I also live outside of Philly, between Philly and Wilmington, and also lived for many years in the Bay Area. SLO is a beautiful place and Cambria is lovely. You are very fortunate.

California has a great many plannning, zoning, coastal and other regulations applicable to building there. You probably already know this. But you should expect a great deal of time (and expense) dealing with applicable jurisdictions in order to get the needed approvals for construction.

The good news is that SLO has a very good architectural school at the university and a number of very talented architects who practice and teach in the area. Hopefully you will be using one of them who should be able to guide you skillfully and make the process understandable, and if not joyful, at least understandable.

Good luck with your project.

I'm a recent transplant to the LA area, so not 100% sure how similar the weather is in Cambria. Something that works very well here is a Whole House Fan. It makes very good use of the cool and dry nights. Once the sun sets on a hot day it can cool down pretty quickly. We then run the WHF to get outside cool air to the second floor. We still run the AC because my DH likes the house too cold, but it helps to get the temperature down and run the AC less.

Basements aren't popular here, but you are seeing them more in new construction. We recently did an addition and built it with a basement. well worth the extra cost.

It's hard to say, because that place has so many microclimates ... on the same day, one house can be fogged in until noon and another sweltering and a third is comfortable.

At its best, you have year-round outdoor living and with wise design you can have minimal HVAC expenses. At its worst, you'll install huge windows for the ocean view and realize too late that it's a west window and the heat and glare makes them unusable.

I live in the Santa Cruz area, about 3 hours north of Cambria. I am a general contractor that builds from San Francisco down to San Diego. We often find ourselves having to pick up slack from the architect and engineer not doing their jobs. First and foremost, I would suggest finding an engineer that is capable of providing architectural drawings. This avoids the delays, and their will be delays if you have an architect and a separate engineer, as with an architect/engineer there is no back and forth, it all happens in one office. Secondly, bring a G.C. In during the design process that you can trust, that can value engineer your project to make sure the architect designs in budget.

If you are interested in talking with our firm regarding your project, we have a detailed portfolio explaining our process and it's benefits, that we can mail or email, if interested. Our main priority is clear communication, persistence, and satisfaction.

You couldn't have chosen a better place to relocate! We live in San Luis Obispo, and love Cambria. We will be building a home in the hills outside Arroyo Grande in the the near future.

As for weather - it doesn't get much better than the Central Coast. Cambria can get cool (the price you pay for being on the coast), but it will seem like a tropical island after Philly!

I would encourage you to be picky about both your architect and your builder. There are many great ones to choose from in this area. However, I would talk with more than two. Before meeting with architects, have a clear picture about what you are looking for and be prepared to ask lots of questions. The county here can be picky and it is helpful to have an architect and builder who are very familiar with the building codes and have good relationships with the county.

Also, if you have views (as many lots do in this area), make sure your architect is talented at exploiting them. We have seen homes with amazing views that had a huge fireplace blocking the view - so sad!

Best of luck to you!