Modern Custom Homes

Build a Beautiful, Custom Modern Home

Our modern architecture studio combines a love of modern design, a proven process, and the latest technology to help our clients build incredible modern homes.

How We’ll Help You Build a Custom Modern Home in San Diego

Our integrated design + permitting process, along with our expertise in navigating San Diego’s building codes, will help you build a modern custom home tailored to you and your family’s lifestyle.

Building a unique, modern space doesn’t need to feel like an uphill battle. Our decade of experience in designing residential and commercial properties in San Diego has resulted in a proprietary process that simplifies the home building process.

For a quick overview of our unique process, watch this video to discover how we can efficiently design, permit, and build a custom modern home in San Diego for you.

Book a Modern Home Consultation

Classic Design Process

All our projects follow our 4-phase creative process. This provides a roadmap for design while allowing the flexibility to take our client's needs + goals into consideration.

Contemporary Design Tools

We combine a classical architecture approach with state of the art tools. Technology allows us to tour your project in the digital realm, view photo-realistic renderings, or 3D print study models.

Modern + Minimalist Homes

We specialize in residential architecture in the styles of modernism to minimalism (+ the various modern styles in between). Trust us, our architecture studio has the design skills to make your dream home a reality.

Integrated Permitting

Permitting gets more difficult every year in California.  We have staff with permitting expertise, ready to provide you an integrated design + permitting process.

Key Features of Our
Modern Homes

Let’s face it - everyone wants their home to be the nicest one on their block. Whether you already have ideas that need to be fleshed out or need a modern architect to guide you the entire way, we have the experience to create a beautiful modern home tailored to your lifestyle.

A Proven Process
For Designing Amazing Modern Homes

We utilize a classic architecture process supplemented with contemporary design tools - it's the best of both worlds.

Having a well defined creative process creates a level of comfort in an otherwise unknown environment. Through this process we are able to collect + apply your design input though our scheduled design meetings. We can't design custom modern or minimalist homes without you!

Modern Architecture Design Process

3D Renderings
To Visualize Exactly How Your New Home Will Be

As part of our design process, we will produce realistic architectural renderings of your project.

These images will help you better understand the spaces + materials we are proposing. Architectural renderings are a newer tool we can use to design the perfect modern home for you.

3D Architecture Rendering of a Custom Modern Home

3D Models
To Help Decide What Your New Home Will Look Like

These days it's uncommon for an architecture studio to produce a physical model.  

We believe the physical architectural model is a critical  tool for design. When the project scope of work requires a study model we can use our in-office 3D printer to make our ideas a physical reality.  

3D Model of a Custom Modern Home

Expert Permitting
To Make Your New Home Happen

After we finish our design process, we can roll your project right into the permitting phase.

Let us do the hard work for you! We have an in-office permitting expert who specializes in projects within the City of San Diego. Of course, we have also permitted various projects throughout most of San Diego County + beyond.

Architecture Worker Submitting Building Permits

Get Started On Your Project, In Just 3 Easy Steps.

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Learn More About Us +
Your Building Options in San Diego County

Talk to Us About Your Project to Plan a Strategy + Get Your Questions Answered

Have a Plan to Confidently Make a Decision and Hire a Modern Architect

See How We’ve Helped Our Past Clients Build Amazing, Modern Custom Homes

We have over a decade of experience building modern custom homes in San Diego. Check out some of our past projects to see how we’ve helped our clients elevate their lifestyle.

See What Our Client’s Have To Say About Working With Us

“Ten Seventy Architecture was the architect for my wife and I's home in Mission Hills, CA. Sean went out of his way to provide a clear process from start to completion. Sean listened to our ideas and had even better ones for us to review and approve. I highly recommend this company for residential architecture.”

Curtis P.

“Sean and Margaret have one of the best teams in town. They gave wonderful ideas and took the time to listen to my ideas. All of the plan designs were done according to schedule and they always responded to my calls or emails. If you want a professional who is on time and truly cares about your project, look no further and hire them!”

Valerie O.

"Sean is the guy if you are looking for a San Diego architect. I was referred to him via a mutual business connection, and couldn't be happier with his work...The final product was phenomenal. I could not be happier. His work was not only exactly what I was looking for, but he did it in a timely fashion."

Alexandra G.

"An element we loved about Sean was his ability to see creatively from the very beginning. And I can tell you that when we walked out of the meeting with Sean, we both looked at each other and said: “That’s the guy we want” And we’ve had no regrets ever since."

Tom R.

"Ten Seventy Architecture is very easy to work with. They ask the right questions and take your needs into account when designing and are able to produce layouts that are functional. Their team is knowledgeable, creative and spot on. I always look forward to working on projects with them, it’s a collaborative effort from start to finish. Keep designing smart."

Brenda W.

"I worked with Sean in the renovation of my East Village house that is 100 years old. He is very easy to get along with, very knowledgeable and professional. He is skilled in creating small but creative and functional spaces and he is practical in solutions. We have another project now and we would like to work with him again."

Sonya O.

"Sean Canning is an amazing architect.  As a landscape designer I have been on 2 projects transformed by his extraordinary design expertise. You should call 1070 Architecture if you desire a vision for your home beyond anything you could have anticipated."

Brookside Lanscape Design

"Working with the Ten Seventy Architecture team has been excellent. They have worked on various projects with us from our San Diego Penthouse to our Warehouse space. They are very professional and just as importantly, very creative."

