The story behind the HOMESTEAD
A new home begins with a dream. It is a dream made up of memories, hopes, inspiration and no shortage of imagination. Our dream home, which we have been lucky enough to see realised, was made up of all these parts. The childhood memories of barefoot backyard days, neighbourhood BBQ’S, cooling off in the pool, and enough space for a hotly competitive game of cricket.
We wanted to recreate the same atmosphere for our family and bring up the kids with a love of the outdoors and a sense of community. My wife and I shared the same hopes of one day owning a family home that was able to reflect a piece of ourselves; our style, our values, and a sense of what it means to live somewhere that is truly ours.
We got much of the inspiration for the aesthetics of the house from our trips to places like the Hamptons and Hawaii. The inviting structures we fell in love with seemed to capture something of both the countryside and the coast.
We wanted to emulate a similar design, one that incorporated large and inviting entertaining areas and cosy and timeless stylings. The kind of house we wanted had to tick all the boxes when in came to both function and form.
We spent quite a while looking for the perfect block and we were lucky enough to find one in the beautiful Gold Coast hinterland. The site was big enough for what we wanted, and then some, so we decided it would be a perfect space for a dual living house. Myself, my wife, and her parents would pool our resources and determination to actualise an ambitious project that would suit all our needs and would make it possible for us and our growing family to live somewhere both practical and idyllic.
And it turns out there are many benefits to dual living. Not only are there lower rates, cheaper power and water costs, but there’s also the added bonus of having the babysitters on the doorstep! Granddad's favourite place is out on the large front porch, while the kids are straight in the pool whenever it's hot or we have guests over. The latter has become a common occurrence as we now have enough space to entertain everyone. But we don’t mind at all. The past couple of Christmases and kid’s birthdays have been a real joy. We have even had a jumping castle and petting zoo out the back! And with dual living, there are always enough hands to help clean up or keep an eye on the kids. I am really proud of what my team and I were able to achieve in regards to the construction of the house. We are always determined to finish things to the finest quality, from both a design perspective as well as in the execution of the build. In this case, we were able to create something that holds itself up to the highest standards.
It wasn’t always easy, big projects often come with their challenges, however we wouldn’t change it for the world. From ideas and imaginings that were often daring, we were able to really do it, to build a home that we love to live in, to get to go to sleep every night and wake up every morning in our dream.