Casitas
A detached guest suite in your own backyard, with its own entrance, bathroom, and wet bar. Built to match the main house so it reads as part of the property, not a shed with a door.
Inferno Construction builds detached casitas across St. George and Washington County: guest suites with their own entrance, bathroom, and wet bar, framed on their own foundation and finished to match your main house. We handle the site work, the utilities that have to reach a separate structure, and the county paperwork that a detached build triggers.
Why Inferno
The temptation with a casita is to treat it like an oversized outbuilding. Pour a slab, frame four walls, run an extension cord, call it a guest room. That is how you end up with a structure that is cold in January, an oven in July, and impossible to insure or finance later. A casita that actually works is a small house, and it wants the same things a house wants: a real foundation, a conditioned envelope, its own water and power, and a roof detailed to match the one it sits behind.
Because it is detached, the systems are the hard part. Water, sewer or septic, and electrical all have to travel from the main house or the street to a separate building, which means trenching, and it means deciding early whether the casita runs off the main panel or gets its own subpanel. In St. George summers a small structure with a lot of glass heats up fast, so we size a dedicated mini split or a small system to condition it independently rather than stealing capacity from the main house.
Then there is the part everyone actually notices: whether it looks like it belongs. We match the stucco texture and color, the roof pitch and shingle, the window style, and the trim so the casita reads as original to the property. After two decades of Southern Utah homes we know how to make a new detached structure sit next to a twenty year old house without announcing the year it was built.
What's included
A casita is every trade a house needs, packed into a small footprint. The utilities reaching a detached building are where the real work hides.
A proper footing and slab poured for a permanent structure, not a floating pad, so the casita lasts and stays financeable.
Walls, roof, and headers framed to match the pitch and lines of the main house so the two read as one property.
Supply and drain lines trenched from the main house or the street, sized and permitted for a separate dwelling space.
A dedicated circuit run or its own subpanel, so the casita has real capacity for a wet bar, HVAC, and a bathroom.
A mini split or small system that conditions the casita independently instead of drawing off the main house in a desert summer.
A full bathroom and a wet bar with a sink, compact fridge, and microwave space, plumbed and wired to actually use, not just rough-ins.
Insulated to current code, drywalled, floored, and trimmed so it feels like a room in the house, not a converted garage.
Stucco color and texture, roofing, windows, and fascia matched to the existing home, with the whole elevation repainted if that is what it takes.
Casita guide
What fits in the space, who it works for, and what actually drives the timeline and budget. The questions we answer on almost every casita site visit.
The site visit and written estimate are free, and we will tell you exactly what your lot can fit.
A well planned casita does a lot with a compact footprint. Even a modest one fits a real bedroom, a full bathroom, a walk-in closet, and a sitting area with a wet bar. A vaulted ceiling and a good bank of windows make it feel larger than it is.
The trick is spending the square footage on the rooms you will actually use. We draw a few layouts against your lot so you can compare them side by side and pick the one that fits how you live.
Many casitas are built for family: a parent moving closer, or a grown kid saving for a place. If that is the plan, build for it now. A zero-step entry, a curbless shower, wider doors, lever handles, and blocking in the walls for grab bars are easy to include during framing.
Think about the walk between the houses too. A lit, level paver path and a covered entry make the casita easy to use at night and in July. And if your parent wants a full kitchen to live independently, we can build the space as an ADU instead.
A detached casita is the most separate home office you can build: a real commute across the yard, a door that closes, and no household noise. We run power and data in the same trench as the other utilities, so you get wired internet instead of hoping the Wi-Fi reaches.
Studios and gyms need extra thought on circuits, flooring, and cooling. Equipment and people both add heat, so we size the mini split for how the room will actually be used, not just its square footage.
Think of it in three stages. Design and permitting come first, and we keep that paperwork moving for you. Then site work: trenching for utilities and pouring the foundation. Then the build itself, from framing through finishes and the final walkthrough.
The construction stages usually run a few months. We schedule the trenching and inspections up front and give you a realistic timeline for your project at the estimate, so you know when to plan the first guest.
Every casita is priced to its lot, so we quote after seeing yours rather than guessing. The biggest factors are how far water, sewer, and power have to travel, what the soil needs for the foundation, the size and ceiling height, and the finishes you choose.
Matching the main house is part of the job, not an upcharge surprise later. Your free estimate spells everything out in writing, so you can plan with real numbers.
A casita adds flexible, usable space: a guest suite, an office, or a place for family, all without moving. Built to code and matched to the house, it reads to buyers and appraisers as part of the home.
That is why we permit every casita and finish it to the same standard as the main house. It is built to be an asset for as long as you own the property and when you sell it.
What goes into it
Inside one of our additions during the finish stage, framed and drywalled before paint. A casita is built the same way, at a smaller scale. Tap a marker to see what goes into it.
Want this level of detail in your casita?
Free estimateHow it works
We walk the yard, check setbacks and where a detached structure can legally sit, and figure out how far utilities have to travel to reach it.
Drawings, a written scope, and the county submittal. Detached structures carry their own setback and utility rules, and we run that paperwork for you.
Trenching for water, sewer, and power, then foundation, framing, roof, and every trade inside, finished to match the main house.
We finish inside and out, restore the yard we trenched through, and walk the casita and its connections with you before we call it done.
Real reviews
Two decades of building across St. George, and a 4.9 rating to show for it. Here is what a few of them had to say.
Questions
A casita is a detached guest space, usually a suite with a bath and a wet bar, for family, guests, or a home office. An ADU is a full second home with its own kitchen, which can be lived in full time or rented. The build is similar, and we help you pick the one that fits your goals and your lot. See our ADU and guest house page for more.
Many St. George and Washington County lots have room for one. Every city and lot is a little different, so we check yours during the free site visit and show you where a casita can go and how big it can be before you spend anything on plans.
Most casitas have a wet bar with a sink, a compact fridge, and a microwave, which covers coffee, snacks, and leftovers for guests. If you want a full kitchen with a range, we can design the space as an ADU instead, and we will walk you through both options.
We trench supply, drain, and electrical from the main house or the street to the new structure, and we decide up front whether it runs off your existing panel or gets its own subpanel. We scope that work honestly at the estimate, so there are no surprises once we start digging.
That is the whole point of a good one. We match stucco texture and color, roof pitch and shingle, window style, and trim profiles so it reads as original to the property. On older homes the sun has usually shifted the paint, so sometimes the best answer is to refresh the whole elevation, and we will tell you before we start.
Yes, and we handle all of it. We prepare the drawings, file the permits, and schedule and meet every inspection, so the casita is fully legal and you never have to deal with the city yourself.
Keep exploring
Free estimate
Tell us about your project. We come out, walk it with you, and put together a clear plan and a free quote. No pressure, no surprises.
Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm. Free on-site estimates.
