A Home Designed Around the Land, the Landscape and the Way This Family Lives
Set within the Great Southern, this project called for more than simply placing a house on a block. The design needed to respond to the site, work with its natural character and create a home that felt considered from every angle.
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Renovation and Extension $600-$750K
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WA, Member 7 Years
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Projects to $1.5M
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and the Great Southern Region
They sold the farm and built a home around the winter sun
Overview
Great Southern Homes is owned and operated by Michael Smyth, WA Registered Builder, with 32 years of industry experience across Western Australia. A carpentry trade background, a career spanning Broome, Sydney, and the Great Southern region, and a personal commitment to managing every project from first conversation to handover. Michael is the person every client deals with from the first call to the keys.
Origin
Great Southern Homes is owned and operated by Michael Smyth, WA Registered Builder, with 32 years of industry experience across Western Australia. A carpentry trade background, a career spanning Broome, Sydney, and the Great Southern region, and a personal commitment to managing every project from first conversation to handover. Michael is the person every client deals with from the first call to the keys.
Challenge
Great Southern Homes is owned and operated by Michael Smyth, WA Registered Builder, with 32 years of industry experience across Western Australia. A carpentry trade background, a career spanning Broome, Sydney, and the Great Southern region, and a personal commitment to managing every project from first conversation to handover. Michael is the person every client deals with from the first call to the keys.
Built For What Comes Next
Great Southern Homes is owned and operated by Michael Smyth, WA Registered Builder, with 32 years of industry experience across Western Australia. A carpentry trade background, a career spanning Broome, Sydney, and the Great Southern region, and a personal commitment to managing every project from first conversation to handover. Michael is the person every client deals with from the first call to the keys.
Questions
Under cost-plus, the client is billed for the actual cost of materials and labour, plus a fixed building fee. Every two weeks, an invoice shows exactly what was charged for that period: trade costs, materials, everything. There are no margins built into a fixed price that the client cannot see. For custom builds in the Great Southern region across a project that runs 12 to 18 months, cost-plus gives the client full visibility and means the builder is not managing risk by hiding it in the contract price. The cost of the project reflects the actual cost of building it.
Fortnightly updates are built into how every project runs. Photos are sent before each scheduled call so you can review progress and form your questions. The call is either a FaceTime walkthrough of the site or an in-person meeting if you are in the area. BuilderTrend is used for project documentation and visibility between meetings. Michael is the single point of contact throughout.
In Western Australia, Home Indemnity Insurance is a legal requirement for all residential building work over $20,000. It protects the homeowner if the builder becomes insolvent, dies, or is unable to complete the project. Great Southern Homes holds Home Indemnity Insurance before any building permit is submitted.
Around half of projects in the Great Southern region involve some level of Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) compliance requirement. Great Southern Homes engages a dedicated BAL consultant from the initial site assessment, so BAL compliance is worked through at the start of the project, not discovered during construction.
Closing
Great Southern Homes is owned and operated by Michael Smyth, WA Registered Builder, with 32 years of industry experience across Western Australia. A carpentry trade background, a career spanning Broome, Sydney, and the Great Southern region, and a personal commitment to managing every project from first conversation to handover. Michael is the person every client deals with from the first call to the keys.
