Classic Chats

Meet Lucy & Phil

"We had originally considered renovating and thought that building a new house was out of our reach. Then we spoke to Classic Builders and realised we might be able to make it work.”

Lucy, Phil and their two children were keen to develop an old building on their property to take advantage of the views, derive some income and provide a place for their family and friends to stay when they visit. Previously a cattery, the site has the best views in Porirua, hence wanting to maximise these with expansive decking and spectacular indoor/outdoor flow.

After chatting to Mark, one of our Construction Managers, who conveniently lived next door and Teresa, one of our Building Consultants, who grew up on the same street, the decision to build with Classic was easy. The local knowledge of the team, coupled with being able to work with Classic to adapt a Standard Plan to suit the site, the dotted line was signed and the process of building their new home began.

The Process & Experience

"The team were all fantastic and worked super hard to make the whole process easy, keep things on track and deliver to a high standard."

Approaching a new build project of any scale is a daunting experience. Understanding where to start, who to involve and what steps to take, can feel complicated and overwhelming. Regardless of what stage you are currently at, our team will guide you through our process, so you feel confident that we are designing and building your dream.

A lot of our clients haven't built before, so we work with you to educate and keep you in the know throughout the entire process.

"We didn't have to do too much thinking ourselves as Classic took care of so much for us. At the end of the process, we were amazed that we hadn't experienced delays or increases in price. This was our worst fear with all the media hype about increasing costs of building materials. Our final invoice matched what we were expecting, and the only extra things we had paid for were things we had chosen."

The Classic Team

Everyone within the Classic team is dedicated to building dreams and creating futures ensuring your home is fit for you now and into the future. Below we hear from some of Lucy and Phil's Classic team regarding their favourite features of the home and what bringing dreams to life means to them.

Teresa McCombie - Building Consultant

Favourite feature?

"It has to be the beautifully appointed kitchen/dining/living with great access to the decking and outdoor living and that truly gorgeous view. I also love the entrance with the different claddings and angles and the view down the side of the house to the sea."

What does bringing our Classic clients dreams to life mean to you?

"Well, with this build, I have a special affiliation in that I grew up at the end of Muri Road and our family home was there up until not that long ago - so this was my home turf! I loved meeting with Lucy initially and appreciated all the hard work she had done at the preliminary stages to figure out what was possible. From there seeing the demolition of the old cattery and the transformation of the site with the construction of their new home was awesome. Seeing their dreams of having an Airbnb come to fruition (with many bookings) is their dream brought to life and I feel privileged to have been a part of it."

Mark Turner - Construction Manager

Favourite feature?

"The 2.7m ceiling in the living area and full height windows that let loads of light in and the amazing views of Kapiti Island/coast and the surrounding hills."

What does bringing our Classic clients dreams to life mean to you?

"It’s the best part of any build to welcome the clients into their new home which has exceeded their expectations. Looking at a plan on paper is nothing compared to the finished product!"