Senior Home Consultant Malcolm Ford along with Project Manager Angela Dare manage a busy Northland branch of national transportable house company Keith Hay Homes. They are proud to be part of a company with a vision founded 80 years ago by the company’s name-sake.
“Back in 1938 Keith Hay went into business making caravans. As business evolved he liked more and more the idea of transportable homes. When some people hear the word transportable they think of cabins or homes that could arrive on site as a kitset and are assembled or completed.
This is not the case with our range of designs. They come complete on the site only needing to be tied down to foundations and to be attached to services and lived in,” Malcolm explains.
Keith Hay Homes offers a diverse range of plans from the entry-level ‘First Choice’ plans from 60sqm to 120sqm, the Classic Collection a step-up at 89sqm to 140sqm and the popular Coastal suite of plans straddling footprints from 76sqm to 135sqm. These all have lots of options and can include internal access garages.
Finally, there’s the Architectural range – a collaboration between Keith Hay Homes and architectural firm Architex NZ. Malcolm says building a Keith Hay Homes offers three significant benefits.
“Firstly, there is no long-term property disruption as the foundations and services are prepared for a complete home to arrive and settle on the site. Then, if your site is in a remote area where there aren’t many builders and finally where the section has poor access in terms of building from scratch on the site.”
There’s a co-operative approach to how the network of Keith Hay Homes branches operate.
Homes are generally built in the area they will settle in. So customers can deal with the branch closest to them regardless of the final location of the home.
All Coastal Classics homes, with designs straddling simple open-plan Kiwi bach feel to a modern spacious space with great indoor-outdoor flow, come with mono-pitched roof profile.
“They look great at the beach, in rural situations or in the suburbs.” Keith Hay Homes Whangarei’s next showhome will be the popular The Raglan plan from the Coastal Classics collection. When asked why The Raglan has proven such a popular choice Malcolm points to a number of factors.
“There’s been a huge amount of enquiry and the plan seems to be popular with the age group who are settled with children.
“The home offers modern convenience and the clever design lends itself to create great spaces for families to be in.”
The Raglan plan at 115.4m2 has several features that work well for families living in it permanently or in situations where the home is a bach where guests visit.
“The master bedroom is at one end of the house with its own bathroom and walk-in wardrobe and the open plan living space between that bedroom and the other two bedrooms and service areas just works really well,” says Malcolm, .
There are a range of cladding options as well, from traditional weatherboard and to board and batten through to linear, and other styles are available too. “Basically the only cladding we don’t do is brick, given it can’t be transported complete.”
Homes are assembled in a yard and factory situation where all aspects of its production can be closely and consistently monitored. Settled on site on timber piles Malcolm says Keith Hay Homes fair extremely well in earthquakes.
“And I’m very proud of our track-record as a building company that we have never built a leaky home. We believe our success comes through satisfied customers. Having a team with shared visions and goals and being part of a building company that has withstood the test of time all contribute to our success and popularity.”
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Robinson Asphalts
- Craig Rule Plumber
- Carpet Mill
- Positive Electrical & Security (2007)
