, La Habra, Buena Park, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, and Newport Coast.
Building outside Orange County? We also serve Los Angeles, San Diego, the Inland Empire, and the desert communities of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.
Common Questions
In Orange County, custom home construction generally runs between $450 and $900 per square foot. Coastal sites in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach run toward the higher end because of engineering requirements — ocean exposure, wind loads, and the premium materials those sites typically call for. Lots that require significant grading or retaining add structural cost on top of that. We give you a detailed estimate during the consultation so you have a real number before committing.
From permit approval to move-in, most projects take between 12 and 24 months. Permitting timelines vary by city — some Orange County jurisdictions process faster than others. If you are building in an HOA community, design review adds time on top of the city process. We manage all of it and keep you updated so the timeline is not a surprise.
Yes. Marilynn & Co. manages the full permitting process — city planning, building permits, HOA design review, and coastal commission requirements where they apply. You do not need to track any of it yourself.
Yes. Most of our clients come to us with land they already own or are close to purchasing. We can evaluate the site before you finalize the purchase — look at buildability, flag any constraints, and tell you what the project will actually involve before you are committed.
We build throughout Orange County. Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, Huntington Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Coto de Caza, and all surrounding cities. The full list is in the service area section above.
Yes. Marilynn & Co. is fully licensed and insured in California with 32+ years of residential construction experience throughout Southern California including Orange County.
Client Reviews
"After getting quotes from five contractors, Marilynn & Co. came back with the most thorough plan and the most transparent pricing. The project finished on time and on budget. That does not happen often in OC."
Michael R.
Orange County
"Marilynn & Co. handled everything from permits to final inspection. The attention to detail was incredible, and the finished home exceeded what we imagined when we first broke ground."
Sarah M.
Manhattan Beach
"The construction quality is unlike anything we have seen. Professional, responsive, and they delivered exactly what they said they would. We would build with them again without hesitation."
Jennifer L.
Los Angeles
Get Started
Whether you are ready to break ground or still in the early planning stages, we want to hear about your project. Consultations are free and there is no obligation.
Phone
(909) 599-0033
Address
5135 N Valley Center Ave
Covina, CA 91724
