Varga Homes takes on high-end renovations as well as building new custom homes. On this coast the line between the two is thinner than most owners expect — a serious renovation on the water runs into many of the same approvals, and the same constraints, as a new build.
Can you renovate instead of rebuilding?
Often, yes — and on a good lot with a sound structure it can be the better decision. Varga Homes takes on whole-house renovations, additions and partial remodels. What the right answer turns on is the condition of what is already there, how much of it you want to keep, and what the town will allow you to do to it. That is worth establishing before you commission drawings, not after.
Why a waterfront renovation carries new-build complications
Renovating a house in a coastal flood zone is not simply a smaller version of building one. Depending on the scale of the work and the town’s reading of it, a substantial renovation can trigger a requirement to bring the whole building up to current flood-elevation standards — which can change the project completely. The seawall and dock carry their own approvals whether the house is new or not, and salt-air specification applies to a renovated loggia exactly as it does to a new one. These are the questions to settle with the town early, and they are the reason a renovation here benefits from a builder who works on this coast rather than one who visits it.
How a renovation runs
The same way a new build does. You can bring your own architect and interior designer or work with ours, we price the drawings line by line, pull the permit, carry the approvals and run the site. Survey, soil testing and demolition are part of our scope. Stephen is on site several times a week with an onsite construction manager, using the same preferred subcontractors as on new work.
The full sequence is set out on the process page.
A renovation we have finished
The oceanfront house at Ocean Ridge was a renovation, not a new build — 5,505 sq ft under air and 8,188 sq ft in total, completed in 2024. It is the clearest illustration of the point above: on the barrier island, a renovation at that scale runs into the same approvals, the same elevation questions and the same salt-air specification as building from scratch.
Where we work
Varga Homes renovates along the same Palm Beach coast it builds on.
Thinking about a renovation rather than a rebuild? Tell us about the house and Stephen will walk it with you.