Single storey residence, Kingsville

Single storey residence, Kingsville

Combining two houses

In 2012, we won the job of joining two identical houses into one large accommodation.  The houses were 1970s brick veneer, 3 bedroom homes, built on two subdivided blocks and they were mirror images of each other.

The client had two young children and were living in one of the houses.  When their father became widowed and the house next door came on the market, he bought it with the idea of moving in next door.  However, it soon became apparent that it was preferable for the homes to be joined given their lifestyle and the nature of the family arrangement.  The joined home would have separate living quarters for grand-dad including a kitchenette, allowing him to retain a degree of independence while enabling him to participate in the day to day activities of his grandchildren.

It was an unusual project and we’re unlikely to see the same again, but it was a fantastic chance for us to exercise some creativity during the building process while taking in the needs of this family.

“I can’t praise Paul and his team enough.  To get to the point where we were ready to build, it took us 18 months to get council approval, land title consolidation and finalising architect’s designs.  We thought joining a couple of houses would be easy.  How wrong we were!  So by the time the building started, we really had had enough!  But Paul and his boys made the process very easy.  They delivered on time and to budget.  Where there were unexpected issues that cropped up, they focussed on the solution rather than tell us that what we wanted was not possible.  Their subcontractors were also really fantastic, including the cabinetry company who were happy to incorporate custom made doors sourced from another supplier.  Three months from completion, we did what our friends thought was the craziest thing – we took off on a 11 week trip overseas and left the building in Paul’s hands with oversight from a friend.  The fact that it was completed to our specification by the time we returned is evidence of Paul’s professionalism.  I can’t recommend them enough.”

Joseph Wong