DESIGNING AND BUILDING EXCELLENCE
2 | Yaruum House and Land Based in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Yarrum Designer Homes is a locally-based business that turns dream homes into realities. They understand and appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the region, and construct homes that complement the environment. And because they are local, they can provide a client with constant attention – which maximises quality, and limits construction times and mistakes. “We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional customer service,” says Stephen Murray, founder and Director of Yarrum Designer Homes. “We have a highly experienced team, we excel in product knowledge, and we provide a high level of service and commitment to clients.” Yarrum’s experience begins at the top, as Stephen comes from a long and successful career in the construction industry. He started Yarrum in 2008, a couple years after retiring from his previous company and relocating to the Hunter Val-
Yaruum House and Land | 3 ley. Soon after founding the business, he developed it into two divisions – Yarrum House and Land and Yarrum Designer Homes. The Yarrum House and Land division develops land subdivisions in the Hunter Valley and constructs homes on the developed lots. Yarrum Designer Homes specialises in the construction of architecturally-designed homes as well as large one-off custom homes for customers throughout the area. Yarrum’s first home was constructed on the company’s subdivision in the township of Denman, located in the booming Upper Hunter Valley. The Denman designs – which are affordable and spacious, and have the option of large alfresco areas – proved so popular that they are now available to be put on any customer’s block of land. A couple years later, an opportunity presented itself for the company to take over a dis-
4 | Yaruum House and Land play home in the Vintage Golf Course Community. The Vintage is a Greg Norman designed golf course and residential subdivision located in the lower Hunter Valley and is amongst the region’s wine growing and tourism area. Stephen seized that chance, and he now estimates that designs in the Vintage Collection make up roughly 25 per cent of the company’s workload. “They are mainly up-market homes,” he says of the Vintage Collection, which is comprised of architecturally designed homes that maintain the high standard of the Vintage Golf Course Community. “They provide the best of outdoor and indoor living, and our high quality inclusions and finishes create the perfect lifestyle home.” Vintage Collection Homes – like all of Yarrum’s homes – are provided in a turn-key package, and come complete with air conditioning, floor coverings, landscaping, screening fences and a driveway. And though they were designed to incorporate the guidelines of the Vintage Community, they can be modified and built on any client’s block to the same exacting standards. GIVING CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT Before founding Yarrum House and Land, Stephen was the Chief Executive Officer of one of Australia’s largest home builders and residential developers. These days, he combines the experience and skills he earned in that role with the personalised customer service that goes with being a smaller company. “We don’t take a factory approach,” he explains. “We’re not just churning out homes that
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6 | Yaruum House and Land customers can take or leave – and we’re not keeping people in the dark. All of our clients have the ability to pick up the phone and ring me on my mobile to deal directly with the owner.” Today, the majority of Yarrum’s work is building custom homes – unique products that reflect a client’s sense of design and style, and are also constructed to the highest standards of finish and inclusions. “We work very closely with our clients to make sure they get exactly what they really want,” Stephen says. “The client often comes to us with an idea, a sketch they have worked up, or a scrap book of ideas that they have collected, and we turn those ideas into their home”. We also spend a lot of time looking at the client’s block of land, and thinking about how the home will interface with it,” he adds. “We make sure the home is correctly sited, maximises cross ventilation and solar orientation, and that it makes the most of any views that are available.” By combining their knowledge and skills with a commitment to personalised service, Yarrum Designer Homes earns the gratitude and loyalty of their customers – which they see in the form of glowing customer testimonials and repeat business. They also earn recognition from the industry, in the form of prizes from the Hunter HIACSR Housing and Kitchen & Bathroom Awards. In 2012, for example, the company won awards in multiple categories, including Home of the Year and Best Custom Built Home. “We value that very highly,” Stephen says. “Those awards are judged by our peers, and to be recognised as having produced the best house
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8 | Yaruum House and Land that year in the Hunter Region is wonderful.” “It’s very good for business as well,” he adds. “Clients seeking a quality builder look at that and say ‘These guys must know what they’re doing.’” Stephen credits Yarrum’s award-winning success to the obvious factors, like the premium quality of their construction and the high standard of their inclusions and finishes. He also thinks, however, that the company’s in-house design capabilities have something to do with the recognition as well. “The award-winning homes were not done by some flashy architectural firm that charges a lot of money,” he says. “It was done by us, the builder.” Stephen further credits the company’s success to the skill of their team, which includes their subcontractors – many of whom have worked with Yarrum since the start, and follow the company from job to job. “We figure out the subcontractors that are really good and we hang on to them,” he says. “They like working for us because we’re organised and we pay promptly, and we like having them because they do quality work.” GROWING THE RIGHT WAY Currently, Yarrum Designer Homes build approximately 25 homes a year, with each home “project-managed quite intensely.” Their dedicated construction manager and staff are never working on more than five or six houses at one
Yaruum House and Land | 9 The Stoddart Group has proudly provided the residential market with innovative products and impeccable workmanship for over 50 years. ROOFING FASCIA & GUTTER STEEL HOUSE FRAMES Stoddart Group - Central Coast Unit 2, 4 Pippita Close, Freeway Business Park, Beresfield NSW 2322 Ph: 02 4966 3060 Fax: 02 4966 0045 Email: centralcoast@stoddarts.com.au time, and all of those houses tend to be located close together so they can essentially walk from one to another. Larger project builders cannot compete with that level of attention – their site managers have more houses to oversee, and the houses are likely spread out. “At my old firm, a supervisor might get to a house once a week,” Stephen says. “My guy gets to a house at least five times a day.” Moving forward, Stephen says that his most important objective is to maintain that level of personalised focus. Yarrum Designer Homes has a lot of potential to grow, but Stephen will approach that growth cautiously and ensure it is managed carefully. “We don’t want to build houses for the sake of building,” he says. “We’d rather build 25 excellent houses than build 50 average ones.”
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