WB Clients Cherish & Clarke moved into their new Webb & Brown-Neaves home in February. They talk about their decision to build, rather than buy, and why they love the location they live in.
“We have two beautiful kids. We have our son who is 9 and our daughter who is 7,” Cherish said. “Part of the reason for building in this area is because they go to school not far from here. It just makes it very easy and they can walk or ride their bikes to school, and they have some friends in the area.”
Cherish and Clarke looked at established homes, but couldn’t find any in the area they liked. With two children in school, location was a major factor in their decision to build.
“We chose to build rather than buy an established home primarily because we had the option of buying in a new subdivision,” Clarke said. “The area was probably a bit beyond our means to buy and renovate, or knock-down and rebuild, so the financial price we had for the block was the most conducive to building.”
For Cherish and Clarke, building a two-storey home was the best option. “We chose to build two-storey to maximise the amount of floor space we were going to achieve on the size of the block,” Clarke said.
Building meant that Cherish and Clarke could design a floorplan that suited their lifestyle, rather than settling for the existing floorplan in an established house. “One of the benefits of building was that we could have a floorplan that suited us,” Cherish said.
“We wanted the open floorplan so we could interact as a family. The way that we’ve set up this floorplan, especially with the sliding doors, was so that we could have an outside-inside living space. It just makes it very easy and it’s very comfortable.”
Only a few years away from their teens, Cherish and Clarke’s children had a significant influence on the design of their floorplan.
“We tried to almost predict what the future is going to be as the kids get older, so our floorplan was influenced by not only the age of our kids now, but how they’re going to grow into it and how we’re going to live as a family as they grow into teenagers,” Cherish said.
“The way we’ve set up the house is, not to future-proof exactly, but to ensure we grow into it really nicely as a family.”
When asked to identify their favourite room in the house, both Cherish and Clarke agreed that the alfresco was the best area in their new home.
“My favourite room is probably outside the house, in the alfresco,” Clarke said. “The key reason for that is you’ve got the best of the outside part which is the pool, as well as the aspect of being close to the kitchen.”
“I’d have to agree,” Cherish said. “I think just being out on the alfresco is the best spot in the house because you can open up the doors and have a nice view of the big living area. It’s really relaxing and just very comfortable.”