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!

And the winner is...

Porter Davis Wembley 35

here's the link

Tell us what you think!!!

And the nominees for best floorplan with a north/west aspect are....

• PD Wembley  (double storey)
• PD Atrium
• Big M Chelsea 
• PD Jasper
• PD Ivanhoe
• Big M Grandview
• DFH Hartley

I'll just open the envelope.  And the winner is....

And now for something completely different...

...as in it's time to pick a completely new house plan.

It's like this.  When we began this process, we had all bedrooms of our little house full with others knocking on the door as young adults do.  Six months down the track and we find ourselves in an almost empty house again with the added complication of a block of land thats due to title some time in the next 4 years (sarcasm - should title later this year).

The fact that it hasn't titled is actually a blessing right now as it is giving us a chance to re-assess our build in its entirety.   Our original house of choice was PD's Marina 42.  Five bedrooms.  Semi-ensuites.  Lots of communal and private space.  Beautiful.  But now that we're almost empty nesters again, do we actually NEED to build such a big house?  Our current home is only about 12 squares, so the Marina would give us both 21 squares each to rattle around in.

We'd (read I) had been feeling a bit unsure about the build for a couple of months, but we still LOVED the floor plan, and pushed ahead with colour selections, tender and contracts.  So now everything is selected and ready waiting for the land to title, we've had a chance to catch our breath and re-assess.

I have to say, PD have been fantastic about the possibility of us changing to another lifestyle plan, changing to a plan in another range or even withdrawing from the build altogether.  We're meeting our original sales consultant on the weekend, who will run through some options, detail the financial penalties involved, and work with us to try to find a plan that meets our current and future anticipated needs while making the most of our sensational block of land.

Ideally it will;

• open to the garage side (north) and rear of the block
• be single storey
• have a home theatre and seperate lounge (library)
• be flooded with light
• include a kitchen to die for with an island bench, undermount sink and one of those groovy industrial type taps
• retain its warmth or be easy to heat
• have an entry off the garage directly into a mud room
• flow really well from front door to the back yard
• have a bit of wow factor
• feel like home

Wish us luck - should make for an interesting weekend!