Home exteriors along a quiet street in Cypress Tanglewood

Architectural requests

Planning a change outside? Start here.

Windows, doors, patio covers, fences, solar, skylights, dishes, fans, water softeners, rails and ramps. Approval comes before installation, and there is only one deadline to remember: the second Tuesday of the month.

The process

Three steps, one deadline

Step 1

Fill in the form for your project

Each improvement has its own form with its own specifications — find yours below and complete it. If nothing on the list covers what you are proposing, tell us using the form further down this page before you order anything.

Step 2

Attach four things

The supplier's name with a photo or brochure showing specifications, identification of the construction materials, a plan of the construction and installation, and a brief explanation of the project. A missing attachment is the single most common reason something is delayed or denied.

Step 3

Get it in by the second Tuesday

Drop the completed form and attachments at the CTHOA Clubhouse mailbox or the management office mail slot, 4437 Larwin Ave. Anything received by the second Tuesday is considered at that month's Board meeting on the third Tuesday.

What happens next

  1. Logged. The management office records your submission and checks that the four attachments are there.
  2. Committee review. The Architecture Committee — three members appointed by the Board — reviews it against the guidelines for that improvement.
  3. Board decision. It goes to the Board at the third-Tuesday meeting. Under the CC&Rs the Board has 30 days to approve or reject a complete submission. You may attend and speak to your own project.
  4. Written answer. You receive the decision in writing. If more information is needed, the office will contact you rather than denying it outright.
  5. Then permit, then build. Board approval is not a building permit. Patio covers and solar need a City of Cypress permit, and for a patio cover you give the Board a copy of the permit after approval.
Already installed it?Finishing work without a complaint does not count as approval. Contact the manager and submit the application anyway — an after-the-fact application handled openly is a much better position than waiting for a notice.
Your neighbor's approval is not precedent.The CC&Rs are explicit: a prior approval elsewhere does not bind the Board, and approving one plan is not a waiver as to others. If your situation is genuinely unusual, ask about the written variance process.

The forms

Find your improvement

The line under each form is a summary of its main limits, not the full specification. Open the form before you buy anything.

Not sure where to start?

Tell us what you are planning

Optional, and useful if your project has no matching form or you want to check something before spending money. It opens an email to the management office with your details filled in. The completed form and its attachments still go to the Clubhouse mailbox.

The more specific you are, the fewer rounds this takes.
Back to the forms

You will get a reply from the office, normally the same day. This message does not start the 30-day review clock — the completed form does.