Sam Carolan and David Perryman explain their method, what it’s like working with a difficult site and financial limitations, and the solutions offered by Rosewood Homes along the way
Performing a knockdown-rebuild for profit can often be a difficult task. But, partnering with Rosewood Homes, Sam and her husband John – along with investors Brent and Bec Carolan and friends David and Amanda Perryman – have managed to turn unloved houses into masterpieces … for a tidy profit.
“We’ve done a lot of renovations over time through our own business, Skope Constructions, but we have found that knock-down rebuilds with Rosewood Homes are the better way to go. This is our second project with them” Sam says. “Gina and Adam from Rosewood are great to work with. If I want to tweak the designs and change some things, it’s not a problem. Rosewood are also mindful cost and time implications in adding features. They are always upfront, so that we too were aware of these costs before committing to too many changes or upgrades.”
Building the Lindfield Home
“Lindfield is a well developed area with a lot of quality homes,” David explains.
“We needed to offer a home that was of a higher standard. It also had to be in a style that would complement the other homes on the street while ensuring its own eye-catching identity.
“We feel that we’ve achieved this with Rosewood Homes Aspen design incorporating the formal classic Hamptons exterior.”
“I’ve always loved Rosewoods’ take on the Hamptons-style look,” Sam explains.
Sam particularly loves the way Rosewood Homes use a formal style of Hamptons-style design. This presents a clever contrast with the range of homestead-style homes on the North Shore. The aesthetic blends with the area while being different and fresh at the same time.
“I’ve always loved those colour tones, so I went down that path and it worked well for us,” Sam adds.
Challenges of the Knockdown-Rebuild site
Building on this particular block came with several challenges. One of these was the need to work with existing trees and tree protection zone requirements.
“Rosewood Homes had to present us with solutions to the significant fall on the site and presence of rock,” David explains.
“They manipulated the design to reduce the extent of excavation required. Plus, they used this to incorporate finished floor levels that would maximize the home’s visual appeal. Rosewood also took into consideration the swimming pool and landscape levels required for the rear yard. This was all achieved while satisfying our financial limitations.”
Hamptons-Style Roofing
For the roof, Sam chose Monier’s Concrete Horizon tiles in Barramundi. These sophisticated tiles perfectly complemented the style of home she wanted to create.
“I’ve always wanted that flat, sleek look with the tile, like the classic Hamptons homes” she says.
“Working with Gina and Adam, all I need to do is say ‘this is what I’m looking for and this is what I want to do’, and they suggest the product.”
“We trust the products Rosewood recommend are in line with our quality requirements. Which, as you can imagine, are high – being in the construction industry ourselves.”
“With Rosewoods’ relationship with Monier spanning over 4 decades, we know it must be a good product.”
Open-plan Living
One of the advantages of a knockdown-rebuild for profit project is the opportunity to take an old, unloved home and remake it.
“A design priority was to maximise the living/entertaining areas at the back of the house. This would capitalise on the sunny aspect of the site. Then, we’d connect the swimming pool and backyard landscaping to the main living area of the home.” David says.
“As a mum, to be able to see everyone is really important for me. For prospective home buyers, open-plan means you can see out the back to the pool – everything, from the kitchen and living areas and family areas,” Sam says.
For Sam, the feeling of bringing the outdoors in, and a focus on natural light, was a massive priority. And, a priority which she felt prospective home buyers would share.
“Rosewood helped design the home to capture natural light by positioning the home and living areas a certain way on the site, then adding features such as skylights and lots of floor-to-ceiling glazing.”
David says, “It’s all these finer details that helped make it easy to sell this home at a profit. Between Rosewood Homes and ourselves, we ticked a lot of boxes for new home buyers. We left very little to be desired at this price point.”
Sam mentions, “This home was also HIA finalist in the custom design category under $1million which was no surprise to us. The quality, flow of the floorplan and functionality of the home was flawless.”
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