Tartan Homes Connected Singles at Soho West

ADVERTISERS CLICK HERE

	[CLICK to enlarge] The Baird : Front Elevation Source: Tartan

	[CLICK to enlarge] The Adams : Front Elevation Source: Tartan

Tartan - who are also the biggest suppliers of semis - have come up with another solution. It is not an entirely new concept - Costain built a number of town houses in Orleans three decades ago that were connected at the garages. It was of considerable benefit to home buyers then because builders and suppliers of building material had not yet solved the problem of ineffective sound insulation between neighbouring houses.

In Nepean, for example, another builder had to pay hotel accommodation for inconvenienced buyers who complained of the noise from their neighbours adjacent bedroom. The builder had to rip out the connecting walls and experiment with a variety of new technologies to prevent sound from carrying to adjacent units. But nowadays the technology is sufficiently advanced for competent builders to have solved that problem.

Nevertheless, Tartan Homes evidently considered that even a perception of living too close to neighbours argues well for their method, which is to connect town house designs only through the garage. To underscore the current novelty, Tartan refers to these homes as "connected singles" - a bit of a semantic stretch, but it fairly distinguishes their town house designs from those of other builders.

Connections at the garages leaves the rear part of each house separated at ground level by a pathway and at the upper level by separated modules. Each two-car garage provides rear access to the pathway, which leads to the back yard.

This means that home owners can take their lawn mower and other garden equipment directly to their back yard without having to go round the block of rowhouses and then cross a neighbour's garden to reach their own - as is the case with inside units in most town house communities.

While the streetscapes may not be so pretty when all the houses are built, with rows of 2-car garages broken up only by narrow porches over single front doors, as we frequently advise readers, home-buying is a series of trade-offs. So, if you want privacy without having to buy a house on a 2-Acre Estate Lot, this is a reasonable option. The builder is to be congratulated on solving a real problem while keeping prices down to a more affordable level, albeit one that starts at about $300,000.

There are six different designs, from which Tartan decided to construct two show homes - The Carlan (2051 Sq Ft) and The Ellis (2354 Sq Ft). Evidently they had a problem deciding whether their innovative designs would appeal to buyers who wanted the smaller homes or those who could afford the larger ones. The smaller designs are The Adams (1701 Sq Ft) and The Baird (1934 Sq Ft). They opted for the larger, which may have been a mistake.

The Carlan, which provides much of what an average home buyer might want, is sure to be the most popular choice. Their bigger model, The Ellis, suffers from too much space, some of which may be unusable, in any case, like access and egress areas from tables to the kitchen or to armchairs, since most of the lower level is open-plan.

As a general rule, builders do not build show homes of their smaller designs in case their limited size is accentuated when visitors walk through, resulting in possibly killing the design altogether. But studying the floor plan of The Adams shows it to be a reasonable size and an acceptable design, which is about 23'6" wide. It is likely that a show home that size at their lowest price level could produce volume sales.

The innovative concept encouraged us to explore all four designs for a potential winner. We found nothing wrong with The Adams. Although it would be handy to have an office or study on the main level, the trade-off is that you get a 2-car garage instead.

And this design features an optional built-in workstation in the loft upstairs on the bedroom level as a good alternative at the lowest price of the six designs.

The other design not shown as a model home is The Baird, which is priced slightly higher. And our choice to award our 5 Stars for design excellence fell between those two smaller designs.

The Baird offers two main advantages in paying for the extra 233 square feet. It can be bought with a 4-bedroom optional layout. And the Great Room (12' x 22'10") with fireplace, runs right across the rear of the house overlooking the back yard. Its disadvantage is that it does not possess a breakfast room, as The Adams does. It has a carpeted dining room instead. So the question there is, do you really entertain so much that you require a dining room and a breakfast room?

We rated both smaller designs highly on the basis that, in the end, sales will depend on family size. But our bet is on the smallest design, although it is conservative in layout. There are plenty like it on the market, but they have only a one-car garage, whereas The Adams has a double garage. And, unlike others, it is better separated from its neighbours.

It is also their most affordable design, and the best value too.

ADVERTISERS CLICK HERE

 

The sole aim of the HomesExplorer™ 5-Star Design Awards Program is to reward excellence in the new homes industry by awarding five stars for the best design or innovation in a particular category. Our 5 Star Rating is awarded solely for excellence in design or innovation. Quality of construction and service are for buyers to ascertain themselves.