John and Tracey Greenrod and their daughters Georgia 9 and Tara 5 have lived in Garden Gates for nearly four years. They love the community spirit and activities available in the area.
Who built your home? Pro Corp Builders
What home type did you choose ?
We chose a design of a single story home similar in layout to a home we had previously rented before in Mount Annan which had views from most main areas of the house to the backyard. We also had our builders add an extra bedroom (total of 5 + a study) and also add a fully fitted out media room with extra noise insulation installed in the walls. We also wanted a decent size pantry to house all our Tupperware so the builders installed a 4 door double pantry so now we have the perfect Tupperware pantry. We were very fortunate that our beautiful family home only took 14 weeks to build from the day they turned the soil to lock-up, it was a very pleasant experience and one we will definitely do again.
What are some positive things about living in your community?
We love the great community spirit, everyone is very friendly and as the homes are all new there is a great sense of pride about their street appeal. We sometimes feel like we live in a gated community with all the extra activities Landcom provide during the year (eg Mothers/ Fathers Day celebrations, Easter and Xmas BBQ’s)
The best time is Xmas when Santa rides around visiting all the children in the Garden Gates streets handing out lollies. It’s very special and gets all of us in the Christmas spirit, Landcom also put on a FREE spectacular fireworks display at the Botanical Gardens, it is such a great night with everyone getting into the Christmas spirit and even though it’s for the locals, people come from the other side of Sydney to be a part of the fun.
Why did you choose to build a home in Garden Gates?
We had moved from St Ives on the North Shore to South West Sydney due to our new business. A mutual friend recommended Mount Annan as a new and safe suburb, we found a house to rent on the Friday and moved the following Monday. Over the short space of 2 years we unfortunately had to move houses 3 times. This however gave us an insight into the type of home we wanted to build and the features we wanted to include.
What some favourite aspects of living in your community?
The fact is that we have everything we need close by. Fabulous shopping centres (Macarthur Square and Narellan Shopping Centre) and also only 2 minutes drive away is a Coles, Woolworths and Aldi as a our local shops and there are more shops to come. All medical and health needs for our family are taken care of with every health professional needed within a 5 minute drive.
Our family like to dine out regularly we have lots of excellent local restaurants to chose from catering for all food types . However one of our favourite restaurants is in Crows Nest and we will often pop into town for a quick Tepinyaki and the drive can take less than 40 minutes. We love the beach and have adopted several Wollongong beaches as our own, again less than 40 minutes drive.
There is the local YMCA pool we use once a week for swimming lessons and I use for my weekly yoga sessions and down the road are several dance studios.
Do you use the community facilties such as parks, cycleways, shops etc.
As we have lived here for nearly 4 years we have witnessed the growth of the new suburb and the hundreds of houses that have been built. We were also able to watch the progress of the man made lake and spectacular native park being built. It is incredible how quickly the plants have grown and it looks so natural that it is hard to believe it hasn’t always been there. The park holds an extra special connection for our family.
For both our daughters we have had Naming Days. Our eldest daughter had her Naming Day when we lived in Artarmon and we were given permission by Willoughby Council to plant a Chinese Elm at the park across from our townhouse. When it came time for our youngest daughters Naming Day we contacted Landcom and we were fortunate to be able to plant a native tree in the park to honour her special day. We get to watch them ‘ both’ grow and where ever Tara’s life leads her this is something she can always come back to and remember.
What does sustainability mean to you?
Working with the environment and nature and trying to cut down on green house emissions where we can. Being Tupperware Directors we understand how much food is wasted, so we make sure we don’t throw out and use our leftovers wisely and this also saves not only on waste but the wallet. We also have inground tank, we re-cycle as much as we can, and we are also putting in a vegetable garden soon.
Our typical weekend
We spend Saturday running around with weekend sports; dancing, ice skating and catching up on cleaning. Sunday is our family day where we catch up with friends, potter in our garden or spend the day exploring Camden.
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