Short answer: if you own a house in Clyde Hill, Washington and plan a remodel of $750,000 or more, hire an architect who first tests the project against the city’s substantial remodel line, because at that budget you will very likely cross it. Past the line, every structure on the lot must meet today’s setbacks, height and coverage and the current drainage rules, and keeping anything that does not fit may take a variance. I am David Meade of Piper Cole Architects in Kirkland. I quote a fixed fee for design and permit, about $10,000 to $200,000 depending on the project budget and location, and the first feasibility check is free and takes about a day.

This page is for a Clyde Hill owner with a remodel budget of $750,000 or more who is choosing an architect. Residential remodels at that size are the work I most want, and $750,000 is the smallest project budget I take. I administer construction for you and do not build. The rules below come from the City of Clyde Hill’s own handouts, guide and fee schedule, read on 15 October 2026. The city’s code host blocks automated readers, so for code sections the handouts do not print (CHMC 17.38, 17.60 and the variance test) I used a third-party copy of the code that may lag the official text. Confirm any number with the city. My Clyde Hill permit guide has the full envelope.

The $493,000 line a $750,000 remodel crosses

Clyde Hill’s main test is a dollar amount, not a share of the house’s value or a length of wall. The city’s Residential Zoning Rules handout, last modified April 16, 2026, says the 2026 substantial remodel threshold value is $493,000. The building official sets a project’s value when you submit, counting all labor, materials, overhead and profit, finish work and building systems. That list does not mention design or permit fees, so test your construction value, not your total budget: at $750,000 all in, construction would have to fall under about 66 percent of it ($493,000 / $750,000 = 0.657) to stay below the line. Projects within two years are added together, and the figure changes each January. Arithmetic: $750,000 / $493,000 = 1.52, so a $750,000 construction value is about 52 percent over the line.

Below the line, a legally nonconforming house may be altered where the work does not increase the nonconformity or is needed to meet code (CHMC 17.60.020). Demolishing 75 percent of the building’s fair market value during a remodel also brings the whole property under current rules (CHMC 17.60.030). My threshold comparison sets Clyde Hill beside other cities, and remodel or tear down and rebuild covers the choice.

The envelope: 1953 ground, side yards and the 30 degree line

Height is measured from original grade, which the code defines as the lot’s ground when the city incorporated in March 1953 (CHMC 17.04.330). No part of a structure may exceed 25 feet above it (CHMC 17.16.020), and the city’s handout says each and every point on a structure must comply. Fill added since 1953 raises nothing, and the city’s guide says height limits are strictly enforced.

A property needs an original grade determination only once, and if the house was built or remodeled after 1953 one is likely on file. If the structures largely predate 1953, you apply in person with a current survey ($250 in the 2026 fee schedule). It comes before design.

Source: CHMC 17.16.050 and the city’s Residential Zoning Rules handout. Example widths are my arithmetic on made-up lots.

Front and rear yards are 30 and 35 feet, measured to the eave or outermost part of the building, so overhangs count (CHMC 17.04.420). On lots under 15,000 square feet you start at the side setback line, draw a 12 foot vertical line, then a line angling away at 30 degrees, and no part of the structure, gutters included, may cross it. The wording does not say which reference the 30 degrees is measured from, so I confirm my reading with the city.

Structural coverage is capped at 30 percent of the lot and impervious coverage at 60 percent, measured to the outermost projection, gutters and light fixtures included (CHMC 17.16.080). On an invented 12,000 square foot lot that is 3,600 square feet of structure (12,000 x 0.30) and 7,200 of hard surface (12,000 x 0.60). I found no floor area ratio in the R-1 chapter, so coverage, height and the side lines decide how much house you get.

Views, trees, design review and hours. The city’s view law, CHMC 17.38, deals with trees, not houses. A tree owner has a defense if the other owner’s own substantial remodel or rebuild created or worsened the obstruction. I found no design review step for a single house in Title 17 or the city’s handouts, though the city reviews the landscape plan, for plants only. Construction hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

What the city does and what other agencies do

Clyde Hill is a city of about 3,000 people, and it hands several reviews to others. Its Building Department reviews and issues the permits, and it may use outside consultants for plan review at actual cost plus $80.

Source: the city’s Building Project Guide, section F, and Permits page. The guide is labeled last modified 1/24/2024, and the city says the code controls over it.

Review time and city fees, as published

The city’s Building Project Guide says approval or denial of a complete application should generally come within 15 to 45 working days, and that major projects such as certain residences may take longer. More than 100 cubic yards of soil imported and exported in total adds SEPA review, generally three to four weeks, and no permit issues until it finishes. At five working days a week, 15 to 45 working days is 3 to 9 weeks. The fee schedule also lists an expedited plan review at double the permit review fee, review guaranteed within two weeks; ask whether it is open to a project this size. I found no published report of actual completed times, so these are the city’s goals.

With my 2 to 4 months of design to submission, that is roughly 3 to 6 months from design start to an approval (2 months plus 3 weeks is about 2.7; 4 months plus 9 weeks is about 6.1). It is arithmetic on goals and leaves out SEPA, revision rounds and payment of fees before issuance.

Source: Exhibit A to the city’s Master Fee Resolution, as posted on the city’s Fees page, Building Permit Fee Schedule Table 1. The value is a worked example, not a quote. The table is untidy: its top tier ends “to and including $50,000”, and the tier below it reaches $864 at $50,000 ($514 + 25 x $14) while the top tier starts at $849. I read the top tier as $9 for each $1,000 above $50,000, and the city computes the real fee.

Other charges sit beside those lines: a $25 technology fee, a state fee whose amount is not in the schedule, mechanical permits ($80 to issue plus unit fees), the pre-application conference, required above $50,000 ($154 for the first hour, $100 credited to plan check if a complete application follows within 60 days), a final inspection fee of $200 plus $107 an hour of staff time, $250 for original grade and $250 for SEPA. Electrical, plumbing and Bellevue’s reviews carry their own fees. The building official sets the final value.

Permits are valid for one year from issuance, says the city’s Permits page. The code may attach conditions to that year, such as finishing the exterior and a charge to renew, but the code host blocked me today, so ask the city for the current text of CHMC 15.04.060 before you plan a schedule around it. My remodel timeline guide covers the phases.

What changes the cost and the schedule

Cost ranges are planning ranges from Piper Cole. They are not quotes.

At those ranges, $750,000 of construction renovates roughly 1,364 to 2,500 sq ft ($750,000 / $550, and $750,000 / $300). Clyde Hill items that can add scope: the drainage or detention system, special inspections and structural observations, a surveyor’s certificate after framing, and a variance hearing. See my structural engineer guide and energy code guide, and my teardown and rebuild page if the numbers point to a new house.

What to ask any architect before you sign

1. Will my project count as a substantial remodel, and who sets the value?
2. Which parts of my house sit outside today’s side yards, 25 foot plane or 30 degree line, and what is the plan for each?
3. Is the fee fixed, and is it set before drawings start? Ask what sits outside it: surveyor, engineers, arborist and the city’s fees.
4. Who designs the drainage or detention system, and when? Required at a substantial remodel, it can change the site plan.
5. How will you schedule the project against the permit’s one year term, and what happens if the work runs past it?
6. Do you build, and will you administer construction? I administer for you and do not build.

How the work runs, in order

I have worked as an architect since 1996. I am an AIA member since 1992 and an NCARB member since 1996, and I take on 20 to 30 projects a year. I have won three Masonry Excellence Awards, for commercial projects, and the Carr residence was featured in Above The Lake and Lux magazines.

Questions