Bespoke Dream Home for Canterbury Couple

When retired Canterbury couple Rose and Dick Allan set about looking for a new house to spend their autumn years in, they had a clear idea of what they were looking for. The pair lead an active lifestyle, but weren’t interested in spending their time doing gardening and maintenance around the house.

They wanted a low maintenance home with open plan living and entertaining area, living and master bedroom on the ground floor and enough rooms for their children and grandchildren to stay comfortably with their own bathrooms.

But Rose says the reality of finding their dream home in post-quake Christchurch proved a hard task.

“After 30 years in our much-loved family home, we were ready to downsize and simplify our lives, but after months of searching it became apparent there was nothing available that met our requirements,” Rose says.

They had never built a home before, and weren’t keen to embark on such a complex and lengthy undertaking themselves, but Chris and his team at David Reid Homes Canterbury provided a complete turn key solution with the garden landscaped, right down to the irrigation. 

“We certainly couldn’t have done it without them, they were brilliant,” Rose says.

“From identifying and helping us purchase an ideal site, completing the consent process, providing house plans that matched our needs, helping us choose materials, colours, fittings and appliances and getting the house built.”

The house design was entirely bespoke. The size and configuration of the rooms were specifically designed to fit their existing furniture.

While Rose and Dick were involved during the design process, they preferred to be reasonably hands off throughout the project.

A dedicated project manager and client support person kept them up-to-date on progress and were always available to answer questions.

Rose particularly enjoyed receiving real time photos and videos, updating her on key developments onsite, via an app on her ipad and smartphone.

A David Reid Homes interior design specialist also helped them choose the perfect colours and materials to complement their furniture and style.

Nine months after they’ve moved in and Rose and Dick are thrilled with their new home.

“It looks great, it’s perfect really, better than we imagined,” Rose says.

“Having come through our first  winter we are pleasantly surprised at how warm yet inexpensive it is to run.” 

With no lawns to mow and no maintenance, they have more time to play golf and spend time with their family. 

Q&A

• Were there any challenges throughout the project and how did David Reid Homes resolve them?  If there were any challenges, we didn’t hear about any of them - they were so efficient, from our perspective everything ran seamlessly.
• What was the most surprising part of the experience? It was actually enjoyable and very exciting to build a new home. David Reid Homes helped us through each step, it was very stress free.
• What do your friends think? They love it! Particularly the way our art collection pops on the wall - it looks purpose built.
• Where is your favourite room in the house? The sitting room, a lovely north-west facing room, it’s a very comfortable, pleasant place to be.