Hillcrest design-build · Since 2005
Hillcrest home remodeling, designed and built by one team.
Accredited, certified and held to accountCalifornia contractor #922807, in business in San Diego for 21 years
Hillcrest · San Diego County
Whole home remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, additions and ADUs in Hillcrest.
Hillcrest and Mission Hills keep some of the city's finest Craftsman, Spanish and mid-century homes, where a remodel has to honor the original architecture.
Kaminskiy Design and Remodeling was founded in San Diego by Sergei Kaminskiy in 2005 and is still founder-led. In Hillcrest our designers, architectural drafters and project managers take your home from the first sketch to the final walkthrough, on one contract, and we handle the plans and permits with the City of San Diego. No handoffs, no finger-pointing, no surprises.
Start with a complimentary consultationWhat to know first
Hillcrest is century-old houses beside the city's first historic district. Here is what shapes a remodel.
Hillcrest was San Diego's first streetcar suburb, built out between the 1900s and the 1930s with Craftsman bungalows, Spanish and Prairie houses on small lots, beside the Mission Hills Historic District and above the canyons that drop to Mission Valley. The City of San Diego issues the permits, nearly every house is past the 45-year historical review, the Mills Act rewards the designated ones, and the Uptown plan's density has made the ADU a Hillcrest staple. We have not yet published a Hillcrest project; our nearest work is in North Park, a few minutes east, and it is shown below, labelled as such.
Hillcrest, San Diego County. Our Design Center in Rancho Bernardo is about 30 minutes away off peak; the first meeting is at your home.
Hillcrest is a community of the City of San Diego, so permits come from the City's Development Services Department. Most remodels are a building permit; the Uptown Planners see discretionary projects, which for a single house is rare. No coastal rules apply.
You will not stand at the permit counter; our team files the set and sees it through to issuance.
Nearly every Hillcrest house is past the City's 45-year threshold, so a permit that changes the exterior gets a historical review first; interior-only work is exempt. The Mission Hills Historic District, adopted in 2007, sits at Hillcrest's western edge with stricter rules, and designated homes in both can qualify for Mills Act contracts that lower property taxes. We design exterior changes to the house's character and carry the review.
Source: City of San Diego, historical reviews for structures over 45 years
The Hillcrest bungalow is a living room, a dining room and a small kitchen in a row, with two bedrooms and one bath behind, often with the original built-ins, wood windows and a porch. The remodel opens the kitchen to the dining room, adds a bath and a closet at the back, and keeps the front rooms. The Spanish and Prairie houses on the larger lots get the same, at a larger scale.
Knob-and-tube wiring, a 60-amp panel, galvanized or lead supply lines, a raised floor over a crawl space and a sewer lateral older than anyone alive. The raised floor makes new plumbing a planned step; the wiring is replaced while the walls are open; the lateral is checked with a camera before we start. We price all of it from the first meeting.
Hillcrest's alleys, detached garages and transit-area zoning make it one of the city's most active ADU neighborhoods. California law gives every single-family lot the right to an accessory dwelling unit and a junior unit, the City's transit-area bonus rules have allowed more here, and those rules have been changing since 2024. A converted or rebuilt alley garage is the Hillcrest unit; we check the current rules for your lot before we draw.
The streets along Maple Canyon and the Mission Valley rim put many Hillcrest lots in the City's brush management zones, which shape what can be built and planted near the slope, and hillside lots bring a geotechnical report to an addition. The reward is a view across the valley.
To orient yourself: University Avenue and Fifth Avenue cross at the Hillcrest sign, the hospitals line the north edge, Mission Hills and its historic district lie to the west, Balboa Park to the south, and the canyons drop to Mission Valley. Our nearest projects are in North Park, a few minutes east. Finishes are chosen at our Design Center in Rancho Bernardo, about 30 minutes away; the first meeting is at your home.
What we design and build in Hillcrest
Hillcrest remodeling services: five ways to fall back in love with your home.
01 · Most requestedWhole Home Remodeling
Two rooms or the entire floor plan, designed as one cohesive home instead of a collection of projects.
Whole home remodels
02Kitchen Remodeling
Custom cabinetry, islands that work, lighting in layers. Designed around how you cook and gather.
Kitchens
03Bathroom Remodeling
Spa primaries, hall baths, universal design.
