Best Custom Home

It is always a point of great curiosity as to what sort of home a builder would constructs for themselves, not just in respect of home development ideas but also standards and finishes the house achieves.

They wanted to put into practice all the knowledge they had accumulated over many decades working in the building industry, particularly with their familiarity of period style housing. But rather than just reproducing a period style house they wanted one which would suit modern living requirements.

Victorian Draftsman Gets a Modern Twist

After considering many home development ideas and a period of research, CameronConstruction builders Rod and Lucille Cameron decided to construct a double-storey Victorian style home, but incorporate all the features of a contemporary new home.

The house has a master suite, two additional bedrooms, study, multiple living areas, a totally modern kitchen (with top of the range European appliances), a fully computerized home theatre and circular staircase with feature skylight over.

Features include a slate roof, 3 metre high ceilings throughout, stonework wall treatments, rendered walls, balconies and period tiled verandahs (with cast iron Victorian columns). The Victorian theme is continued in the use of cornices, skirtings and architraves, the feature conservatory roof over the Family room, the marble fireplaces, and parquetry and marble tile flooring.

Everything is generously proportioned and all rooms have a country outlook. The house also has a garage, stable, cottage, carport, security perimeter fencing and nearby lake.

What makes this house special is its relationship to the land it is located on. Of the 12 acre site area nine acres have been zoned for nature conservation, providing a safe home and habitat for all manner of birds, animals and natural wildlife.

No expense has been spared on this house, and no detail has been overlooked.

Conservation Key to Builder’s Home Development Ideas

When Rod and Lucille Cameron decided to build their own home in the leafy country suburb of Panton Hill, they chose a 12-acre site with a conservation covenant under the Victorian Conservation Trust Act (1972). The covenant is a permanent, legally-binding agreement placed on the property’s title to ensure native vegetation on the property is protected.

The property has a lake, small dam, several mature oak trees and two large date palms on three acres of landscaped grounds. There are also nine acres of natural bush with an abundance of gums and wildlife including bell birds, kookaburras, rosellas, galas, kangaroos, wombats, possums, king parrots and black cockatoos.

Choosing the house to go on such a remarkable site meant many years of research, home development ideas, designs and patience. A 20th Century Victorian home was chosen for its character, high ceilings, large rooms and verandas. The goal was to achieve a home that looked 100 years old when completed, and is a credit to both the builder and the owner.

Many hours were spent researching in an attempt to duplicate as many features as possible of an original 100-year-old Victorian Mansion. This was combined with features of a contemporary, fully computerised home using Cbus, Starserve, Minder and a security system incorporating infra red colour cameras. Modern features include an in-home gold theatre room, modern kitchen and luxurious bathrooms. These modern facilities are blended with Victorian features like large cornices embossed with gold leaf, marble floors, wrought iron verandas, slate roof, double hung windows, large skirtings and architraves and marble fire places.

The front door and frame was hand-made from 80-year-old recycled Oregon timber. The staircase was made by Melbourne Stairs and had specially desgined handrails and newel posts of sizes used during the Victorian era, fabricated from brush box and cast iron.

The verandas are constructed of cast iron posts and fretwork with timber-lined and painted eaves and Spanish slate roof. The open fireplaces are marble – one black and one white – which compliments such a grand home. Parquetry flooring together with the use of European appliances adorns the magnificent kitchen family room. Plumbing fixtures were hand selected and imported from England.