1990s–2010s custom and semi-custom homes inside El Dorado Hills’ gated golf community
Custom Cabinetry for Serrano’s Gated Villages
Serrano is El Dorado Hills’ largest master-planned community, a series of gated villages built around a private golf club and overseen by an owners’ association with a formal architectural review process. Its kitchens were built for entertaining and are now a generation old. PineWood Cabinets designs and builds the cabinetry that brings them up to date.
- Crafting custom cabinetry since 2006
- Licensed California contractor · CSLB #1095293
- Based in Rocklin, CA
- Design, build & install under one roof
The Homes Inside Serrano
Serrano occupies the rolling foothill terrain along Serrano Parkway in El Dorado Hills, laid out as a master plan in the 1990s and built out village by village over the following two decades. Most of its villages are gated, and the community is organized around the Serrano Country Club and its golf course, with homes ranging from semi-custom production houses on the earlier streets to large custom estates on view lots along the fairways and ridgelines. The architecture leans Mediterranean and Tuscan in the earlier villages, with stucco, tile roofs, and arched openings, and becomes more transitional and contemporary in the later custom builds.
Because the lots are graded for views, the floor plans are rarely simple. Many homes step down the hillside with the kitchen on the main level opening to a great room and a covered loggia, and daylight basements or lower-level bonus rooms below. The kitchens themselves are generous: a large island, a walk-in pantry, a butler’s pantry or wet bar toward the dining room, and tall ceilings with cabinetry that in the original build often stopped short of them.
The original cabinetry in a 1990s or 2000s Serrano home was usually a builder upgrade package, stained maple or alder with raised panels, that has aged out of step with how the house is used now. Owners come to us for a full replacement that matches the quality of the house and uses the room’s height and footprint properly.
Owners’ Association Review and County Permits
Serrano is governed by the Serrano El Dorado Owners’ Association, which maintains design guidelines and an architectural review process for the community. That review is concerned with the exterior: elevations, materials, colors, landscaping, and anything visible from the street, the golf course, or neighboring lots. Interior cabinetry is normally the owner’s decision and does not go to the association. Where a kitchen remodel reaches the outside, for example a larger window over the sink, a new exterior vent, or a change to the loggia, that element is subject to review, and the guidelines are updated from time to time, so confirm the current version with the association before finalizing a design that touches the exterior.
The building permit is a separate matter. El Dorado Hills is unincorporated, so permits come from El Dorado County, and they are triggered by scope rather than by the HOA: moving plumbing or gas, adding circuits, or removing a wall. We identify both the county and association questions during design, and we coordinate gate access and deliveries with you so the project moves on schedule.
Cabinetry Built to the Standard of the House
A Serrano kitchen is a large room with a tall ceiling, and the cabinetry should use both. We draw stacked uppers that run to the ceiling with a proper crown, full-height pantry and refrigerator walls with paneled appliance fronts, and an island built as a piece of furniture, with turned or paneled legs, a furniture base, and drawers on both sides. In the Mediterranean and Tuscan homes that means stained alder, cherry, or walnut with raised or applied-molding panels and a glazed or hand-rubbed finish; in the transitional and contemporary builds it means painted or rift-cut white oak Shaker and slab doors with integrated pulls and a quieter profile.
Storage is planned for a household that entertains. The walk-in pantry gets real shelving and roll-outs rather than wire; the butler’s pantry or wet bar takes glass-front uppers, wine storage, and a beverage refrigerator behind a panel; and the great-room side of the island carries drawers for the serving pieces that come out when the house is full. Construction is plywood boxes, dovetailed hardwood drawers on soft-close slides, and finishes selected for El Dorado Hills’ hot, dry summers and the seasonal movement they cause. Our cabinet construction guide covers the details.
What a Serrano Kitchen Usually Includes
- Stacked, ceiling-height uppers replacing the builder package that stopped short
- A furniture-style island with seating on the great-room side
- Paneled refrigeration, wine storage, and a butler’s pantry fitted for entertaining
- Built-ins beyond the kitchen: great-room media walls, office cabinetry, lower-level bars
How a Serrano Project Runs
We begin at the house, measuring the kitchen, pantry, and bar, and looking at how the main level connects to the loggia and the rooms below. The layout, elevations, species, door style, and finish are settled with you, and a written scope follows. Because we design, build, and install under one roof in Rocklin, the same team carries the project from the first drawing to the last cabinet pull, and we coordinate gate access and delivery days in advance.
Projects start at $25,000. A Serrano kitchen is typically a multi-month project because of its footprint and the amount of built-in work, and we give you a realistic schedule once the design and any county or association questions are resolved.
Serrano is part of our El Dorado Hills service area within El Dorado County. We also serve the neighboring master plans of Blackstone and Promontory, and the communities along Highway 50 in Cameron Park and Folsom.
Serrano Cabinetry FAQs
Questions from owners inside the gates.
Does the Serrano HOA have to approve a kitchen remodel?
The Serrano El Dorado Owners’ Association and its architectural review process are concerned with the exterior: elevations, materials, colors, landscaping, and anything visible from the street or the golf course. Interior cabinetry is normally the owner’s decision. Where a kitchen remodel touches the outside, for example a new window over the sink or a vent on a visible wall, that element goes through review, so confirm the current guidelines with the association before finalizing a design that changes the exterior.
Who issues the building permit for a Serrano kitchen?
El Dorado Hills is unincorporated, so building permits come from El Dorado County, not from a city. The county permit is separate from HOA review and is triggered by scope: moving plumbing or gas, adding electrical circuits, or removing a wall. A like-for-like cabinetry replacement is the lightest case on paper.
How do you handle gate access and deliveries in a gated village?
We coordinate access with you ahead of each visit, from the first measurement through the install days, and schedule deliveries so the cabinetry arrives in one planned trip rather than a series of unannounced ones. It is a routine part of working in gated communities and we plan for it from the start.
What cabinetry style fits a Serrano home?
Serrano homes span a wide range, from Tuscan and Mediterranean-influenced estates to transitional and contemporary custom builds. For the former we draw stained alder, cherry, or walnut with raised or applied-molding panels and furniture-style islands; for the latter, painted or rift-cut white oak Shaker and slab doors with paneled appliances. The construction is the same in either case: plywood boxes, dovetailed drawers, and finishes chosen for hot, dry foothill summers.
What does a Serrano kitchen cost, and who builds it?
Projects start at $25,000, and most Serrano kitchens are larger-footprint projects with substantial built-in work, so the final number follows the scope. Everything is designed, built, and finished in our own shop in Rocklin, in Placer County, and installed by our crew. PineWood Cabinets is a licensed California contractor (CSLB License #1095293) operating as a division of Voronenko & Ethen Associates.
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Trusted resources: National Kitchen & Bath Association · Architectural Woodwork Institute · CA Contractors State License Board
Let’s Begin
Updating a Serrano Kitchen?
Tell us about the house and how you entertain in it. We will measure the kitchen, draw cabinetry built to the standard of the home, and build and install it from our shop in Rocklin, CA. Call +1-650-855-2231 or schedule a consultation to begin.