There’s no place like home…
Aston Hills’ residents Kirsten and Luke have built their first home together in Mount Barker. The couple let us take a sneek peak inside their stunning home, and shared their top tips for first home buyers…
Lanser: Congratulations on your gorgeous home! Are you guys from the Hills originally?
Kirsten: Thanks so much! No we aren’t, we’re both from Tea Tree Gully area, so Mount Barker was a big move.
L: What do you love the most about living in the Adelaide Hills?
K: We love the ‘safe’ feeling we get no matter where we are. It feels like everyone has your back here. And breweries & wineries being a 5 min drive away!
L: What made you choose Aston Hills as the place to build your dream home, and what’s your favourite thing about living here?
K: Our friends actually built here and we decided to do the same after seeing the estate. Our favourite thing would be the calmness of the estate and friendly people. Oh and the cows that live across the road from us!
L: Tell us about your home – who did you build with and did you include any bespoke features into the design?
K: We built through Simonds Homes & loved them. We only made a few changes to the original floor plan, but our favourite is the 3.3m raised ceiling as you walk in the door, and our kitchen stone bench top!
L: Who has the eye for design in your home – and how did you furnish it? Was it a quick process or did you take your time?
Luke: Kirsten has decided if she wasn’t a teacher she would be an interior designer, so you could say that she loved furnishing the home! We still haven’t finished furnishing the house the way we want to but we are making sure we buy pieces we absolutely love and save up for them one by one.
L: Is this your first home?
K: Yes we were first home owners/builders! We definitely think the hard work was worth it but if we could do it again we have definitely learnt a few things.
L: Can you tell us your tips for first home buyers/builders?
K & L: We would (if possible) allow extra funds on our home loan to be able to complete retaining/fencing, paving and landscaping. We thought this would be an easy and fairly cheap task, and $20k later and 8 months into our new home we are nowhere near finishing it all!
We have dogs and have also learnt our lesson to not get carpet again! I guess it’s definitely a personal choice but the rest of our home is laminate flooring so it’s way easier to keep tidy.
We wish we were more open to questioning when we thought something was wrong with the build. We were really lucky as we had very few interruptions to our build, but come Practical Completion Inspection we were too scared to speak up if we were unsure of something. If people are like us, I think paying the $200ish dollars for an inspector to go through the house is definitely worth it just for peace of mind!
My final suggestion would be to collect ‘necessary items’ like pots, pans etc as you build as once our house was fully constructed we had all our essentials and didn’t have to outlay any huge costs for it all.
L: What are you looking forward to most about Aston Hills as it grows and develops?
L: We’re really excited to see the Village and Sports Hub come to life. They will be awesome once up and running!
L: Where do you guys work and is the commute very long – do you use the new freeway interchange at all?
L: Kirsten works in Westbourne Park and I work in the city. We both find the commute pretty easy, around 40 minutes. We both travel via the freeway.
L: What are some of your favourite places to shop and dine in Mount Barker and the Hills region?
K: My favourite shops are Farrago and Pearle Botique on Gawler Street. Our favourite places to dine are definitely Sazon’s for breakfast, 5 Spice for takeaway and The Barker Hotel or Lot 100 for dinners/drinks.
You can discover Kirsten and Luke’s home building journey at Aston Hills on Instagram by following @ourhillshome_. For more information about making Aston Hills home – please call Karen on 0452 136 091.