Aurora has painted the Bay Area’s homes since 1987, including landmarks by Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, and John Hudson Thomas. Our restoration work has earned two preservation awards, with Aurora named on both (BAHA 2006, AAPS 2021). We’re EPA Lead-Safe Certified and every job carries our 3-year workmanship warranty.
One thing to know before you compare bids: Aurora is not a production painting company. Put us next to one and you’re comparing apples to oranges. This page explains the difference.
Our story
Dean Byington founded Aurora in 1987 and built its name restoring Victorian and historic homes across San Francisco and the East Bay. Some of that work appears in Painted Ladies of San Francisco. Dean’s fine arts background (UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley MFA) still shapes how we prep, restore, and finish a home.
In 2025, Carlo Vargas became Aurora’s owner. Carlo came to painting from a different world: years running projects inside billion-dollar operations, where one overlooked detail gets expensive fast. He brought that discipline to the brush. Dean is still around, estimating and advising our clients, and the standard he set isn’t just being kept. It’s being raised.
Not a production company
Production painting companies are built for volume. Spray fast, wrap up, move to the next house. There’s a market for that, and it isn’t us.
Aurora is built for the homeowner who has been through a production paint job and wants the opposite. Careful prep before any paint goes on. Details handled, not hidden. Our work has stood in front of two preservation juries and won. Nobody wins those for being fast.
You’ll know exactly who is in your home
This matters to us as much as the paint does. You should be able to open your door to an Aurora crew without a second thought.
- Every employee is background-checked.
- The crew that starts your job finishes it. Same faces, first day to last.
- Owner-led walkthroughs. Carlo walks the job with you at the start and at the end, and you can reach him in between.
- Your property protected. Landscaping covered, walkways clean, uniformed crew, your house and your routine respected.
- Daily clean close-down. Tools put away every evening, and your home is yours again.
Many of our clients are home while we work. If that’s you, day after day with a crew in and around the house, you deserve complete peace of mind about who they are. We built the company so we could promise that.
The owners
Dean Byington, Founder and Estimator. Dean built Aurora’s reputation on historic restoration and still guides clients through planning and estimates.
Carlo Vargas, Owner and Operator. Carlo runs the field. Hands-on, on site, and accountable for every finish that leaves our brushes.
Where we work
From the Berkeley Hills to Marin. East Bay: Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont, Kensington, Albany, and Alameda. Marin: Mill Valley, Tiburon, Belvedere, Sausalito, Ross, Kentfield, Corte Madera, and neighboring towns.
Ready when you are
Call (510) 973-2726, or send the contact form and we’ll call you.