Victor N.

See What Our Client’s Have To Say About Working With Us

“Ten Seventy Architecture was the architect for my wife and I's home in Mission Hills, CA. Sean went out of his way to provide a clear process from start to completion. Sean listened to our ideas and had even better ones for us to review and approve. I highly recommend this company for residential architecture.”

Curtis P.

“Sean and Margaret have one of the best teams in town. They gave wonderful ideas and took the time to listen to my ideas. All of the plan designs were done according to schedule and they always responded to my calls or emails. If you want a professional who is on time and truly cares about your project, look no further and hire them!”

Valerie O.

"Sean is the guy if you are looking for a San Diego architect. I was referred to him via a mutual business connection, and couldn't be happier with his work...The final product was phenomenal. I could not be happier. His work was not only exactly what I was looking for, but he did it in a timely fashion."

Alexandra G.

"An element we loved about Sean was his ability to see creatively from the very beginning. And I can tell you that when we walked out of the meeting with Sean, we both looked at each other and said: “That’s the guy we want” And we’ve had no regrets ever since."

Tom R.

"Ten Seventy Architecture is very easy to work with. They ask the right questions and take your needs into account when designing and are able to produce layouts that are functional. Their team is knowledgeable, creative and spot on. I always look forward to working on projects with them, it’s a collaborative effort from start to finish. Keep designing smart."

Brenda W.

"I worked with Sean in the renovation of my East Village house that is 100 years old. He is very easy to get along with, very knowledgeable and professional. He is skilled in creating small but creative and functional spaces and he is practical in solutions. We have another project now and we would like to work with him again."

Sonya O.

"Sean Canning is an amazing architect. As a landscape designer I have been on 2 projects transformed by his extraordinary design expertise. You should call 1070 Architecture if you desire a vision for your home beyond anything you could have anticipated."

Brookside Lanscape Design

"Working with the Ten Seventy Architecture team has been excellent. They have worked on various projects with us from our San Diego Penthouse to our Warehouse space. They are very professional and just as importantly, very creative."

Victor N.

Get To Know The People Behind Our Modern Architecture Studio

Our architecture studio takes pride in the due diligence we apply to every project we take on. When you work with us, you're getting a team of professionals dedicated to the success of your project.

Got Questions? We Have Answers

How Much Does a Custom Modern Home Cost?

Custom homes can be pretty expensive so it’s important to have an understanding of the costs before you begin your project. To answer this question, let's break the project into a few categories below.  

Soft Costs include design, engineering, consultants, + permitting. Every project is different + will require different professionals. Most projects we work on include an architect (obviously), a structural engineer, + an energy consultant (who produces the “Title-24 Report”). In California the submittal package for a permit can be pretty intensive so we have set a minimum fee of $20k for our architectural design package. We do offer schematic design services for projects which don’t require a permit at a significantly discounted cost. Permitting is also a type of soft cost.  

Permitting will vary greatly in price depending on the municipality + the type of permit. A Coastal Development Permit or Site Development Permit will be considerably more expensive than a more simple permit.  

Hard Costs are directly related to construction including materials and labor.  Since the beginning of the global pandemic construction prices have increased. Currently in Southern California minimum construction costs are around $250-300 per square foot. A custom home can see those prices $500 per square foot or more depending on the features + finishes.

How Long Does a Custom Modern Home Project Usually Take?

Our architecture studio has over a decade of experience building custom homes in San Diego. As such, we've got a streamlined process to help you design + build your dream home in a time-efficient manner. Here's what this process looks like.

The first few weeks of a new project are spent requesting record drawings, measuring / documenting the existing conditions, researching relevant codes, + meeting with municipal staff to get clarification on development options. More complicated projects may require a formal preliminary submittal obtain the needed clarification to move forward with design.  

Once we’re able to begin design we will go though a predetermined amount of meetings, progressing the design forward in each. The goal through this process is to move from more vague ideas to more detailed specifications. Smaller projects can take as little as 2 months to design while larger projects will take longer.  

When the design is completed we are ready to produce our architectural construction drawings + begin any engineering needed. This phase can take one or two months depending on the complexity of the project.  

Now we’re ready for permitting! Permitting timelines are highly variable, ranging from as little as 3 months for more straightforward projects to well over a year to achieve the more difficult permit types required for certain projects.  

Construction is also highly variable + will depend mostly on your general contractor. Even smaller construction projects will take at least 6 months. Larger projects can take a year or more to complete.

What Do I Need to Know About Permitting a Modern Home?

The good news is you don’t need to know much about permitting your home. We can help you get your project submitted, then guide you though the entire process!  

It is important to understand the type of permit your project requires. At the most basic level, your permit will either be ministerial or discretionary.

Ministerial permits are much more straight forward + easier to achieve. Discretionary permits typically require more time, money, + more decision makers are involved in the approval + issuance.

What Makes a Modern Home “Modern”?

A modern home is a house which is custom designed to the goals of the owner or other occupants.  The form or aesthetic of the home is representative of the function of those goals. After all, form follows function.  

Due to the highly custom nature of this type of architecture it’s important for us to take the time to understand our clients goals for the project. After that we can conceptualize how the architecture can achieve that goal.

Since every client is different, modern architecture is always unique + can look a variety of different ways.

How Do I Start a Modern Custom Home Project?

You’re already in the right place! We should start your project with a conversation about your scope of work, budget, + timeframe. Book a consultation by filling out the form right below.