Customer Experiences - The best decision they ever made

Whatever improvements the Calamos family could have made to their old house it would still have been a 30-year old place with old plumbing, old wiring and, as they found during demolition, white ants in the rafters! No wonder they love their gorgeous new home.

Mary and Chris Calamos faced a big decision when they reviewed their needs for extending their living space in Terry Hills - to move house completely or to renovate.”

They weighed up agents fees and taxes and realised it would be hard to find a new house that suited them as well as the present situation so they then looked hard at the possibility of renovation. With their family, Danielle 13, William 10 and Samuel 6, growing up they knew they would need more space but they would have been left with an old house with old wiring and plumbing with a new extension tacked on to the end.

Knockdown/rebuild became an attractive third alernative as the house site backs onto acreage and is very private with an inground pool. Also, the neighbours are great, there are beaches close by plus a great community feel and practicalities such as good transport to schools.

Mary and Chris looked at some of the knockdown/rebuild options but didn't receive very good feedback when they made their enquiries until they looked at Clarendon Residential home owners.

"The only people who were very happy were those who had chosen Clarendon Residential," says Mary, "Clarendon has a good reputation and all the people we spoke to who had built with them were very impressed with the service throughout the whole building process, finding them to be very professional at all levels."

CHOICE OF DESIGN

Considering some of the stories you hear about building your own home this was high praise indeed and, encouraged, the Calamos family went into it further and discovered that Clarendon Residential would indeed build in their area.

They chose the Parklane (with a Kensington façade) which had features that just seemed designed for their way of living.

The open plan kitchen and family room is light and airy and overlooks the pool, there's plenty of living space and Danielle, William and Samuel now have a bedroom each. As as it was nearly Samuel's turn to sleep in the top bunk in the old house Mary and Chris have given him bunk beds in his new room so he can still enjoy the privilege!

The sweeping staircase is an attractive feature and the rumpus room upstairs is just perfect for the kids to entertain. The large flatscreen TV downstairs is obviously a bit of a drawcard, though. Mary and Chris changed the Parklane design slightly extending the garage in length a little and adding internal access via the study.

"Chris and I kept saying how the plan of the house works so well for us that, even if we were given the opportunity, we still would not change a thing."

HOW DID IT FEEL?

Having the old home demolished was quite emotional admits Mary but they had a big sale beforehand and were able to sell parts of the kitchen and bathroom, some windows and other items so not everything had to be destroyed, which Mary says she found helpful.

When it came to demolition it was discovered that white ants had attacked the old roof rafters, which would certainly have been bad news soon if Mary and Chris had decided on renovation instead of a new house. The family planned the house with Clarendon Residential and they then moved in with Chris's parents for nine months.

"It went so well,' says Mary. "Chris's parents love children and family life and so that was no problem and they were able to share some important family mile- stones like a first day at school and so on. It couldn't have been better: Mind you, the three children had to share a room there so moving into the new house with a bedroom each now is just perfect for them."

SO HOW WAS THE BUILDING PROCESS?

"Entirely seamless," says Mary. "We had a fantastic site supervisor who kept us informed at all times. Now it feels like we are permanently on holidays.
Every thing is so new and wonderful. Chris and I keep saying how the plan of the house works so well for us that, given the opportunity, we still would not change a thing."

Of course there is always something to do even with a brand new house and having only been there for four weeks before we photographed they are still adjusting to all the new spaces.

Landscaping the garden is next on the 'to do' list as the new house, although having many more rooms, actually takes up less space on the block creating a larger garden leading to the pool. Landscaping will integrate the area, creating a garden plus outdoor entertaining spaces.