Every home we deliver starts the same way: as an idea with no blueprint for how to get it built. That was exactly the position we found ourselves in a decade ago, when a single backyard granny flat, built to help offset a mortgage, uncovered a need far bigger than we ever expected. Australia’s housing crisis has pushed hundreds of thousands of households into rental stress, and what started as a personal fix became our reason for being.
Building a business from the ground up rarely gets talked about honestly. Everyone wants to hear about the finished product, the certified home, the happy family moving in. Fewer people ask about the unglamorous grind behind it: the procurement pipelines, the compliance paperwork, the invoicing, and the endless decisions that never make it into a highlight reel.
The Backend Is The Business
Our co-founder, Sloane Antonacci, built that backend from scratch. She came into construction from hairdressing and hospitality, with no formal training in accounting, legal contracts or council approvals. She taught herself all of it, one problem at a time, while her husband David led the physical builds.
That grounding shaped how we operate today. When it became clear that manual, ad hoc systems could not support the growth we were chasing, Sloane helped redesign our production workflow from the ground up. We moved from hourly labour to a stage-based system that pays purely on output, with clear checkpoints at every stage of a build. The result was leaner builds, less wasted material, and something we are just as proud of: a workplace where pay is tied to craftsmanship rather than who is standing on site. That shift closed the gender pay gap across our yard entirely.
We built this discipline because the housing sector cannot afford to be an unregulated grey area. When new national accessibility standards for permanent dwellings came into effect, we had already redesigned our floorplans months ahead of the deadline. Every home we build meets Class 1A residential standards and carries a verified energy rating well above the industry norm. When a Category 2 cyclone hit Russell Island, our homes stood while many surrounding structures did not. That resilience is the direct result of building a business from the ground up properly, one certified system at a time.
Proud To Put Our Hand Up
We are proud to share that Sloane has been named an official entrant in the 2026 Alibi Awards, in the Lady Tradie category. It is a category built to recognise women doing exactly this kind of work: the unseen, unglamorous, essential work of building something that lasts. We want to thank the Alibi Awards community, our clients, our crew, and every subcontractor who has helped us grow from a single backyard build into a manufacturing operation with a genuine social conscience.
This entry matters to us because it shines a light on a story that rarely gets told publicly. Behind every visible founder is someone quietly building the systems, the compliance pathways and the culture that make growth possible. Sloane’s journey from hairdresser to co-founder is proof that you do not need a construction background to build a construction company. You need the willingness to learn everything from scratch and the discipline to keep building, one stage at a time.
Blessing The Customer, One Home At A Time
We measure success differently from most manufacturers. For us, it comes down to a simple philosophy: bless the customer. That means transparent pricing, a guarantee that protects buyers if council approval falls through, and homes designed so people can age in place with dignity. Building a business from the ground up was never about the size of the factory. It was always about making sure the people who need a safe, affordable home the most can actually get one.
If you want to learn more about how we build, or you are entering the housing market and want a partner who has done the hard yards, get in touch. We would love to show you what a decade of humble hustle looks like in practice.