A little while back we wrote an article about what to do when you’ve outgrown your home. Should you renovate where you currently are, or sell and relocate? There are costs attached to both options, but ultimately it comes down to lifestyle.
Do you love where you live and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving, or is moving your only option? We decided to speak to some Melbournians who have had to make just such a decision lately. So we hit the road to chat with Greg and Courtney Hall, who made the big decision to move their family down the coast to Torquay and build their forever home.
Greg and Courtney have two kids, and were one of the first couples to buy and build in Point Cook as it was developing around 13 years ago. After making a tidy profit on the sale of their Point Cook home, they decided what they wanted most was a life by the sea (and for anyone that’s been down to Point Cook, the beach there doesn’t really compare with Torquay!). One of their children had been having a lot of trouble with eczema and anaphylaxis, and doctors strongly recommended that being closer to the coast as the sea air would help ease his symptoms.
So they undertook to relocate the family and build their dream home, a Hamptons style double story masterpiece designed just for them, the builder was Jared Turnley from Mayfair Living down in the beautiful beachside town of Torquay, around a 90 minute drive from Melbourne.
They commenced building in March 2017, and in conjunction with their building dream team the property quickly started coming together. They chose not to be owner builders, despite Greg’s experience as a project manager at Icon Constructions. Aside from not wanting to spend his entire life on building sites, many lenders can make it challenging for owner builders to get finance and loans approved, so they made the decision to put their trust in the cracking team at Mayfair.
As with any build there were challenges, and they finished a little over budget – but the build was finished a month early and the family were able to settle in to their new home this past month. Overall Greg and Courtney are delighted, “We’d make the move again in a heartbeat” said Greg.
“The family couldn’t be happier living down in Torquay, in a property that’s completely unique to our needs and lifestyle. There are really no other houses in the area yet that compare with the style and size of our home. We love the light, airy and high-ceilings of the Hampton style along with the beachy weatherboard look. The team at Mayfair were great, they specialise in this type of build so we felt really comfortable placing our trust in the team.
“We designed the home to be across two stories, with a parents retreat upstairs which includes a kitchen, entertaining space and balcony, and the kids have the run of downstairs. When we’re not at the beach, we spend all of our time enjoying our new home, finding where everything belongs and of course finding beautiful new pieces to make it ours.
“We’re both minimalists, so we don’t want to fill the place with stuff for the sake of it. We choose furniture that really fits our lifestyle, looks good and is functional.”
So, to renovate or relocate? That is the question. In our next article we chat with lifestyle blogger Ina Odak who chose to renovate their home in the leafy suburb of Glen Iris.
