Pre-Build: Laying the Foundation
After selling our family home we were looking for a new home design to build on a moderate size block of land on the outskirts of Sydney. As we had outgrown our previous house we sought to find a home with multiple spacious living areas all on one level.
After many weekends bundling the kids into the car to look at display homes, we were able to narrow our choice down to two home designs one of them being the Havana Executive with McDonald Jones Homes.
When walking into the McDonald Jones display homes we loved the spaciousness of the homes, the modern simple styling and the layouts which seemed to offer the perfect set up for our young family.
The Havana Executive design was by far our favourite design as the layout ticked all our desires:
- Master not at rear
- 4th bedroom/study to be positioned away from main living area, and didn’t share walls with master or other bedrooms
- Ensuite had large shower (not corner situated), separate toilet and double sinks (the ensuite was so large we were able to slightly modify it and steal some space to create a walk in linen)
- Media room away from children’s bedrooms
- Large alfresco for entertaining
Our initial contact with Building and Design Consultant, Tracey, at Oran Park display homes was so helpful and genuine that we came back to her to proceed with a tender for the Havana Executive. This was despite the fact that there were another two McDonald Jones display home villages we had visited that were closer to where we were living at the time. She was able to provide us with answers to all our questions and was even helpful with suggestions she had seen worked well for other clients.
Ultimately we decided the Havana Executive was perfect for our family and we were ready to proceed with McDonald Jones after receiving the tender, which included special promotion extras like the ducted air conditioning and finishes pack including the Caesarstone bench tops and glass splash back etc.
In addition to the perfect layouts, the other main reason for us choosing McDonald Jones as our builder was flexibility with design and finishes. We were able to tweak the design for a very reasonable additional fee to make it work 100% for us by slightly modifying the ensuite to create a walk in linen/storage area and completely redesign the laundry layout and cabinetry.
Mum of two, Tash and her family started building their Havana Executive back in 2016. She’s documented her building journey on Instagram from the concrete slab to daily life inside her new home. You can follow Tash and her amazing styling at havana.life.
