Walls are almost done, fire place is in, white picket fence is complete and Bailey approves!

Walls are 99% up and front fence is complete. We can also finally take a tour of through each of the rooms. The fire place is installed and our supervisor tells us the roof will be up by Christmas, so let’s see. Oh and most importantly Bailey enjoyed visiting his soon to be new home.   

Front Fence and Walls of House Are Coming Up Nicely

How things are coming along nicely. Walls are one third up. And after having second thoughts about the bricks, we are now at ease, they look really good.
Front fence is also almost there, hopefully by the end of next week it will be finished.

Slab Party Coming Soon!

Woohoo Slab is finally down! we're making good progress. Next on the agenda the bricks!

We now have POWER and WATER

Woohoo the block is now displaying a very large water tank and the cables for power have been layed. We're getting there slowly but surely. Next week we'll have the slab layed.

Earthworks

Well finally..... something's happening on the block - a whole lot of earth moving!
Lots of sand and lots of holes! Next on the agenda the watertank!

Financed and Building License Approved

We're ready to rock!  Now selling 32b Longreach Parade in Coogee would just be the icing on the cake!

Such a beautiful block with panoramic views of the ocean.
In this case the pictures only tell so many words - standing on the block and looking at the ocean is what gets you all warm and fuzzy!
Ready to go, retained, fenced, sewer, power and gas all connected
Size: 493m2 Frontage 14.27m
Price: All reasonable offers considered!

Prestart - Colour Selections

Well what we were thinking would take us a few hours and cost us about $10,000 in upgrades, ended up being an eight hour day and about $20,000 in upgrades. We were feeling rather shaky when we left our selection meeting, but some things we just couldn’t resist and it’s amazing how all those $100’s here and there add up.

One of our most expensive upgrade choices was the stone benchtops in the kitchen, ensuite, powder room and bar. But well worth it we think!

Boy did I have fun trying to match the benchtop colours with the cabinets and then make sure the tiles we selected suited too. I decided to keep the colours quite neutral, I wanted something that was simple but elegant.

Here’s a bit of a preview

Kitchen
Benchtop – Essa Stone New Cairo
Cabinet door under bench – Parchment (silk finish)
Cabinet door overhead – Oyster linea (silk finish/horizontal)

Ensuite
Benchtop – Essa Stone – New Basmati
Cabinet door – Licorice Linea (silk finish/horizontal)

Powder Room
Benchtop – Essa Stone – New Basmati
Cabinet door – Licorice Linea (silk finish/horizontal)

Bathroom 1
Benchtop – Natural Quartz (squareform)
Cabinet door – Licorice Linea (silk finish/horizontal)

Bathroom 2
Benchtop – Natural Quartz (squareform)
Cabinet door – Licorice Linea (silk finish/horizontal)

Laundry
Benchtop – Platinum Micro (squareform)
Cabinet door – Oyster Linea (silk finish/horizontal)

Washroom

Benchtop - Mineral Harmony (squareform)
Cabinet door - Parchment (silk finish)

The Temporary Residence

Stone benchtops $8000, Timber floors $6000, Wood fire $5000

12 months in a caravan ….. PRICELESS

Yes you read right, while we wait for our dream home to be built we currently reside in a caravan on my parent’s driveway.

Think we’re crazy? Well to a degree you are probably right. It’s not for the faint hearted and there has definitely been many a tear in the months to date.

But the bigger picture.......

When we fell in love with our 3 acre block and sold our house we were faced with the decision of where are we going to live. Like most people our age we are a professional couple who both work full-time. Our options were limited we either rent, which over approximately a year and half during the build process would cost around $30,000 or we put ourselves out there and look at other options.

Believe you me when my fiance came home with the caravan idea, I lost it laughing, saying ‘Michael I’m not trailer trash’. But he explained it like any numbers man would. If we went down the track of buying a caravan, it would cost us this much, and caravan’s hold their value, so once the house is built we can sell it and we’d only be paying a quarter of what we would in rent. Plus all that money we’ve saved we would be able to put towards finishing off the home with those final touches.

Somehow he convinced me and the decision was made.

Now explaining the caravan plan to my parents is a whole different story.

So where are we now, well it’s been approximately six months since we moved into the caravan and so far we haven’t killed each other. Living with your partner is one thing but living in an area the size of a master bedroom with them is a whole different story. What personal space?

We both grew up in tough times, with parents who taught us if we worked hard for something and made sacrifices we would reap the rewards at the end. We are holding them to these words as we wait patiently for our development and building license.

The House

When designing our house, there were many things we had to take into consideration besides our budget. One of those the fact that we had only recently gotten engaged and therefore this would be the home we not only brought our little bambino’s into the world, but also where they would hopefully grow up and live into their teenage years. Therefore the floor plan and multipurpose use of rooms was essential. For example the office directly opposite our master bedroom would also make a great nursery for those early years when kids were young.
Some of the other key elements we wanted in the home were
- high ceilings
- large bedrooms
- a wood fire place
- surrounding verandahs and
- of course an inbuilt bar

elevations

floorplan

siteplan