BY MICHAEL TAGGART: Earlier this week we launched Coralmount, our most prestigious development to date.
During a visit by a purchaser I was asked a simple question: What defines a good building?
The answer is simple – planning…..planning the design and the finish as if we were the customer.
Essentially the Taggart team is planning for the customer, so we have to think like the customer. We would never tell a customer what they should do, but everything we do is about our customers.
We have to think about the practicalities of the home, the design, the quality and our customer experience.
There was a time when people wanted to leave their homes and go to a hotel for the weekend, but Taggart Homes now strive to create that luxury feeling in every home so that our customers can enjoy that luxury experience every single day.
With the fast pace of life now, more and more people want to enjoy their weekends in their own homes. They want to be able to relax and entertain in surroundings that they enjoy.
We put that thought process foremost when we design and build a Taggart Home.
Everyone wants to be proud of their new home – they want to have friends and relatives over to enjoy what they have achieved by purchasing their new home; that is the difference between and a house and home.
The objective is always to complete homes that are visibly attractive outside as well as inside.
Outside our homes we take a uniformed approach to landscaping which avoids our customers having to put up walls or fences that vary.
Hedging for example is very important as it will bring maturity and additional privacy to each home which in time improves how they look and add tremendous value for the home owners in terms going up in value.
Developments that don’t have well thought-out landscaping plans may not mature as quickly as those that do, each homeowner may decide to vary the finishes which doesn’t have the same combined appeal. Our landscaping and design outside is now central to what we do; creating great outdoor spaces for everyone to enjoy. Our primary interest is the design, quality and how a Taggart Home will keep its appearance and value throughout the years.
Inside it is vitally important that the homes are robust so that they last for generations.
The materials are key to this. For example the doors we use retail at around £200 each and they are manufactured in Asia specifically for Taggart Homes.
It’s the same approach for everything – our kitchens, our floor coverings, all that we do. We get the best on the market so that people can truly enjoy their home.The tiles are purchased from Spain and Italy where we are buying the best that we can find creating savings that are passed on to the customers.
One of our homes sold in Limavady two years ago is now sale. It is being marketed as a “Taggart Home” and is on propertypal.com for £50,000 more than was paid for it.
We are one of the few home-building companies who spend the extra money putting in concrete floors and using concrete block for construction. We hand over solid sound-proof homes that will last for hundreds of years.
We feel a moral and professional obligation and a duty of care to each and every single person who purchases one of our homes and when someone buys a Taggart Home we want to ensure that when they get up every morning to go to work they are working for something which stands the test of time.
Values in other properties, new and old, are constrained by design and finish. Modern colours do not stand the test of time.
Does anyone remember when it was cool to have a green bathroom suite? Today no-one would ever consider buying one.
The classical and contemporary styles and colours stand the test of time.
As I have said, to be a good builder you have to think as if you were the customer.
I want to build every home as if I were handing over the keys to my own son or daughter.
This is a philosophy we all use at Taggart Homes.
It is vitally important that when we have a customer who is going to spend 20 or 25 years paying off their home that they get excellent quality and workmanship.
Michael and Nicolas Taggart of The Designer Builder, Taggart Homes and Paul Bonner, Project Manager, centre, at the launch of Coralmount on the Limavady Road in Derry. The exclusive development features six individually designed homes in a gated community and has been cited as Northern Ireland’s most luxurious residential development.
WHY NOT DERRY?
As an aside to the Coralmount launch I was asked by a journalist this week: Why Derry?
My answer was simple: Why not Derry?
And that’s the answer which is coming loud and clear from a whole lot of different voices in recent months.
This week two more famous voices were singing the praises of this part of the world.
Hollywood actress Saoirse Ronan spent the weekend in the city after flying home from the Oscars.
And another actor James Nesbitt was in the city talking to students from Foyle College, Oakgrove, Thornhill and St Cecilia’s about how film-makers are tripping over themselves to come here.
Our creative industries in the North West are soaring.
WELL DONE CHARLENE
The late Martin McCrossan was one of Derry’s greatest ambassadors. His City Tours became legendary.
So it was lovely to see his daughter Charlene following in his footsteps, graduating this week and receiving her Tourist Guiding Blue Badge.
Well done Charlene.
Michael Taggart is Strategic Advisor at Taggart Homes – taggarthomes.com
In case you missed it, here’s Michael’s column from last week.
The Michael Taggart Column – Pride in Design and Quality at luxurious Coralmount homes
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