Completed earlier this year by Milford Homes, Liza du Preez and Emrich Hamman described their home in Burns Beach as a beach house meets the Hamptons, with a bit of farmhouse added in.
They shared their building experience with New Homes.
What was your favourite part of the designing and building process?
Seeing the speed at which the building went up and learning how the building process worked for timber-framed houses.
Did the location of the site influence the design in any way?
The site is a corner lot with ocean views, so yes, it did influence the design. We placed the main living areas and main bedroom upstairs to capitalise on the views. The lower guest section also looks out onto the ocean and all bedrooms and living areas have French doors leading out onto the deck or the verandah.
What particular functions did you want your home to cater to and how was this achieved?
We specifically wanted to have a guest section where family could come and stay for extended visits. I think we have achieved this well, with the guest bedroom having its own ensuite, walk-in robe and living room that can be shut off from the rest of the house should they get fed up with us. Both the bedroom and lounge have doors leading to the outside and an area where they can park their car.
What is your favourite part of your new home and why?
I love the colour of the light as the sun shines into the bathroom windows in the morning, and the light in the mezzanine. The whole house is very light and airy and feels relaxed. The large balcony and verandah add dynamic living space.
Why did you decided to build as opposed to buying an established home?
Building allows you to design the house to suit your lifestyle and needs. I’ve never seen an established home where there was not a least one thing, I would want to change in order to make it work for us.
How did you overcome any challenges during the designing and building process?
We did not really have any major challenges. The benefit was having a builder that was very good at communicating, and we actually still have a very good relationship. As issues were discovered it was dealt with immediately and hence did not result in any major issue.
What advice would you give to people looking to build?
For us the building process has three main considerations:
- First contact with any builder is usually through a sale representative. It is important this person has an intimate understanding of the product and associated options, and they need to be able to provide a rough estimate on your queries.
- Once building starts the building manager will often have several houses going at the same time – this person’s ability to schedule the works is vital for a timely completion and quality of the work. He/she needs to be fastidious.
- Several trades are engaged by the builder, and in our experience, it works best if those trades are exclusively working for the builder.
Do your homework. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask questions about things you don’t understand. At a minimum you will learn something new, or you may just raise an issue no-one thought of previously and find a way to resolve it.
Article published in The West Australian, words by Greta Andrews-Taylor.