My Partner Ryan & I (Nicole) fell in love with a new country town golf course development just west of Melbourne called Eynesbury - its the first town to be created in over 50 years in Victoria :) It is set in the heart of a Greybox forest with the idea of it being styled modern 'Country Town'. As i grew up living on a large country block of land being a good 15min drive to our closest town, the idea of feeling like i was living back in the country but still close to my job in the city (just a 30min drive :)) really appealed to me.
We decided to take the plunge and purchased a block of land which backed onto the golf course in a secluded part of the estate which will not get drive through traffic.
The block took a lot longer than we anticipated to settle and between the time of putting the deposit down on the block of land and settlement we ended up purchasing a house in Hoppers Crossing. This meant that we used our deposit for the new house build and we had to wait until we were in a good financial place to build our dream home. But this didn't stop us from getting very excited when the land finally did title and we have been frequent visitors to the Eynesbury Homestead for lunch on the weekend.
We had original liked an UrbanEdge single story design but after living in our Double story house in Hoppers, we decided that we really wanted to make the most of our block size and make sure that we have a decent sized backyard (for any future additions to our family be it fury or not :P).
We then found a lovely small local builder that we wanted to build with but after going through the whole design stage and quotes - the bank just wasn't comfortable loaning us the full amount of what it was going to cost to build the house as they didn't feel that it should cost that much to build. So went back to the drawing board!
Then while browsing the different builders designs found one that ticked all our boxes Porter Davis Sandarah 45T. It gave us a nice sized backyard, plenty of room in the house for us to grow, lots of room to entertain and most importantly a lovely Master suite, which also as a terrace off the master taking in the most of our range view block.
After making the long trek to visit the display home we fell in love with it and didn't second guess ourselves and signed up on the spot. Porter Davis have their own brokers so we decided to go through them as we were sick of dealing with the bank and decided that it was something we were more than happy to palm off for someone else to worry about. Added bonus was that because we decided to go through them we got a 'voucher' to spend at our colour appointment which would help with upgrades and electrically choices. These are the standard inclusions and currently they have "Dream Big" promotion one which we also get which adds lots of great bonuses on meaning we will not have to upgrade much.
While going through the options we decided to add the galley / pantry upgrade with the added bonus that with their current promotion it was fitted out which meant it was slightly cheaper than normal.
We had discussed whether or not we wanted to include the option of having a shower in the powder room downstairs and decided it was worth the extra cost as it helped future proof the house, if we add a pool people can shower downstairs or if we at some point get injured or can no long get up the stairs we still have access to a bathroom.
During the whole appointment we decided what we could live without and then added the extras that we thought would add to the value of our house as well as treating ourselves. I got a second oven added to the galley as I have also wanted a second oven as I love to cook. The appointment was meant to take only 3hrs but after arriving at 9am we didn't end up leaving until 4pm - a lot of that time was us waiting while they did the paperwork, luckily there is a nice cafe just up from them where we had lunch while they were doing it all.
Next we had our colour appointments - we were advised that it would be good for us to go to Hopetoun (Porter Davis's colour selection provider) and have a look before our appointments so that we could have an idea of what to expect. Let me tell you this - on the weekend when it is open to the public, it is crazy! When we first went we had a trainee (Our house maybe known as the Trainee house, keep reading to find out why!) show us around the showroom and explain what was included and what was an upgrade.
From this we then browsed and had an idea of what we liked and tried to keep upgrades to a minimum, but to be honest the included level of products meant that you can have a high quality house without going crazy on upgrades. We discovered at our appointments that we had been given slightly wrong information about what was included and a few things that we wanted were actually an upgrade or that there were more options for us to choose from. I have a pretty good sense of style when it comes to what goes together well so colour choices were not daunting to be - what was is the number of people that were there and the fact that a lot of people were rather rude and just worried about themselves. So after being there for a while I just wanted to get away and relax! Here is what we thought we liked after our first visit to Hopetoun:
We also checked out the tiles got slightly scared at the extra cost for a tile that we just loved, but decided that the category 1 tiles had a lot to choose from that would also work with the theme we're aiming for.
Now when building with Porter Davis they will keep talking about their "world of style" its a great thing they've put together to help theme determine what sort of them for colour choice will work well for you. When i did this I got Classic & Ryan got Designer, between the two there are many common themes - black, white, dark wood tones and chrome. Yup that is defiently our style! Some of the styles we got were:
Boston - Think Top Gun and Tom Cruise’s leather bomber jacket. Aged battered leather adorns furniture mixed with weathered timber boards and chrome detail to furniture. An aeronautical influence of black and white photography, propeller inspired fans, medium-toned vintage look timbers with a strong masculine feel create a cool and contemporary look.
Milan - The fashion capital of the world, this impressive eye catching design features an edgy, contemporary feel. Dark timber tones blended with stone, grey and black fabrics and leathers create the strong base palette for striking vintage fashion inspired artwork. Splashes of yellow mixed with the latest contemporary wallpapers and classic inspired skirting and cornices, sit beautifully against this strong contemporary style.
Chicago - A stunning city of architecture and history, this is timeless style enhanced with modern elements. Rich timbers are complimented by a beautiful neutral palette with an art décor influence highlighted by ornate cornice detail, ceiling roses and skirting. You will enjoy this look for many years to come.
Manhattan - This look is class and sophistication all the way with the use of moody tones, dark timber furniture and beautifully crafted fabrics. Simplicity and elegance make for a timeless style. If you love the finer things in life and want a house that becomes the talk of dinner parties then this is it. It’s the sort of style used in a hundred TV shows.
I think all these styles suites us to a tee! I have always loved the idea of having a beautiful styled house that when some walks in they go 'wow' and are left with an impressive impact when they leave, but at the same time I want our place to be homely - a place were we feel comfortable and so does all our friends and family, a place to relax and enjoy ourselves. Hopefully we will be able to achieve this and you will just have to keep following me to find out if we do. :)
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