Creating a Hamptons Home

Almira and her family fell in love with Hamptons style homes whilst living in New York and visiting coastal enclaves full of these beautiful character-filled homes. So once back in Australia, they looked for a builder who could help them create their Australian Hamptons Inspired retreat and approached Thomas Archer to help them build their dream.

Through a collaborative approach we were able to uniquely shape Almira’s home to exude an elegant and timeless design radiating the coastal Hamptons chic look they have always wanted. We recently sat down with them to talk about their home and the building experience with Thomas Archer.

When you were first thinking about building a Hamptons style home, what were your most important considerations?

We’ve always loved the Hamptons aesthetic and wanted to stay true to its hallmark features. Our dream home must have the tiled shingle-look roof, the traditional Hampton-style staircase, the greys and whites, cornices, architraves and the classic Shaker-style joinery. The whole works. It was important that our builder could deliver our vision and at the same time, provide a high level of customisation, from the garage door to the interior joinery. Thomas Archer really enabled us to put our own DNA into the fit out and finishes of the home.

What was it about Thomas Archer homes that really stuck out to you? How did you find the construction process?

As it was our first time building our own home, we liked the idea of working with a smaller, boutique builder, a team we could easily reach out to throughout the process. We looked at a number of other builders, but most of them had a more rigid process compared to Thomas Archer. Being able to custom design parts of the build was also important to us.

The construction process was smooth and it was helpful to have one point of contact throughout the journey. Our Project Manager kept us informed of the progress at every step of the way. If something came up during construction, he would contact us immediately to get our input. Any issues were very quickly resolved by the Project Manager and the Thomas Archer team, so we’re never bumped around from person to person. We really feel we made the right choice with Thomas Archer.

What was your favourite part of the building journey prior to construction? Considering the home you have now, is there anything you would have done differently?

Our favourite part was definitely the colour and fit out selection process, which brought the drawings of our home to life. We could really envisage what it was all going to look like at the end of the build.

I think after you’ve lived in a home for a while, there will always be things you wish you could’ve done differently. Working to a budget also puts constraints on some of the decisions you made, for example, we would have loved a seamless integrated fridge in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s a case of new inspiration, where you think to yourself ‘oh, that would have been really nice to have in our home’. But overall, we are very happy with the home we have now.

What do you love most about your Hamptons house design?

The house always feels homely and welcoming, one of the reasons we love the design so much.

The living area and kitchen are our favourite parts of the house with its beautiful outlook over the pool and backyard. The morning sun streams in through huge picture windows, while the joinery reflects the Hamptons style perfectly. The central fireplace in the living area is also an important feature. We enjoy lounging up on the couch in front of the fire on a cold day.

We love having separate living zones as it allows the kids to have their own space away from the main living area (and somewhere to keep all their stuff). Additionally, having the main study downstairs and the double desk setup upstairs outside the kids’ bedrooms were decisions that really paid off in bucket loads, particularly with the last lockdown as everyone had their own workspace.

What advice would you give to others looking to build their new home?

It is important to know the style of home you want and how you will live in it. Not just in the short term, but in the medium to long term as your family grows. It’s also important to do your research and speak to a number of builders to make sure they are a good fit for you and what you want to accomplish. We looked at a lot of display homes created by many different builders. What stood out for us with Thomas Archer was the quality of their builds and fit outs, so it is definitely worthwhile doing the legwork to look at the finished products.

If you could sum up your experience in one statement what would that be?

We are grateful to have found a builder who really listened and understood our vision. It was a pleasure to work with Thomas Archer to create the Hamptons home we wanted.