Our clients are discerning people who want quality workmanship, individual detailing, and value for money. They will often research building companies and plan their dream for several years before making a final decision. Colette and Mick certainly fit into this category and perhaps even redefined it. After committing to engage Garth Chapman Queenslanders to design their new home they arrived at the office with a large box full of magazines, all page marked with likes and dislikes. We relish the opportunity of a challenge!
It was obvious that these clients wanted a home that was visually very appealing and contained well detailed finishes in every room. It was not about building the biggest house possible for the budget as in the end this does not provide people with pleasure and satisfaction. The brief focused on creating a home with features unique to the client in a comfortable amount of multi-purpose space to serve a growing family.
The location of the home is an expansive hilltop acreage, which has breathtaking views over rolling green hills and distant mountains. This extensively modified version of The Ascot, one of Garth Chapman Queenslanders’ superb heritage designs, takes wonderful advantage of the amazing outlook and gives the owners and their three young children what they proudly call their ‘forever’ home.
Over months, building designer Stephen Havas and interior specialist Alexandra Griffin consulted with their clients to achieve a home that will be loved and admired for generations. The colonially inspired exterior, with its extra-wide front steps, high portico, decorative gable frieze, spacious verandahs, bay window and eye-catching rotunda, is expertly crafted in majestic timber and finished to perfection. The wraparound front veranda and octagonal rotunda provide ample space for family recreation and entertaining while overlooking an impressive panorama.
This home is custom-made and truly an original. The family living area, accessed from the verandah through small-paned sliding doors, is a welcoming space with a mock-log gas fireplace topped by a cedar mantelpiece, smart wiring, select grade hardwood flooring and elegant cabinetry. The centrepiece of the kitchen is a massive granite-topped island bench. Kitchen clutter is avoided with the addition of a multi-shelved butler’s pantry.
Silky oak has been cleverly crafted to make sturdy floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the office, a comfortable working space modelled on American colonial styling. Deep-pile carpet in the office and bedrooms adds to the luxury. Dado rails, double-hung windows with hoods, a colonial archway and high ceilings exhibit the touch of heritage.
Luxury and elegance are blended to give maximum comfort inside. French provincial fittings and furniture throughout much of the home are tailored to the owner’s wishes. She is clearly thrilled with the result and attention to detail displayed by the Garth Chapman Queenslanders’ team. For her, the 10-month building process was completely stress-free.
Parents are well accommodated in the master bedroom at one end of the house. The bay window allows space for a reading area. A sumptuous dressing room is made more luxurious by a central shoe island and cushioned seat. Hollywood lighting enhances the bathroom.
Children’s bedrooms are charmingly decorated with lighting and fittings especially sourced to carry on the French provincial theme.
Decorative cornices, marble vanity tops, up-to-the-minute wainscoting tiles, elegant cabinetry and opulent light fittings add to the very pleasing quality of this home.
This Garth Chapman Queenslander home has been made-to-order for a client with undeniable good taste. With craftsmanship and professionalism, a family’s unique dream home has been achieved.
With years of experience, Garth Chapman Queenslanders crafts homes that suit every desire and budget. The award-winning building group captures sought-after elements for clients in a series of traditional home designs, as well as value-adding with exciting contemporary features. Key principles of the company’s new homes are cost-saving energy efficiency and eco-awareness.
Garth Chapman Queenslanders helps make homes come true that will last a lifetime and beyond. In-house designers and skilful tradespeople have given home buyers an opportunity to live more in harmony with their natural environment. Renowned for constructing stylish homes that echo all that is splendid about Queensland’s built heritage, Garth Chapman and his team are equally adept at constructing distinctive up-to-the-minute designs that are perfect for the Australian climate and that create a sense of wellbeing in their owners.
Plan Summary
Accommodation: Wider than average verandahs and stairs at front, rotunda, entrance hall, living room, dining room, luxury kitchen with butler’s pantry, media room, office, ample storage, three children’s bedrooms, bathroom, master bedroom with ensuite and dressing room, laundry, triple garage and equipment storage downstairs.
Size: 363 square metres including verandahs.
Construction: Timber, James Hardie Heritage Primeline cladding, Zincalume roof.
Construction time: Ten months.
Special features: Impressive colonial façade with wraparound verandah and rotunda taking advantage of fabulous mountain views, French provincial influence inside with specially sourced light and bathroom fittings, extra-large rooms and storage space, chef-standard kitchen with granite island bench and butler’s pantry, timber floors, appealing fireplace and fine cabinetry.