Bathrooms
04Room Additions
Build out or build up. Additions that look original.
Additions
05ADUs and Conversions
Detached casitas, attached suites, garage conversions.
ADUsRemodeling in Hillcrest
Every service. One local team.
Whole home remodels, kitchens, bathrooms, additions, ADUs and outdoor living, all designed and built by the same team, all in Hillcrest.
Nearby neighborhoods
We work in every neighborhood of San Diego County. See all thirty-seven neighborhood pages or schedule a consultation.
Recent work near Hillcrest
Recent remodels close to Hillcrest. Real homes. Real families.
Projects from North Park and Point Loma, close to Hillcrest, designed and built by the same team that would work on your home. Every photo is a Kaminskiy project.
The Hillcrest remodeling guide
What we remodel in Hillcrest, room by room.
What Hillcrest homeowners ask us for, room by room. Our North Park projects, a few minutes east, are in the gallery below.
A 1920s house rewired, replumbed, opened at the back and kept at the front, with the historical review carried for anything that changes the exterior. Our North Park condo whole home remodel in the gallery shows the condominium version under an association's rules.
Whole home remodelingThe small back kitchen opened to the dining room, a 60-amp panel replaced, and finishes that belong in a Craftsman. Our North Park kitchen remodel in the gallery is this kitchen, one neighborhood over.
Kitchen remodelingWhat a kitchen costs in San Diego in 2026
Most Hillcrest houses have one bath. The second comes from a closet or a corner of a bedroom, and the raised floor makes the new drain a planned step.
Bathroom remodelingA rear addition that keeps the street face untouched, or a second story designed to the house's character and the historical review. Century-old framing and shallow foundations decide the budget.
Room additionsThe alley garage, converted or rebuilt with a unit above, under the City's transit-area rules, which we check for your lot.
ADUs and conversionsSmall yards used well, a deck toward the canyon within the brush management zone, and the porch restored.
Outdoor livingBungalows are single-story with a few steps at the porch. A no-step path from the alley, a curbless shower and wider doors let long-time owners stay.
Universal designGood questions
Hillcrest remodeling FAQ: a few straight answers before you call.
Permits with the City of San Diego, timelines, where you choose materials, and what the first meeting costs. More on the full FAQ page.
Read all FAQsThere is no published project here yet. Our nearest work is in North Park, a few minutes east, and it is in the gallery below: a kitchen remodel and a condo whole home remodel in the same century-old housing.
If it is 45 years old or more and the permit changes the exterior, yes, and nearly every Hillcrest house is. Interior-only work is exempt. Homes inside the Mission Hills Historic District follow its stricter rules. We handle the review as part of the permit.
Yes. State law allows an ADU on a single-family lot, and Hillcrest's alley garages are the natural place. We check the City's current transit-area rules for your lot before we design.
Nothing. The in-home design consultation is complimentary anywhere in Hillcrest. A designer comes to your home, listens to what you want to change, takes measurements and photos, and tells you honestly whether we are the right fit for the project.
We do. Permits for Hillcrest homes are issued by the City of San Diego. Our design and architectural team drafts the construction documents, a licensed structural engineer stamps them where the scope calls for it, and we submit them and manage the whole process for you.
All of Hillcrest, zip code 92103, and the neighborhoods around it: North Park, Mission Valley and Point Loma. If your street is not on our list, call us anyway. We serve every city in San Diego County.
A kitchen remodel usually takes about 4 to 8 months from the first consultation to completion. A bathroom typically takes 3 to 5 months. The design and permit phases come first, and construction is the shorter part. Permit review times vary with the City of San Diego, and we plan around them.
At the Kaminskiy Design Center, 12396 World Trade Dr, Suite 108, San Diego, CA 92128, with your designer. Most clients visit once or twice during the design phase. The first meeting, though, happens at your Hillcrest home.
Yes. Kaminskiy Design and Remodeling is a fully licensed and insured California contractor, license #922807, in business in San Diego since 2005.
Start here
Schedule your complimentary in-home design consultation anywhere in Hillcrest.
- A designer comes to you, measures, listens and shares first ideas.
- No pressure and no obligation. We tell you if we are not the right fit.
- Our Client Care team calls back during the time slot you choose.