For Australian couple Veronica and Mark King, designing and creating fantasy homes is a daily task.
In order to realize their vision, the designer and builder team put all of their expertise and experience—as well as the customary blood, sweat, and tears—into creating their own ideal family house. The faultless outcome is simply amazing.
Veronica, a mother of three and the creator of the interior social media platform The Builder’s Wife, and her husband Mark, the founder of King Homes, told Daily Mail that they had been envisioning their ideal home design for years, but they patiently waited for the ideal site to be found.
They eventually found it in 2023. “We stumbled across an acre block in the Camden area of Sydney, and we just wanted that larger space for the kids,” Veronica told Daily Mail. “It just seemed like the perfect place to raise a family.” You’re close enough to all the facilities, schools, and other stuff, yet far enough from the city.
“We knew we wanted to do a split-level design – and that could really be accommodated on this block of land,” Veronica says of their $1.6 million acquisition of the vacant acre property. “We wanted to work with levels and build a basement.” We realized right away that this kind of block was a perfect fit for our future house.
In Camden, New South Wales, Veronica and Mark King discovered an acre block and felt it was the ideal place to construct their ideal house.
… and their ideal house was finished after a $2 million construction.
Veronica, the creator of the interior social media site The Builder’s Wife, described to Daily Mail how she and her husband realized their ideal home.
People frequently make the mistake of “buying the cheapest empty block, thinking they can make it work by saving there and putting those funds towards the build,” according to Veronica.
“It always ends up being expensive because the cheapest block is typically priced that way due to poor services, location, slope, or fall,” she says. “So, just because you tried to save $30,000 to $50,000 on a block of land, you wind up spending more on design and construction.”
The pair started building in mid-2024 with a $2 million budget and a clear concept. Additionally, Veronica affirms that they stayed on track financially, in contrast to the typical cliché you hear from people who take on a home build or remodel.
The key? Experience. “We know where we can save on materials and money,” she says. Additionally, we don’t care if everything is the “best” or that premium materials are used everywhere. We are aware that there are equally excellent but far more affordable options.
Because of their industry expertise, Veronica and Mark were able to steer clear of another common mistake: “You don’t need to spend a lot of money to achieve the right look.” High-end products and all-natural materials are not necessary. All you have to do is choose materials that suit your needs and keep the budget in check.
For instance, in order to save money, we balanced natural stone with a mineral surface in select places rather than using it everywhere.
After paying $1.6 million for the vacant acreage in 2023, the husband and wife team of builders and designers started construction on their home the following year.
Because of their extensive construction experience, the couple was able to allocate their $2 million build budget mostly on the structural components of their new house.
Veronica emphasized the need of considering kitchen proportions while planning a home build design, saying, “Because we’ve built so many homes, we’re very careful about not overspending.”
On the other hand, Veronica clarifies that there are certain aspects of building a house that you should not cut corners on.Your home’s size, ceiling heights, room sizes, and layout should all be given top priority. You should also pay attention to kitchen size, ideally with a generous island because that’s where you’ll spend a lot of time. Additionally, there are ways to make sensible substitutions. These are all the things you can’t just replace a few years down the road. For a fraction of the cost of natural stone, for instance, you may purchase high-quality, long-lasting, and non-slip porcelain tiles. In the same way, we chose mineral surfaces for locations like the laundry workbench while maintaining natural stone in other key areas.
Prioritize the structural components over these features in the interim because details like joinery and cabinets everywhere add up rapidly. Over time, aesthetic and cosmetic components may be introduced.For a busy family household, wise decisions like these pay off in the long run.
To make their ideal home a reality, Veronica and Mark needed a few specific elements.
The couple’s list of essential features included a resort-style pool.
One feature that Veronica said is well worth the investment is making sure your house has high ceilings. “With three small children, it was also really important for me to have the kitchen and main living areas on the same level as the backyard and pool – so we adjusted the split levels to accommodate that,” Veronica said. “For us, the basement was a key part of the design, which meant we would have a split-level home.”We modified the split levels to allow for the kitchen and major living areas to be on the same level as the backyard and pool because I had three small children.
In order to create an opulent hotel-style atmosphere, we also needed a large, encircling pool. Additionally, a sizable kitchen with a butler’s pantry was essential.
I wanted the kids to have their own playroom with lots of built-in storage to keep items hidden. As they get older and require their own space, this section will still be helpful. In addition, I wanted a sizable walk-in wardrobe. I want to be able to view all of my bags, shoes, and clothes instead of cramming them into little closets since I adore neatness.
Installing custom-fitting Luxaflex blinds throughout the house was another wise investment for Veronica. “We got them in to measure and quote very early on in the process, so everything would be ready for when we moved in,” she said.
According to Veronica, obtaining quotations ahead of time ensured that everything was budgeted for rather than being an afterthought.
To guarantee they were within the budget and arrived on schedule, window fixtures like these lovely Luxaflex sheer drapes were estimated and measured in advance.
Over the course of eighteen months, the couple painstakingly and expertly constructed the house.
Veronica used sheer drapes for the front and main sections of the house to create delicate, lovely lines. “They look fantastic, hanging from the ceiling to barely touching the floor.”
We then selected heat-absorbing soft Roman blinds for the children’s bedroom. We needed that in addition to a block-out blind to keep the room warm in the winter and cool in the summer because it gets pretty hot where we live.Many of the other blinds in the house are just meant to be used; they may be opened and changed to let in more light.
The couple’s dream home became a reality in August 2025 after an 18-month construction with surprisingly few setbacks; the family is now contentedly settled in. “Our kids got to see the whole building process,” and the carpet was one of the final items to be installed. They truly felt at home after they saw that.
Because of their experience, Veronica and Mark were able to avoid many of the pitfalls that less experienced builders fall into. However, she has some very important advise for anyone building with a partner, regardless of how many builds they have completed.
A build can cause a lot of stress in a relationship, so be careful to explicitly define your roles before you begin. Anecdotally, I’ve heard that some people don’t make it! But it all comes down to knowing your responsibilities. For example, who is the primary point of contact for suppliers and the builder?
Veronica continues, “It’s crucial that couples have complete clarity on things like “the hard budget” for each component of the build and what the build priorities are.”
Anyone starting a construction should be clear about important components including funding and build priorities, according to Veronica.
There were children’s bedrooms and a playroom in the new home that could be used as a teen retreat.
Veronica, Mark, and their three children intend to live in their newly constructed house for many years to come. “Building a home, whether it’s a new construction or a renovation, will always involve stress.” In a procedure with so many hands and trades involved, mistakes will inevitably occur, whether they are little, major, or cause a delay. It all comes down to how you handle those situations.
Regarding whether Veronica and Mark intend to remain in their ideal house permanently, she chuckles, saying that as builders, they are constantly envisioning their next major undertaking.This time, we checked every box. Though I’m confident we’ll always have fresh ideas, I’m not sure what the future holds.
