The owners were referred to us by the real estate agent that sold them the block. They lived interstate so were absent during the build. Being interstate, they relied heavily upon Manley Homes to manage all the preliminary work required on the block before construction could start and even before they had signed the contract to build with Manley Homes.
They used their own building designer, however, he designed a house that was too big for the client to afford, so we made some recommendations on how and where to reduce the size of the house in order to meet their budget.
Building a new home is an exciting time and we were very sympathetic that they could not be more involved. We endeavoured to include them as much as we could, thank goodness for technology, and to make the construction process as stress free as possible. They were great to work with as they knew exactly what they wanted and trusted us to bring their dream to life. Construction was completed ahead of time.
The large 1200 m2 sloping block was located behind existing heritage homes, as it had been subdivided from the block in the front and as such, the house could not be seen from the road. The beautiful block sloped down to bushy parkland and had several significant existing trees.
The owners had a clear vision of the style of home that they wanted and gave their brief to their designer. He designed a large home that followed the contour of the land down towards the parkland at the back of the block.
The house was filled with light and was carefully designed over 5 different levels. One of the features of the house was a walkway over an impressive void to the master suite.
When my husband received an exciting job opportunity that would mean a move from Central Queensland to Brisbane we were 'on a mission' to find a great block of inner Brisbane land to build our 'dream home' on.
Finding the block wasn't easy but once we did we designed our home to suit the sloping block and to maximize the gorgeous parkland backdrop. Part of our wishes were for the design to have 'voids' to enhance the feel of space, high ceilings, a very open plan feel, and, importantly a number of specific 'living' spaces to cater for my parents who would be coming to stay for extended periods and would require their own privacy. I'm a teacher so I required HEAPS of storage too and my own study space so that was an important part of our home.
Next of course (and perhaps most importantly) - we were determined to find the 'right' builder'; one who would be incredibly experienced, yet bring an excitement and freshness to our design; one who would listen and advise but would allow 'our' wants to emerge and be fulfilled. And so we met Rex from Manley Homes.
At our first impromptu meeting with Rex, he took us through a home that he was building at the time. It was clear to see his high standards, quality subcontractors and workmanship and the pride he took in what he did. From that point onwards we felt we'd found 'the man for the job'.
As we were building in a heritage area, strict guidelines had to be met, however nothing was ever too much trouble for Rex. The foundations alone of our 3.5 storey home were immense and once we 'got out of the ground' the intricacies of the home were countless.
Essentially Rex was tasked with building our home whilst we were 700km away in Central Queensland. We flew to Brisbane about 3 times during the building process but I never once felt concerned or worried that my home was not being built without the highest level of care and exacting detail. I knew that our dream home was in the very best of hands. I knew intrinsically that I could trust what was happening so far away. Naturally calls between Rex and I were frequent and effective and at every step of the way I was part of the build. Karen too was tremendous in terms of advice and support and was only ever a call away.
In summary, I could not recommend Manley Homes highly enough. Let's face it, builders are a dime a dozen in society today, however the same couldn't be said about a QUALITY builder. Someone like Rex is a rare gem - a man with integrity, a sense of family, a man you can trust, a builder who can build you your BESPOKE home that you will love forever!
