STEPHANIE AND CAMPBELL SHARE THEIR HOME-BUILD STORY
Perched on an outcrop overlooking the
Akatarawa Valley is Stephanie and Campbell’s dream home, built by the team at Sentinel Homes Wellington and Kapiti.
Their journey began after Stephanie’s mum
passed away just a year after moving into her new build – it was a wake-up call
to seize the day.
“She’d spent all that time wanting it. We
thought, ‘Let’s just bite the bullet and do things now, while we’re young
enough to enjoy it!’”
They had no intention to build, but when they
started looking at homes in the area, they couldn’t find anything that suited
them perfectly – and they were floored by the prices. Then they happened upon
what would become their section – an extremely windy spot, but with enough
beauty to make it worthwhile.
“That was it,” says Stephanie. “You look at
the valley and over to Upper Hutt. You can hear the river running. It’s magic.
We fell in love and had to make it happen.”
Sentinel
Homes a no-brainer
After working with a draftsperson to sketch
out their perfect home, they set out to find the perfect builder. Sentinel
Homes was on their shortlist – and quickly made it to the top.
“We went out to tender and the difference in
experience was incredible. From Sentinel we received a folder with a 30-40-page
quote. We were lucky if we had three pages from the other build companies,”
says Stephanie.
“Based on Sentinel’s quote, we could see that
the cheaper companies just hadn’t included some items, so we’d be up for future
costs.
“Sentinel was the only build company that
came to our section, too. It was a no-brainer.”
Finessing
the plans
With their builder on board, Stephanie and
Campbell had help tweaking their plans to better fit their budget, while still
keeping the integrity of their vision. For example, instead of an outdoor room
with a louvred roof, Managing Director Hayden Rau suggested shifting the
position of the lounge.
“And thank goodness we did! That outdoor room
would have been so impractical in this environment.”
Streamlined
project management
With four beloved dogs in the family, the
couple needed the landscaping completed alongside the build, so it was safe for
them all to move in.
That, she says, posed some challenges, but
the Sentinel Homes NZ team’s oversight kept things ticking along.
“Hayden has been fantastic throughout the
journey,” says Stephanie.
Little details on how the job was managed
made the process even more special. The couple was on site a lot during the
build, but in the last couple of weeks, the team asked Stephanie and Campbell
to stay away.
“They wanted us to get the wow factor. I
can’t express how beautiful it was. We came through with it all finished and
the whole team was here to celebrate. We couldn’t believe how blessed we were.”
Some
sticky moments
Of course, no build is without its
challenges, but 2020 threw a few more than ordinary. There were days that the
work had to stop because of high winds, and of course, the COVID-19 lockdown
meant everything ground to a halt for four weeks.
Perhaps even more unexpected was the very
large swarm of bees that kept the team off-site for a period. With the help of
a beekeeper, they cleared the buzzers out and got back to work.
No
cookie-cutter home
With a new build, the couple knew they’d be
able to have everything on their detailed wish list. Sentinel Homes rolled with
the couple’s requests, staying flexible with changes as they went.
“It’s great knowing you don’t have that
cookie-cutter home,” says Stephanie. “Sentinel worked with us and our interior
designers too, and allowed us to up-spec when we wanted.”
A
SHOWSTOPPER WITH PHENOMENAL QUALITY
The couple expected to have to keep a close
eye on finishing and build quality, but quickly saw they had nothing to worry
about. Every element was crafted with serious attention to detail – and it
shows in the final build, says Stephanie.
“The quality of the finish is phenomenal –
we’ve got a really solid home. We had built in an extreme wind zone, and it’s really
holding up. It’s definitely a showstopper.”
