Backyard pool and spa at dusk with fire-pit lounge and covered patio at the Valmonte Home in Palos Verdes Estates

Residential

Palos Verdes Estates backyard remodel.

Pools, spas, fire features, decks, and landscape in Palos Verdes Estates, designed for Art Jury review and hillside soils and built by one licensed team.

Why palos verdes estates backyard remodel

A backyard remodel built for Palos Verdes Estates

Palos Verdes Estates backyards sit on hillsides with views most of the South Bay would envy, and they're held to the strictest design review on the Peninsula. A backyard remodel in Palos Verdes Estates has to pass the Art Jury, work with the slope, and protect your neighbors' sightlines. DECOMA designs and builds the whole yard (pool, spa, fire features, decks, hardscape, landscape, and lighting) under one license, so the design that's approved is the one that gets built.

We've done it here twice in finished, published work. At the Valmonte Home, the backyard has a pool and spa, a fire-pit lounge, and a covered dining patio with heaters, built along with the house. At a hillside backyard overhaul, we built a spa, a wood deck lounge, a stone retaining wall, paver paths, turf, sculpted topiary, and landscape lighting.

Designed for the Art Jury, not redesigned after it

Every exterior project in Palos Verdes Estates goes through Art Jury review: structures, materials, color, landscape, and the effect on neighbors' views. Most delays happen when a design is drawn first and adapted to the city's character later. We start from PVE's Mediterranean and Spanish architectural character. Pergolas, kitchens, and pool houses are scaled and finished to match the house, and planting and lighting are drawn to the same standard.

Hillsides, soils, and drainage

Much of the city is sloped, with bedrock and shale on the Peninsula and mapped landslide areas in the south. A pool here is an engineering job: a soils report, a shell designed for the slope, and often retaining walls and deeper foundations. Drainage has to be designed, not assumed, because water from a new deck or patio has to go somewhere other than downhill toward a neighbor. We handle the geotechnical and structural coordination as part of the build.

Coastal exposure

Lunada Bay and the bluff-side lots take direct salt air and wind. We use stainless or galvanized hardware, marine-grade lighting fixtures, and outdoor-rated stone and finishes on those sites.

What we build in Palos Verdes Estates

Custom pools and spas, including vanishing edges where the view calls for one. We've built more than 1,000 pools.
Fire pits, fireplaces, and outdoor kitchens.
Decks, terraces, retaining walls, and paver and stone hardscape.
Covered patios and pergolas with heaters and lighting.
Landscape plans, irrigation, and low-voltage lighting.
Pool houses and ADUs.

Explore the full outdoor living program, or see pools and hardscape. We also build custom homes in Palos Verdes Estates, and backyards next door in Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates.

From the field

Backyards we've built in Palos Verdes Estates.

Recent photos from current DECOMA jobs — in progress and finished, not stock.

Valmonte Home: pool, spa, and fire-pit lounge.
Valmonte Home: covered dining patio with overhead heaters.
Hillside overhaul: built-in spa and dining patio.
Stone retaining wall, paver path, and lighting.
Deck lounge over the planted slope.
The same yard after dark.

How we run it

Scope to sign-off.

01
Walk the lot
Slope, soils, drainage, access, and the sightlines from your house and your neighbors'. On PVE's hillsides, these decide the layout.
02
Design for the Art Jury
Materials, colors, structures, and landscape are drawn to Palos Verdes Estates' architectural character, so review approves the design instead of sending it back.
03
Engineering & permits
Soils report, retaining and pool-shell engineering where the grade needs it, then the city permit.
04
Build
Pool, spa, hardscape, kitchen, lighting, and planting by one crew on one schedule.

Why DECOMA

One license, three disciplines, forty years.

Family-run South Bay general contractor since 1978. We design, build, and manage — under one license — so the team you start with is the team that hands you keys and the team that answers the phone when something needs fixing in year ten.

Years building: 48+
Projects delivered: 3,000+
Repeat clients: 300+
CSLB Class: A/B

FAQ

Common questions.

Does a backyard project in Palos Verdes Estates need Art Jury approval?

Exterior work in Palos Verdes Estates goes through Art Jury review. Materials, structures, color, and landscape are all considered, along with how the project affects neighbors' views. We design to that from the start, which keeps approval moving instead of cycling through revisions.

Can you build a pool on a sloped Palos Verdes Estates lot?

Usually, yes. Hillside pools need a soils report, an engineered shell, and often retaining walls and deeper foundations. That engineering is where most of the extra cost on a PVE pool comes from, so we get the soils assessed before the design is finalized.

What backyards have you built in Palos Verdes Estates?

The Valmonte Home, a ground-up custom home with a pool, spa, fire-pit lounge, and covered dining patio with heaters. And a full backyard overhaul with a built-in spa, wood deck, sculpted topiary, stone retaining wall, paver paths, turf, and landscape lighting. Both are on this page and in our projects.

How much does a backyard remodel cost in Palos Verdes Estates?

Slope, access, soils, and finish level drive the number. For scale, a new pool starts at roughly $100,000 for the pool alone, and hillside engineering adds to that. We give you a real range once the layout is drawn.

Do you work in Lunada Bay, Malaga Cove, and Montemalaga?

Yes, across all of Palos Verdes Estates. The neighborhoods differ in lot size, slope, and exposure. Lunada Bay and the bluff-side lots get more salt air and wind, which changes material and hardware choices.

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