Everything published here

Guides to building a custom home in St. Anthony

Every dated guide on this site, newest first. Each answers one real question about building in or around St. Anthony — which desk issues your permit, what the county requires, and what it costs — from primary documents, with the date each figure was checked.

By Kjel Jones — independent custom-home researcher for St. Anthony and the Fremont County valley floor. Not a builder and not a general contractor. Licensed Idaho real estate agent, LPT Realty.

Published 2026-08-14 · every figure below was checked against its primary source on the date shown.

All guides, newest first

St. Anthony is the one town in Fremont County that issues its own building permitsThe county says so in a single sentence on its own Building page, and it names no other town. Which desk you walk into decides your codebook, your fees, your inspector and whether you owe sidewalk before you can move in.Published 2026-08-14
The St. Anthony District snow load is 50 PSF — the lowest in Fremont CountyFremont County Ordinance 2005-02 sets it, and here the county is more cautious than the state engineering study, not less. What 50 PSF changes about your roof, your trusses and one costly county rule you may fall below.Published 2026-08-14
Building a barndominium in St. Anthony, Idaho — what the county actually requiresNo builder in the upper valley owns this lane, and the statewide post-frame companies marketing in from Post Falls do not tell you the one Fremont County rule that hits nearly every barndominium design.Published 2026-08-14
What does it cost to build a custom home in St. Anthony, Idaho?Nobody local publishes a price. What is publishable are the fixed public costs on both sides of the city line, the site-work variables that actually move a bid, and the five line items that make two quotes comparable.Published 2026-08-14

How these are written

Every load-bearing figure on this site comes from a document published by the body that issued it — a county ordinance, a city permit application, a state study — fetched and read rather than summarised from somewhere else. The date it was checked is printed on the page. Where a source could not be verified, the page says so instead of quoting it.

That discipline costs pages. It is also the only reason to trust one.

The clearest example is a document this site deliberately does not use. The City of St. Anthony hosts a 104-page zoning title under a filename ending “FINAL.” Every page of it is footed “Draft,” and its section numbering does not match the code the city cites on its own current permit form. It would supply a great deal of useful detail about setbacks and heights. None of it appears here.

Common questions

What is on this page?

Every dated guide published on this site, newest first. Each one answers a single question a person building in or around St. Anthony actually asks, from primary documents, with the date each figure was checked shown on the page.

How often does a new one appear?

Several a week. Pages are written ahead and publish on their own date, so what you see here is what has gone live rather than what is planned.

Who writes them?

Kjel Jones, an independent researcher who is not a builder and holds no contractor licence. Who he is and what the limits of this site are is set out on the about page.

Are the figures kept current?

Every figure is checked against its primary source at the time of writing and the date is printed on the page. Fees and forms change; where a document could not be verified, the page says so rather than quoting it anyway.

Why does this site refuse to quote some numbers?

Because a number whose only source is unreliable is worse than no number. The clearest example is the city's zoning title: the copy published on the city's own website is marked as a draft on every page and its section numbering does not match the code the city cites elsewhere, so this site does not reproduce figures from it.

Can I ask for a guide on something specific?

Yes. Call or text (208) 656-1745, or use the form on any page. Questions that come in repeatedly are the ones that get written up.

Ask about a build in St. Anthony

Describe the parcel and roughly what you have in mind. What comes back is an honest read on which firms here take that kind of work, plus the one thing most people have not established yet: whether the city or the county will be reviewing your plans. Free, and nothing automated ever follows.

Say where the ground is and what you intend to put on it.
You are pointed toward the firms in this town with that work behind them.
From there it is between you and them. No commission, no introduction fee, and nobody standing between you and your own contract.

One contact method is plenty — whichever you prefer. A human being writes back.