A Padua Hills property appraisal is scoped as a hillside, custom-home assignment. The appraiser reports the site at its actual size with its slope, easements and any adverse conditions, measures every level and classifies it above or below grade, rates construction quality on its own terms, and records studios and detached rooms separately. Because the enclave rarely produces sales that repeat the subject, the report also says where each comparable came from, what could not be verified and which sales carried the conclusion.
This article covers the assignment itself. The value question for the same pocket is in Padua Hills house value: few sales, a wide radius and reasoning written out.
What is Padua Hills, from an appraiser's side of the clipboard?
The Padua Hills Land Development Collection, held by Claremont Heritage, describes Padua Hills as an enclave on a hill at the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Claremont. Its finding aid records that a group bought over 2,000 acres in north Claremont, incorporated in 1927 as Padua Hills, Incorporated, and subdivided it into residences for artists, studios and a center with a small theater, with homes along Via Padova. It also lists protective restrictions among the papers, without describing their terms.
For the assignment that means no repeated floor plan to compare against, sloped lots whose recorded size says little about usable land, and studios or guest rooms to measure and explain. The Claremont area page places Padua Hills among the other foothill pockets in ZIP code 91711.
How is the scope of work set for a Padua Hills house?
The scope of work, the type and extent of research and analysis, is agreed before the visit. It starts with the intended use, what the report will be used for, the intended users, the people entitled to rely on it, and the effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to. The scheduling call asks about lower levels, a studio and access, because the inspection is 30 to 60 minutes for a standard single-family home, longer for hillside, custom, multi-family or homes with additions. Plans, permits and any survey are worth finding first.
What does the inspection record on a hillside lot?
The site, at its actual size
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, which governs many lender assignments, requires the appraisal to use the actual size of the site and not a hypothetical portion of it, to reflect easements and encroachments in the analysis, to comment on adverse site conditions, and to report the zoning class and whether the use is legal conforming or legal non-conforming. On a slope the appraiser also notes how much of the lot is usable and what holds the grade, such as retaining walls and terraces.
Every level, classified
Gross living area, the finished, heated living space above grade, is measured and sketched level by level. For lender work the Guide requires the ANSI Z765-2021 measurement standard, and it treats a level as below grade if any portion of it is below grade. A lower floor opening onto a garden can still be below grade, and is reported separately.
Studios and detached rooms
A studio, workroom or guest room is measured and described on its own line. Its permit status is checked, and where a required permit is missing the Guide requires comment on the quality and appearance of the work and its impact.
Quality on its own terms
The Guide's quality ratings run from Q1 to Q6, and the rating reflects a holistic view of the construction. Comparables are rated on an absolute basis, not relative to the subject. The Guide also asks for special consideration of unique housing for the neighborhood, which describes much of Padua Hills.
Which sales qualify when the enclave rarely sells?
A comparable sale is a closed sale of a property similar enough that a buyer of the subject would have weighed it. For lender assignments the Guide requires at least three closed comparables; it says sales closed within the last 12 months should be used, and older ones are acceptable when they are the best available and the report explains why. Sales from outside the subject's market area need written commentary, and the appraiser must not expand the neighborhood boundaries just to take in the sales chosen.
The search starts in Padua Hills, moves to Claraboya and Northeast Claremont, and only then to foothill sales in La Verne or, across the county line in San Bernardino County, north Upland, with a location adjustment. The Claraboya home appraisal follows the same rule: resemblance first, distance second.
The lines a Padua Hills assignment leans on, left blank: examples never carry a real address, sale or value.
Line itemSubjectComparable 1Comparable 2Comparable 3
Data source and verification
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Sale date
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Site area, actual
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Topography and usable area
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View
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Quality rating
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Gross living area, above grade
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Below-grade finished area
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Studio or detached room
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Net adjustment and weight
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How does the report reason when the sales are thin?
An adjustment is the amount a comparable's price is changed to account for a difference buyers react to. The Guide requires adjustments to reflect the market's reaction to the difference, based on analysis of competitive properties, and it says the number or amount of adjustments must not be the sole test of whether a comparable is acceptable. Adjustments in a Claremont home appraisal explains the mechanics.
Reconciliation, the step where the adjusted sales and any other approaches are weighed, must not be a simple average; the Guide allows a weighted average and requires the report to say which approach was given the most weight. Here, the report names the sale that carried the conclusion.
An unconfirmed fact, such as an old studio's permit history, may become an extraordinary assumption, an assumption about uncertain facts that, if false, could change the result, stated plainly.
What is the report, and what is it not?
It is an independent opinion of market value as of the effective date, developed under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), the national appraisal standards. An automated estimate is not an appraisal, an agent's CMA is not an appraisal, the county assessment is not an appraisal, and a cash offer is not an appraisal. The appraiser is independent of every party, including the one who pays, and the lender, court, trustee or CPA decides how it is used. Home Appraisal in Claremont: What the Report Measures, Pocket by Pocket walks through each section; the Home Appraisal in Claremont hub lists the other pockets.
The fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins, and it does not depend on the value. The report is typically three to five business days from the inspection. See hillside and custom home appraisal and the full list of services.
Next step
To have a Padua Hills property appraised for an estate, a trust, a family law matter or a purchase, request an appraisal or call (909) 324-6122, and mention any studio or lower level.
Sources
- Online Archive of California, Padua Hills Land Development Collection (Claremont Heritage), accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-04, Site Section of the Appraisal Report, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-05, Improvements Section of the Appraisal Report, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-06, Property Condition and Quality of Construction of the Improvements, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-08, Comparable Sales, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-09, Adjustments to Comparable Sales, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-11, Valuation Analysis and Reconciliation, accessed November 6, 2026
- The Appraisal Foundation, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), accessed November 6, 2026
- California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, license lookup for Gordon Hall, accessed November 6, 2026
Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a Padua Hills appraisal take longer than a tract house?
Padua Hills houses were built one at a time on sloped lots, often with studios or lower levels. Each level is measured and classified, the site and its usable area are recorded, and detached rooms are measured separately. The inspection is 30 to 60 minutes for a standard single-family home, longer for hillside, custom, multi-family or homes with additions.
Does a lower level that opens onto the garden count as living area?
Not necessarily. For lender work the ANSI Z765-2021 standard applies, and Fannie Mae treats a level as below grade if any portion of it is below grade. Its finished area is then reported separately from above-grade gross living area, and the report states how each level was classified.
What happens to a studio that was never permitted?
It is still measured and described. For lender assignments, Fannie Mae requires the appraiser to comment on the quality and appearance of unpermitted work and its impact. If the permit history cannot be confirmed, the report may rest on a stated extraordinary assumption.
Can the appraiser use sales from outside Padua Hills?
Yes, when the enclave has too few similar sales. The search moves to Claraboya and Northeast Claremont, then to foothill sales in La Verne or north Upland, and the report explains each sale chosen, any location adjustment and which sales carried the most weight.
