Meet the Santa Clarita Team Behind Seedling ADU Santa Clarita
When you build an ADU in Santa Clarita, the crew that shows up matters as much as the plans they carry. Ours is a small, tight group of people who’ve built on Valencia hillsides, in Canyon Country cul-de-sacs, and on Newhall lots where the property lines have opinions. What unites them is simpler than any mission statement: they treat every backyard like it belongs to someone’s parents, kids, or in-laws. Because in this line of work, it does. Here’s who you’ll see walking your lot.
Our People
Ben Ortega, Owner
Ben started Seedling ADU Santa Clarita because he kept hearing the same thing from homeowners: they wanted more space, but they’d heard too many stories about builders who vanished once the concrete cured. He runs the company the way he’d want someone to run a job on his own street. That means he’s the one who walks the lot with you the first time, checks the math on every written price, and answers his phone when something on a Saugus build needs a decision before noon. The 365-Day Done Right Promise is his doing, and it’s backed in writing because Ben’s never been much for verbal guarantees. Outside of work, he’s the guy at the Castaic Lake trailhead at 6 a.m. with a thermos and a map he refuses to unfold until he’s already lost.
Marcus R., Lead Technician
Marcus has thirteen years in residential construction, the last six of them focused on accessory dwelling units and garage conversions across the Santa Clarita Valley. He’s the one who reads the soil report, checks the existing foundation, and tells you honestly whether your 1950s Canyon Country garage can handle a second story or if you should look at a ground-up build instead. Marcus holds certifications in prefab ADU installation for several of the brands we work with, including Abodu and Cover. He’s also weirdly particular about drop cloth placement, which has saved more living-room carpets than any of us care to count. On weekends, he coaches his daughter’s soccer team in Stevenson Ranch and argues with the refs just enough to stay interesting.
Daniella S., Senior Installer
Daniella came up through finish carpentry and it shows. When she’s done with a garage conversion in Valencia, the trim lines are so clean you’d think the original builder planned the ADU from day one. She’s led installation crews on projects using Plant Prefab, Boxabl, and Tuff Shed structures, and she’s the person we send when a James Hardie siding detail needs to look seamless against a 1970s stucco wall. Daniella is certified in prefab module setting and finish work. She’s also the crew’s unofficial audiobook librarian, and she will absolutely recommend a 40-hour historical epic to listen to while she panels your ADU walls. Her Standard Poodle, Biscuit, has been known to make a job-site appearance, leashed and far from any open adhesive.
Tommy V., Service Coordinator
Tommy is the voice on the other end of the phone when you call Seedling ADU Santa Clarita, and he’s the reason you won’t get a voicemail tree at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday. Before joining the team, he spent years running scheduling for residential remodel crews across Los Angeles County. Now he keeps our Santa Clarita projects moving: permits, inspections, material deliveries, and the daily text updates homeowners tell us they actually read. Tommy holds a project management certificate and knows the City of Santa Clarita submittal checklists well enough to recite the ADU parking requirements from memory, which he has, twice, at team dinners. He is also fiercely protective of the schedule. If a family has a newborn napping at 1 p.m., Tommy makes sure the loud cutting happens before noon and nobody with a hammer is near that wall after lunch.
Lena K., Apprentice
Lena joined us a year into her construction career and has already earned the nickname “the level” because she checks everything twice. She’s working through her general contractor preparation and splits her time between job-site learning and studying California residential code at night. On our Valencia and Saugus projects, she’s the one taping off work areas, setting out shoe covers near the front door, and documenting the clean-up photo before the crew leaves. If you’ve had a Seedling crew in your home and wondered who arranged the drop cloths in a perfect grid, it was Lena. She’s also the team’s resident baker, which means someone brings banana bread to most Monday morning walk-throughs and nobody has complained yet.
One Standard, Every Job
Every Seedling ADU Santa Clarita team member works under the same Cedarwell Care Promise, no matter which neighborhood we’re building in. That means shoe covers and drop cloths go down inside your home the moment a crew member steps through the door. We use pet-safe products wherever there’s a choice, because we know your dog will investigate every new corner of the garage you’re converting. Floors get covered. Air stays clean. And before the crew leaves for the day, a photo of the clean-up is taken and logged, so you never have to wonder whether someone wiped down the threshold or just drove off. We also keep noise down near bedrooms and respect nap time, school hours, and whatever quiet rhythm your family has built. It’s not a separate service add-on. It’s how every job runs, on every lot, every day.
Written by Ben Ortega, Owner at Seedling ADU Santa Clarita, building new homes on Santa Clarita lots.
