South Pasadena at a glance
South Pasadena is a separate city of about 26,900 people (2020 census) on 3.42 square miles, incorporated in 1888 and known as the City of Trees. Its downtown along Mission Street is a preserved historic district, with the Metro A Line stopping at Mission and Meridian. In a house built before 1994, California's fixture law means a permitted kitchen or bath remodel also brings every old toilet and showerhead in the house up to current flow rates.
| Item | South Pasadena |
|---|---|
| Permit office | Building Division, 1414 Mission St, 626-403-7224 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Online | Open Gov customer permit portal |
| Plan checker | In person Mondays; virtual Wednesdays, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. |
| Boards | Design Review Board; Cultural Heritage Commission |
| Special area | Southwest Monterey Hills: separate construction-hour rules and handbook |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column →
City of South Pasadena Building Division page, read October 2026.
Kitchens and baths in South Pasadena houses
On a tree-shaded South Pasadena street the house is likely a bungalow, a period revival or a postwar single-story, each with its own remodel pattern:
- Bungalows: a small hall bath and a closed kitchen with a pantry; the built-ins are often worth keeping
- Period revival houses: original tiled baths that are sometimes worth restoring rather than replacing
- Postwar houses: 1950s and 1960s kitchens that need new circuits more than new space
- Hillside lots in the Southwest Monterey Hills: access, staging and the area's construction hours shape the schedule
For houses where the original fabric matters, see Craftsman and historic remodels. The remodel work itself is laid out on the kitchen remodel and bathroom remodel pages, and a quick counter swap is on the countertops page.
Costs for South Pasadena remodels
Nobody publishes South Pasadena-specific remodel prices, so the closest guide is the Pasadena data next door: $14,650 to $30,500 for a mid-range full bath and $30,500 to $54,900 for a mid-range kitchen on homecostcheck's June 2026 model, with local remodelers' guides higher for full kitchen guts. The Pasadena permit handouts aren't South Pasadena's rules, but the state codes they list (Title 24, CALGreen, Civil Code 1101.4) apply in both cities; the permit guide compares the offices.
