Currently, Frazier has been getting quotes on windows, skylights and other home fixtures, hoping to lock in prices as more and more construction projects intensify, or respond to the ongoing trade wars of the Trump administration.

“I’m doing things like searching for Home Depot and discovering modern and beautiful slate tiles, but they are actually cheap,” she said.

Rebuilding a home in Palisades

TV host Deann Heline knows how it feels to build his own dream house from scratch.

She has waited for over two years to build and can be finished on a five-bedroom, eight-bathroom home with sea views. After the project was completed, her husband vowed never to build another house. The family lived there for six years and was then destroyed in the Palisade fire.

"That's ashes. Nothing."

The couple has two daughters and have lived nearby for more than 30 years. They can't imagine giving up instead of rebuilding.

"We're not only building another house, but we're building the exact same house again," Heline said, noting that the new home will undergo some upgrades, including refractory materials and sprinkler installations.

Recently, they cleaned up debris from the land they once stood, which was a particularly arduous task as there was a large basement on the house and most of the structure collapsed when it burned.

Healine is not sure when construction will begin, but the figures may be two or three years. But, she wanted to know what the community looked like at that time.

"What are you going to go back to? Are you going back to menstruation? Are you there, no one else is on the street, or are you going back to the building area for many years?" she said.

Together as a community

The Eton Wildfire destroyed many of Altadena's more than 270 historic Jenners cabins, including three-bedroom home Tim Vordtriede shared with his wife and two young children.

The family has lived in this house that has been around for only three years.

"We just love the storybook cottage and the atmosphere, and of course the grand atmosphere of Altadena," he said. "It's perfect."

Vordtriede, 44, decided to rebuild, but not just. For now, he is using his experience as a construction project manager to help others who have also lost their homes.

He co-founded Altadena Collective, a group that provides assistance in home design and guidance on how to rebuild a license in a complex and lengthy approval process. Of the approximately twenty customers that the group serves at reduced costs, three are in the early stages of the licensing process.

He said even if the project is shovel-ready, homeowners will have to wait over a year before moving in.

"My first statement when someone walks into the door is: We're not here to help you design your dream home," Vordtriede said. "It's not a dream time. It's a nightmare and our job is to get you out of it as soon as possible."