Adelaide’s Classic Dream Home: The Hebert House
While a new build can be an exciting chance to implement the latest contemporary home trends… it’s true when they say there is nothing quite like a classic-style home!
There is something super luxurious about a newly built classic home! The selections will never date or go out of style which eliminates a lot of the risk when building a home. It is also a great way to create a space that feels homey and has a certain vibration in the air, one that makes you feel calm as soon as you enter it.
A perfect example of a classic build in Adelaide is the magnificent Herbert House by Adelaide Designer Homes. Today we are very excited to be joined with the owner of the Herbert House, Louise, for an exclusive interview on her build experience and classic home advice!
First and foremost, Louise, what drew you and your husband to build a classic-style home?
I was born in the UK and we have always loved European style, old historical homes. I found that they don’t date and can easily be decorated internally over and over again to suit individual tastes. Whilst we do love modern designs also, we felt that the style we chose was more unique to Adelaide.
Building a custom home at the scale you did, we can imagine it would have been difficult to know where to draw the line in terms of budget. Where did you decide to cut costs and where did you splurge? and how did you come to those decisions?
Yes. Budget is always a challenge! We cut costs in our joinery items, opting for cupboards instead of drawers, removed pull-out bins/laundry hampers that we could source post-build, we opted for French cleated (fixed) shelving in our pantry instead of adjustable shelving and we also removed the joinery from our walk-in robe/dressing table which we filled with IKEA pax, this knocked off thousands. We switched out stone benchtops with marble look Laminex in the laundry.
We also had our own trades complete the carpets/flooring, fencing, pool and landscaping post-handover which saved us a bit. We splurged on stone benchtops throughout, brass tapware, mouldings to give our façade a provincial look and upgraded cornices & skirting. We spent more on items that were more visible than items that weren’t which ultimately helped us decide.
What is your favourite space in the Herbert House and why?
That’s a tricky one! I really love the solidarity that the formal sitting room provides – it has a cosy fireplace and equestrian-like décor against a monochrome palate. I also really love the open plan kitchen/dining/living as it’s where all the fun is and really makes it feel like a family home. If I had to choose just one room, however, it would have to be the master dressing room which is the size of a bedroom and is seriously the walk-in robe of my teenage dreams!
Now that you have experienced living a super busy lifestyle in your new home for about 8 months, is there anything you would change in terms of layout or selections?
Thankfully no! We built our previous home as well, so we learned to not make some mistakes again like lighting and paint colours. We even took a few risks with this house like the laundry tiles and the powder room wallpaper after A LOT of research, but they paid off in the end (in my opinion!).
What would be your advice to other South Aussies looking to build their forever home?
Include as many fixed costs in your contract as possible and minimise items that provide an ‘allowance’ – sometimes this is required but it helps you stick to your budget and reduces creeping costs. Then check, recheck and check your contract and design over and over!
Do your research – vet your builder, join building forums and seek opinions, look for a builder that gives you all the ‘feels’ and ticks all the boxes with communication, flexibility, professionalism and value for money. Equally, when you go through the build process, it’s hard but try to leave emotions out as it’s best to treat it as a business deal and uphold professionalism on your side too – good relationships can take you far!
Keep your eye out for building grants and test your eligibility – you may be surprised, treat it as a bonus rather than rely on it if you can (furniture budget!).
Now not only were you busy building yours and your husband’s dream home in 2020. You were also pregnant with twins during this time! Fast-forward to now, congratulations on becoming a mum of three beautiful boys.
Tell us what it is like to move into your dream home with two newborn twins and a toddler?
Thank you! It’s a little bit nerve-wracking as you’ve worked so hard to build a beautiful home that you fear they will pull apart! I’m glad we decided to build a 4-bedroom home because we had found out we were having twins after we signed the contract, so there’s room for everyone. Life at the Herbert house is chaotic, but it is also lively, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We have been babyproofing as we go along, in fact just last week we had to place a baby gate across the walk-in pantry to avoid those cheeky monkeys from climbing the shelves and pinching food which of course always ends up on the floor.
Looking back at your building journey, what would you say was the most challenging part and do you have any advice for others experiencing the same?
We found it hard to know when to put our existing house on the market to line up settlement/move in dates. We ended up selling our home 4 weeks shy from our new home being ready, which resulted in us having to obtain temporary accommodation and move our furniture into storage for a month which was hard with 3 young children and all the items that come with that too. We thought we had added some ‘fat’ to the dates but with lockdowns etc. it pushed out slightly.
Our supervisor worked with us to get us into the home as soon as possible which was great. My advice would be move in before you sell your existing house if you can manage that – it would be a lot less stressful!
Also, selections, having been through it before, you forget how intensive on your time it can be – especially if you’re indecisive on something! My advice would be to lean on your selection consultants for their opinions (they only do it day in day out and are the best people to provide advice on making things work in your new home) you don’t have to take their advice but they’re helpful.
You have been very open on your account about how long it took you and your partner to afford to build your grand and gorgeous home and that it came with a lot of sacrifices.
Do you have any advice on saving and budgeting for people who are hoping to afford a similar home in the near future?
We had a long-term plan and had really put motions into place 6 years prior to building our dream home. I’ve always believed in building wealth through your 20/30’s, paying off debts in your 40’s/50’s to then retire in your 60’s debt free and hopefully with a roof over your head that you own.
So, we saved weekly, as well as saved any additional bonuses or tax refunds to buy a few investment properties and maintained share portfolios. We reviewed our household budget annually and kept a close eye on our spending – we weren’t perfect, but we stuck to is a much as we could.
I’m also a bit of a finance geek and like listening to finance podcasts on all things economy & money which helped keep my finger on the pulse to make certain decisions.
Do you have any upcoming home projects and if so tell us a bit about them?
Ooh! Yes. Lots coming up. We’re currently exploring joinery for our study, a home gym in our garage, plantation shutters for the bedrooms, outdoor furniture, more landscaping and before we know it we’ll be upgrading the boys’ rooms!
