A timeless acreage lifestyle home that captures the ease and elegance of ranch-style living, with refined interiors and considered details designed to endure for generations. Set on an expansive acreage site in Bridgeman Downs, this home was designed around generous, connected living, from the dramatic porte-cochère entry and coffered foyer through to the open kitchen and family spaces that anchor the heart of the home. Careful structural planning during the preliminary phase ensured the site’s conditions were fully resolved before construction commenced, allowing the build to proceed smoothly and without interruption. The result is a home of quiet distinction, beautifully proportioned, immaculately finished, and perfectly suited to the lifestyle its owners had always envisioned.
Our clients wanted a lasting, classic family home designed for generations, providing spaces to enjoy quality family time. The brief emphasized timeless appeal, functionality, and elegance that would stand the test of time.
Large single-level homes present challenges with roof massing, which can visually dominate the front elevation. Factors such as increased span width, higher pitch requirements, multiple hips and valleys, large garage projections, and extended eaves can make a home appear top-heavy or out of proportion.
On this project, Build Prestige Homes’ expertise and construction experience ensured the home retained balance, elegance, and refined proportions. Through precise planning, collaboration with the designer, truss engineer, and façade detailing team, and careful attention to structural and visual details, we were able to:
Subtle interventions, such as breaking up ridge lines, adjusting plate heights, introducing varied eave depths, and aligning gables with façade elements, were guided by our construction knowledge to achieve a visually harmonious result. This expertise transformed potential design challenges into a timeless, balanced home.
The home was delivered beyond the client’s original vision, with Build Prestige Homes raising their expectations of what a custom home could be. The design and execution achieved a timeless, classic aesthetic, perfect for family life, and has received numerous compliments from friends and visitors. The home won the HIA Award for best custom home over $750K. So impressed were the clients that they have commissioned Build Prestige Homes to undertake an extension, a large pool, and landscaping works. The home continues to reflect the highest standards of craftsmanship, quality, and attention to detail.
When we first met Leo and Tafline at Build Prestige Homes we had already been through three failed design processes with designers and builders. We were totally over the whole design and build thing and were in serious doubt that we’d ever achieve the goal of building a house for our family. One day while trawling the internet looking for a solution I came across some spectacular looking builds. Our initial thought was, ‘Do we really want to start this process again? Their work looks amazing but will we even be able to afford it with our budget?’
With nothing to lose, I phoned Leo and to my surprise, he was extremely friendly, had plenty of time to talk to me, reassured me that we could achieve the look we wanted, the size we needed, and all within our budget. From that first phone call, Build Prestige Homes began to transform our whole feeling towards building our own house.
We made an appointment for an initial consultation, and with the information Leo had gathered on the phone from me, he and Tafline arrived at our rental with a fair idea of what we wanted. They listened carefully as we outlined in detail the number and types of rooms that we would need for our family. They were experts at creating the look we wanted. The problem with other designers and builders had been that they had expected us to provide in detail exactly what we wanted but with neither of us being designers or builders or ever having built a home before we knew the kind of things we liked but didn’t know exactly what we wanted and so kept doubting ourselves. Instead of looking to us for the inspiration, Tafline brought a portfolio of beautiful homes of all types and asked us to point to what we liked and why. By this process she and Leo seemed to be able to soak up the kind of thing we were looking for without us having to be exact. They then took what they had learned from us to their own drafts person and they, rather than we, told them exactly what they wanted. They presented us with a beautiful house design which, when we saw it, we immediately knew this was the house for us. It was an incredibly clever way of getting exactly what we wanted without all the fuss. It came from people with talent and experience in the design and build industry rather than from ourselves.
The construction process was again, perfect. We had spoken to so many people who had told us this is where it would come unstuck. On the contrary, every time we thought there may have been an issue of conflict or tension coming, Leo and Tafline met us smiling with reassurance, advice and solutions. It just kept getting better.
All through the construction process we were given more and more advice about how to add value and improve on what we already had. It was done in such a professional way. Build Prestige Homes had such an artful eye on what would look good. They kept re-evaluating how it was coming together and would make suggestions as we went along that would make our home even more beautiful. We never felt under any pressure but it always looked so good and all we had to do was say ‘yes’ and it was done. It is worth saying that any extra we spent above the original contracted price was for value adding improvements which we couldn’t resist when shown them. We were never charged for any ‘unexpected variations’.
We were never hit with undue or unexpected delays. Timeframes were met all the way through. Our contract had us in by October but Build Prestige Homes had us in by July!
When it came to the selection process, Tafline made this so simple. Coming with us to help us choose things, offering specialist advice at every turn. Items that we couldn’t find in the larger departments she found researching boutique stores. Being a bit of an indecisive couple we admired Tafline’s patience throughout this process. Never negative, always positive, encouraging and reassuring. Nothing was ever a bother, even when she had to drive across the city to help us.
Everything was of the highest quality. From the slab and timber frame to the appliances and walk-in robe fit-outs. Everyone that we have had through our home from frame stage to completion has remarked on the exceptional quality of the build.
Handover came in July, just in time to use our new wood-burning fire and for our new week-old baby. Again, people had frightened us into things like ‘final inspections’ and the like but it was a moot point, the house was perfect, Build Prestige Homes had seen to that. It was not us against them, it was us with them! We arrived to take handover so happy, with the whole family. The house looked spectacular, Leo and Tafline showered us with gifts and without any concerns we embarked on the next chapter of our lives.
Building our own home was something I never wanted to do. After three failed attempts I thought I had further proved that to myself but God truly sent Build Prestige Homes to us. I couldn’t fault them even if I wanted to. They have built us a stunning family home that we are constantly complimented on, that we love living in and that our children call home. They have completely changed my opinion about designing and building your own home. It can be fun, exciting, and worthwhile, you just have to be with the right people, people you can trust.
We love our house. I hope I never have to move. I never want to build a house again but if I do I will only ever want to build with Leo and Tafline at Build Prestige Homes!
