Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 31, 2010 2:22 am We need your help, we are tossing up between building with Allcastle Homes (Grandworth 40) or Eden Brae Homes (Cremorne 37 or Madison 40). My husband really likes the Grandworth 40, which does give us an extra bedroom (5 bedrooms upstairs and study downstairs) and the upstairs is bigger than the Eden Brae, but that's because the house is shaped like a big box (that's our nickname for the house at the moment). The downstairs in the Grandworth 40 is where I have the issues, the kitchen (which is very important to me) doesn't have a walk in pantry and the laundry is very small, to make the changes to these areas so that the downstairs is more appealing we are probably looking at spending more than if we build the optioned up Eden Brae. We also wanted a triple garage, both houses fit onto our block (500m2 corner block) with this, but the Grandworth 40 because of it's box shape and because we are adding the alfresco onto this shape means we are left with very little backyard for the kids. The Cremorne with the triple, atleast gives us some yard behind the garage area because of it's shape. While we could build with Allcastle I haven't heard much about them and I am concerned about the quality we will get. On the other hand Eden Brae Homes is always talked about when we mention building whether it be real estate agents (telling us they have great resale value) or finance brokers, who have clients currently building with them and say they build quality. I know an Eden Brae home when I drive past one, but atleast they all look different. I also know an Allcastle when I see it but usually because they all look the same. I've been reading some of the product review pages out there, but I guess I would like to hear from anyone who has built with these builders, who knows someone who has built with them and has a story to tell. This is our first time building, we've just sold our home of 8 1/2 years and want to get the ball rolling so that when our land registers in a few months, we can start building ASAP. All comments would be welcome. Thanks, Gemma Here are the details on the : http://www.allcastlehomes.com.au/homes.php?id=23 Here is the Eden Brae (please note,house pictured has the optioned up facade!) http://www.edenbraehomes.com.au/a/289.html Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 2Aug 31, 2010 3:26 am I am a little bias (OK I am HUGELY BIAS) as I will be building a EBH Cremorne 37 But could you really feel house proud, pulling into the garage of a bland looking BOX every night Lots of bedrooms are only good if you have bodies to fill them otherwise it is just wasted space We are going EBH because even after adding all the extras they had in display homes in Oran park and Stonecutters that we wanted they still were better value than the other 5 builders the developer had chosen PLUS LOOK AT IT, IT IS SEXY!!!!! I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 3Aug 31, 2010 7:18 am mecha-wombat But could you really feel house proud, pulling into the garage of a bland looking BOX every night PLUS LOOK AT IT, IT IS SEXY!!!!! Absolutley agree! Think of the re-sale value, alone!! BTW, the upstairs living area could be turned into a 5th bedroom - we did that with our Cambridge. Having rented a 4 bedder with an OPEN (no door) upstairs living room, we DID NOT want to do it again - far too much noise near sleeping areas. We just added walls, insulatoin & a door. Now we have an upstairs room that can be used as either a living room or bedroom - best of both worlds. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 4Sep 03, 2010 12:23 am I vote for the Allcastle Grandworth. It looks great and I love the design. A friend of mine had a quote from them the sales person Julie was so friendly and honest and it was such a good price. I am going in to get a quote next weekend. When my family first went through the Grandworth we fell in love with the design and the price. As for resale I have heard that an Allcastle home gets great resale prices as they are so spacious, I know they got the highest price in epping for a house only about a year ago. I would definitely get a quote from them.. Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 5Sep 04, 2010 12:09 am Thanks for the votes and comments, but keep them coming. Very excited to find that our block had been pegged out yesterday, looks like things are moving along each week there is something new to see! The EB sales rep is coming back to me tomorrow with pricing on the changes we want to make to the Cremorne, facade options, triple garage, conversion of lounge into 5th bedroom and swapping over the master and lounge upstairs. See how we go! Also dropped into Allcastle during the week, they are quoting another block (a couple down from us) for the Grandworth 40 and told us they could give us an approx site costing based on the surveys etc for this block. Turns out that block is going to be H class, she also said that because we have trees on our block that we are likely to be classified H slab, does this sound right? She also reminded me that the price of the Grandworth 40 has risen by $3K as of 1 Sep 2010 Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 6Sep 04, 2010 10:00 pm I vote for Allcastle Homes, sounds like they are very honest, trees on your land usually does indicate you will need a H slab. Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 7Sep 04, 2010 11:24 pm She was honest enough to tell me that she thinks our sites costs would go from $35K to $40k for H class, does this sound right? We were told by Clarendon that most site costs for The Ponds average out to about $26K, Julie from Allcastle said, atleast your not in The Ponds, because you might be classified as H class with saline (which is apparently worse!) I'm leaning very heavily towards Eden Brae now, think hubby is just going to go with what I say Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 8Sep 05, 2010 12:16 pm H class slab upgrade was about $3000-3500 extra for us. We knew we had to get it, so it was in the quote from day dot. However the saline requirement was around another $2.5K (building at the ponds) - which we didn't know about. Building with McDonald Jones - Bordeaux 14m @ the ponds in sydney's north-west Build Blog => http://damianandannasabode.blogspot.com/ Construction status - DONE. Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 9Sep 05, 2010 9:01 pm Anyone got any feedback on Allcastle?????? Or anyone building with them?? Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 10Sep 05, 2010 9:16 pm Hi there and great to join the forum. Building a house, I love reading forums like this. We are building with Allcastle Homes at the moment and I can't fault them. What you see is what you get. On the other hand Eden Brae's display homes look fine, but the inclusion list isn't as good quality as Allcastle's. With Allcastle they include many of the things that Eden Brae consider an upgrade. I know because I went through it with a fine tooth comb when making my decision who to build with. I've noticed some of the completed Eden Brae homes look bare because families can't afford to fork out for the inclusions. We are building the Regal Elite with Allcastle Homes and Julie, the sales lady, has been very helpful. The building process has also been very smooth and the inclusion list is quality. I cannot wait to get into the home! Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 11Sep 06, 2010 10:32 am Well now the vote has swung from Eden Brae to Allcastle Hi Belindas, thanks for your comments I can see what your saying about the Regal Elite, I checked the inclusions list and you get pretty much everything we would be paying extra for with Allcastle if we built the Grandworth 40, here's how the Grandworth 40 sits at Kellyville Ridge: $214,950 Grandworth 40 base price (just gone up $3K 1/9/10) $9,950.00 Facade shown at Kellyville Ridge $2,340.00 Upgrade to kitchen bench (stone) $565.00 additional overhead cupboards to kitchen $295.00 upgrade hotplate from 600mm to 900mm $495.00 upgrade rangehood 900mm canopy style $375.00 upgrade two overhead cupboards to decorative glass $4,990.00 upgrade downstairs toilet to 3 piece powder room $585.00 upgrade toilets to dual flush porcelain (3 in total) $890.00 upgrade cornice to 90mm in lieu of 55mm $680.00 upgrade skirting to 68mm x 12mm from 42mm x 12mm nominal (gloss painted) $2,990.00 sarking under roof tiles $632.00 upgrade front door to stained with clear glass $348.00 upgrade laundry door to stained with clear glass $2,460.00 upgrade internal wall paint to Taubmans Endure 3 coat system (rather than Bristol 2 coat) $2,000.00 double robe to fifth bedroom $244,545 (as displayed at Kellyville Ridge) Take away the facade option they have displayed and maybe one or two other things we wouldn't do, but still we are around $229K We would also make the following changes: $8,000 third garage $6,000 - $12,000 for a balcony facade $35,000 - $40,000 site costs $1,500.00 address side wall (we are corner block) $7,200 - $10,800 for alfresco (dependant on size) $2,740 change layout of kitchen $2,990 walk in pantry $4,080 extension to media to allow laundry on that side of house $350 window behind stove $1,500 to change to larger free standing oven $83,960 most of the extras are for changing the kitchen to what I want, of course I could scrap all these changes and not be happy So already we are sitting at the $320K without putting carpet, timber or tile flooring, air con, landscapring, driveway, fences, blinds etc We are told that The Cremorne 37 as it sits at Oran Park is $350K Here's how it works out: $288,800 (which is base price of $233,900 plus Essentials Package which includes standard site costs, standard council fees and requirements, standard basix, standard range of floor tiles to entry, kitchen, meal and family room, standard range of quality wool blend sisal carpet to balance of home, standard insulation to walls and ceiling, roof sarking, alarm system, remote controlled garage door, plain concrete to alfresco area, paved driveway and connecting path $8,601.00 triple garage $4,407.00 2590mm ceiling height $847.00 sliding door to rumpus $215.00 door to understairs storage $197.00 awning to ensuite windows (suits corner block) $13,326.00 16.4Kw reverse ducted air $1,465.00 cupboards between fridge space and walk in pantry $1,290.00 large draws in walk in pantry $4,890.00 upgrades package (to much to list) $2,500.00 kitchen upgrade package (stone tops, 900mm oven, canopy rangehood, dishwasher and microwave oven) $326,538 - $7,000 = $319,538 Plus facade option, extra site, fences, landscaping Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 12Sep 06, 2010 11:00 am Hi bitsnpieces, We feel the way the house looks from the outside is more important as that's basically the first thing you see when you get home. A 'box' house is guaranteed to be practical and have lots of big rooms and will look great from the inside. But a box is a box I suppose and you can't really change it. Check out this thread, dantheman is also building Allcastle, I'll let him tell you what he thinks of Allcastle... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37179 Good luck jim Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 13Sep 06, 2010 11:34 am Hi Jim, Thanks for the link (I'll read this with interest later) and your comments, I think you are right and also that big box won't leave us with any yard as I mentioned earlier. I'm just surprised the voting has now swung to Allcastle but apart from Belindas nobody is actually saying anything about them! I also think my husband was won over on the weekend by the fact that his uncle who is in the building trade (but does repairs etc for the larger builders) spoke to one of his contacts about Eden Brae and gave very positive report on them and the way they undertake external quality inspection checks on the building as it progresses. Apparently the guy who gave the glowing report, was actually picked up on his work (and according to my husbands uncle, this guy does top notch work) so the whole quality thing comes back into play for me! Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 14Sep 06, 2010 12:35 pm Hi Gemma, Trying not to be suspicious but each of the 3 Allcastle comments have been from people who have only ever had 1 post I just hope they are legitimate. We're building with EB (well will be once our land registers) and the reputation of these guys really does go a long way. We too have only heard good things about them and their quality. From the 2 pictures you've posted, the EB looks so much nicer and I do like the idea of you having more usable land out the back. In saying that though, the floor plan has to work for you too. Do you need 5 bedrooms? A good kitchen and laundry goes a long way..... As for Allcastle, I really don't know much about them either I'm afraid. Where abouts will you be building in K/Ridge? We'll be building over near Annfield (paddock that's currently being developed by Investa). Building an Eden Brae Saville 27 http://karry327.blogspot.com/ Building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=44247 Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 15Sep 06, 2010 1:19 pm Hi Karry327, you have a good point about those posts (I didn't think about that!), we don't really need the 5th bedroom, I wanted that set up as an ironing room. We will be using the 4th bedroom as a toy room for the kids and I could probably use that as the ironing room because it has a walk in robe. The kitchen and laundry and just the overall downstairs layout is important to me as this is what your visitors will see the most of, so I'm pretty well sold on the Cremorne. We are building on Willunga Ave, land has only just been sold recently as Tuscan Rise through Castlehaven Realtors. We did look over near Annfield originally but hadn't sold our house at that point and didn't proceed with anything. Thanks again for making some very good points and all the best with your build. Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 16Sep 06, 2010 10:13 pm Hi bitsnpieces We are building with EBH in Kellyville Ridge & are on the home stretch - only about 8 weeks to go - so our vote definately goes for EBH!! We have been really happy so far with nearly all aspects of the build. Communication has been good, all calls if not answered were returned same day - even from our SS. There are plenty of EB blogs out there that you can have a read through that are either about to start construction, mid construction or all done which would give you a pretty good range of experiences. Good luck with the decision & with your build!! P.S. We upgraded to a 3rd garage as well & you should probably also allow extra $$$ for the additional paving to the 3rd garage & for the remote. Building the Saville27 in Kellyville Ridge Floor tiles done Port-A-loo Gone Site Fence Gone Electrical Done House Cleaned Driveway Done WE'RE IN! http://ebsaville.blogspot.com Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 17Sep 06, 2010 11:30 pm I'm sceptical on a couple of the posts about allcastle too. First posts on the day they joined too but they have said nothing more in the rest of the forum. What makes someone suddenly post in this thread alone. Anyway I've been pretty happy with our EB. The inclusions with the essentials package and the upgrade package we had were pretty good, so put it in comparison to some other builders who had some of their things standard and others who needed upgrades that were not part of a package. We still upgraded other things though anyway. especially electrical but all builders seemed to have the same with very basic electrical Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 18Sep 07, 2010 12:17 am Quote: I've noticed some of the completed Eden Brae homes look bare because families can't afford to fork out for the inclusions. This is my favourite quote this is not a reflection of the builder but a reflection on the home owner I would have thought saying that my best friends have built with Clarendon and have no furniture downstairs so that must be Clarendons fault I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 19Sep 07, 2010 1:02 am Very well picked up mecha-wombat, one of my friends also built a 42 square home with Clarendon and had empty rooms downstairs, guess Clarendon have alot to answer for! Re: Eden Brae vs Allcastle Homes (Building in Kellyville Rid 20Sep 07, 2010 9:01 am mecha-wombat Quote: I've noticed some of the completed Eden Brae homes look bare because families can't afford to fork out for the inclusions. This is my favourite quote this is not a reflection of the builder but a reflection on the home owner I would have thought saying that my best friends have built with Clarendon and have no furniture downstairs so that must be Clarendons fault +1 - had a bit of a chuckle when i saw this one Building the Saville27 in Kellyville Ridge Floor tiles done Port-A-loo Gone Site Fence Gone Electrical Done House Cleaned Driveway Done WE'RE IN! http://ebsaville.blogspot.com I built with EB back on 2009. Check out this thread on this forum. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12911&p=154061#p154061 I can't speak for recent expericience however, we had no… 1 24092 Hi we are looking to talk to people who have built with them recently. We have signed mid range built contract but identified that a lot of things are not included.… 0 1795 Was the offer also on their website? If so, you could check the Wayback Machine. 1 1831 |