We, Denise and Nick, embarked on a long journey to replace our old, small and run down house with a new house that would better suit our family and lifestyle. We are highly indebted to Dakota Homes, and in particular its Director, Mr. Anthony Stroud, without whose involvement we would not be where we are now; with a beautiful and functional house that we are extremely proud of and people compliment us on.

 

Our land is a difficult site to build on, soil is rated P (“problematic”) and slopes 4m diagonally down from rear to front. The only solution the large volume builders could provide was a big ugly site cut to place one of their standard designs on. Anthony’s design team worked with us to design a house that suited our needs, budget and to make best use of the land. They also worked with the Engineering firm to efficiently overcome any of the soil and slope issues to minimise unnecessary costs. In our case Dakota’s flexibility and willingness to look at all options was particularly beneficial.

 

Dakota’s flexibility also came through with the special build contract we entered into where we could be involved in a hands on way and in some cases use specialist trades that we wanted involved and provide materials and finishes from our sources. Variations, both by us and the useful suggestions from Anthony were readily incorporated. Dakota also allowed us to include the pool build and landscaping works (which we managed directly) within their schedule as certain work on the pool and landscaping could only be done at certain times due to access issues.

 

Along the way any issues we had with the build quality were quickly and efficiently managed by Anthony. Anthony was always happy to answer our questions, even the simple ones, and make suggestions that he thought would benefit us. His honesty and integrity were evident in his character and manner in dealing with us.

 

Overall we were extremely happy with Anthony and the Dakota Homes team and have no hesitation in recommending them for any home build.

 

Nicholas & Denise Yannios