Having completed two builds with Calley Homes, Trevor Clarke shares his families journey and some of the wisdom he’s collected along the way.
Trevor and Trudy Clarke have lived all over the world. Trevor’s extensive management career has taken his family from New Zealand shores to a beautiful Cape Cod Lake house in the United States to a concrete villa in China and a small town house in Japan.
While based offshore the couple began thinking ahead to their future and decided they wanted a stake hold in their own piece of paradise back home in the Mount. Trevor flew home in 2001 with the specific intention of purchasing a property at the Mount preferably on the beach front.
He found the site at 199 Marine Parade with an existing home dating back to the early 70’s. The site was in two titles and this offered the opportunity to future proof while using the home annually for his family to holiday in over the Christmas period. They renovated the home to allow the existing split level home to accomodate a full rental home upstairs and a holiday home for their family downstairs.
In 2014 returning home to New Zealand to semi retire Trevor was offered an opportunity to take up the position of General Manager of Comvita Apiaries, the couple decided to formally divide the site by removing the original house (now settled beachfront in Pukehina) and building a new home on the back of the site with the vision to sell the property to underwrite the cost of the beachfront home they planned to build.
The home was built to a tough timeline with Trevor determined to have the new home ready for sale at the height of the real estate sale season. Together Kane from Davista Design, Johnny from Calley Homes and Trevor worked to create a home that wasn’t limited by the dream home they knew would eventually be built on the front of the site.
“We had the home designed with the front home in mind. We wanted whoever purchased the back home to still have views towards the ocean. We also wanted the design to compliment whatever we planned to build on the front of the site. The whole design and build decision making process had to be fluid to ensure the best result. We wanted to realise value without over capitalising” says Trevor.
Calley Homes built the first home on the back section delivering to deadline. The contemporary home cloaked in time-tested timber weatherboard and aerated concrete, was designed for life stylers. Rugby on the big screen or barbecues on the deck, the home delivered. Trevor admits he couldn’t of planned the sale timing better with release to the market. The property sold by auction within 4 weeks of going to market at a time when prices were peaking.
With the additional funds in the bank this meant Trevor and Trudy could now turn their energy to the design of their dream home. They knew what they wanted and the brief was set down for Architectural designer Kane. “Maximise views, the sun and entertainment plus”.
Working with Calley Homes, “Johnny had a high level of engagement in the project. From the outset his uncompromising focus on detail and his personal accountability were apparent.
With a home like this there are always variations and decisions to be made and I valued the honesty and transparency Johnny and his team provided around costs” says Trevor.
The home now complete (December 2017) is a luxury 460sqm entertainers dream. It boasts phenomenal entertainment spaces and many customised and unique detail features throughout the home. You can find out more about this stunning home here
Johnny gave us the trust and confidence to make some of the tougher design decisions along with interior Designer Jackie from Twill Interiors. “At the time we were making these decisions your dealing with a range of complexities, it’s was a complicated build. So it’s always good to talk through the decisions and I think the end result speaks for itself. We definitely feel ultimately we have value for money” says Trevor.
