2 new contenders...

We had a lovely morning showing the display of our newly chosen replacement home to my Mum and Nan (how lucky am I that I still have her around to share major journeys like this?).  They both really liked Wembley and got that same homely feel we did when we first went through it.  Mum has always been a fan of display homes, building twice herself, so we extended the trip a little and walked through a couple of Big M displays...where we came across Riva.  37 lovely squares of open planned, light filled, dragging you outside, beautifully decorated home.

Oh dear.  We have another contender.

So just to add to the experience (read - confusion), we thought we would call past the one display village in all of Melbourne that we hadn't yet visited.  Arena at Officer.

Now I remembered reading a thread on H1, Vanilla tree's Fairhaven Glenaire.  It sounded lovely on her thread so we went looking and were incredibly surprised. A strong inside-out focus, 4 beds, 2 storey and my my my.  Loved downstairs.  No wasted space, great flow, brilliant kitchen with a window and this room they call a Lanai.  WOW.  Basically an alfresco thats enclosed by bi-folds with a gas wood fire in the middle.  Brilliant!  Upstairs and I'm still not disappointed.  The minor bedrooms were a great size with WIR's, tonnes of extra storage, large bathroom and a seperate powder room outside the loo.  Mum calls me through to the master suite telling me "you're going to LOVE this".  And she was spot on the money!  Double WOW!  Massive robe behind the bed with 2 rows of hanging rails and fitted drawer units, a timber door out to the balcony, and then the ensuite.  Triple WOW!  The shower would have been six feet long and wide too, with a shower head at each end.  The vanity was one of the biggest I've ever seen.  2 double cupboards and a huge drawer unit with a window above.   I could REALLY see myself living here.  No consessions, compromises or things left off the wishlist.  It was tick, tick, tick.

So we'll get a detailed quote for the Big M Riva and Fairhaven Glenaire, compare apples with apples with apples, and hopefully come out of it all with a home that we're so happy with we'll never want to leave!