Sanctuary Springs Port Macquarie

Port Macquarie began life in 1821 as an isolated penal colony for repeat offenders. Now it is the largest town on New South Wales’ mid-north coast and a magnet for tourists and retirees.

The influx of new residents has led to rapid, and sometimes controversial, development. No such debate applied to Sanctuary Springs, a 63-lot development just four kilometres from the town centre. “That’s about as close as you can get to Port in a residential subdivision,” says Paul Hughes, the estate’s marketing manager.

Sanctuary Spring’s developer, Jim Newton of J Newton Constructions, used the opportunity to showcase his talents. The entire estate was masterplanned and all the infrastructure and roads were in place, down to turfing and landscaping, before he entered into an arrangement with McCarthy Builders to act as sole builders for the entire project.

“McCarthy Building is a small specialist builder, typically constructing about 30 homes per year,” Paul Hughes explains. “In Sanctuary Springs we offer a range of six designs that are modified to suit the specific lot and the customer’s requirements.”

A colour consultant was engaged to coordinate roof tiles, fascia and gutters with wall colours. The colour schemes are not set down in a covenant but most residents have chosen to follow them.

“So as you drive through the estate you don’t see streets of identical homes but they have a common design theme – rendered brick walling, tiled roofs, extensive landscaping – so the houses complement each other.”

Bristile supplies and installs all roof tiles on the estate, selected from the Designer series (rounded profile) and Classic series (flat profile) in a range of pastels colours that Paul describes as “light and beachy.” The bricks were supplied by Bristle’s sister company, Austral Bricks.

The close proximity of Sanctuary Springs to the Pacific Ocean was not a problem as all Bristile concrete tiles are certified Exposure Grade and therefore suitable for even a severe marine environment.

“We have been using Bristile for over 20 years,” says Paul Hughes. “They’re fantastic. They look after us extremely well, give great service, have great products, deliver on time, with good pricing. And they are nice people to do business with.”

To date, 37 houses have been built at Sanctuary Springs. “As the estate is being built the presentation gets better and the enquiry rate gets stronger,” Paul Hughes concludes. “Most of our business now is by referral from residents encouraging friends and relatives to move in.”