01
The oldest homes in the valley
In ZIP 91321 the median home was built in 1978, and about 54 percent of homes predate 1980. The 1960s are the largest single building decade, which no other ZIP code in the valley can say. Only about 42 percent of homes are detached houses, because Newhall also holds apartments, mobile home parks and small older lots from past subdivisions. Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year, table B25034, ZCTA 91321
Age changes the order of work. Before a finish is chosen, we want to know what is behind the plaster, how the house is wired, and whether an earlier room was ever inspected. On a Newhall house, a whole home renovation in Newhall is often the honest scope, because pulling one wall usually tells you about the next. Rough work is inspected before walls close, so what goes back behind them is known and on record.
02
Old Town has its own rulebook
The Old Town Newhall Specific Plan was adopted in December 2005 and updated in May 2022. Its code reaches remodels and conversions, not only new buildings, which surprises owners who assume a renovation is outside it. The plan area covers the Arts and Entertainment District and East Newhall, a neighborhood of houses and small apartment buildings between Hart Park and Newhall Creek.
In the plan's Neighborhood zone an accessory dwelling unit is a permitted use, and the zone sets its own setbacks and height cap. That makes a backyard unit in East Newhall a realistic project, as long as the drawings start from the specific plan and not from the citywide code. The plan also names the architectural styles it expects, which matters the moment an exterior changes.
If your house sits near Main Street or in East Newhall, tell us on the first call. That one detail decides which rulebook the drawings start from, and it saves a round of corrections later.
Source: Old Town Newhall Specific Plan, May 2022 update
03
Happy Valley and Placerita Canyon
Two of the City's three special standards districts are in Newhall. Happy Valley exists to keep a rustic ranch feel, with oak lined streets and no curbs or sidewalks, and heritage oak removal there is strongly discouraged even with mitigation. Horses are allowed under the City's large animal rules, and new homes plant a tree in the front yard.
Placerita Canyon protects a secluded equestrian character. Outdoor lights on a home must be shielded from above, and a solid front wall taller than three feet six inches is not allowed within the front setback. Only larger housing projects must connect to sewer, so a canyon home may still be on septic, which matters for any home addition in Newhall that adds a bathroom.
On a canyon lot, the septic location, the horse area and the oaks usually decide where an addition can go before the floor plan does, so those three go on the site sketch first.
Source: Santa Clarita Unified Development Code, special standards districts
04
Oaks, fire code and the window count
Old Town's own plan describes large stands of oaks. Under City code, a heritage oak measures 108 inches or more around the trunk, and any oak's protected zone starts five feet beyond its dripline. Work inside that zone needs a permit before the first shovel goes in, so an arborist and the site plan come before the footing detail. Source: Santa Clarita Unified Development Code, oak tree definitions
Fire rules reach remodels here too. In a City fire hazard zone, replacing more than half of a home's windows and doors within a year brings all of them under the wildfire code, and the same count applies to exterior wall covering. A phased window job has to be planned with that in mind, and window replacement in Newhall is where we raise it first, before anyone orders glass.
Source: City of Santa Clarita Building Code 2025, sections 118.3.3 and 118.3.4
