Built For More
Welcome to Built for More
We didn't buy our dream horse property. We built it.
For years, we dreamed of living on acreage, having our horses at home and creating a country lifestyle for our family.
But when we started looking, we quickly realised that the properties we loved, in the area we wanted to live, were well beyond our budget.
So, we bought a run-down four-acre property with an ageing house, plenty of potential and an enormous amount of work ahead of us.
The quotes were eye-watering, materials were expensive, and at times, our dream still felt out of reach.
But rather than give up, we rolled up our sleeves.
Over the past three years, we've negotiated with trades, sourced our own materials, tackled countless DIY projects and slowly transformed our property into the boutique horse property we'd always imagined.
And along the way, we've learnt that you don't always need a bigger budget. Sometimes you just need a different approach.
Here you'll find some of the products we love and use around our property, along with our newly released The Horse Property Designer's Guide — a eBook sharing our designs, projects, real costs, money-saving tips and lessons learnt from building a horse property on small acreage.
We hope our journey inspires you to create something of your own, whatever your budget.
Thanks for following along. We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback.
Welcome to Built for More.
The Horse Property Designer's Guide
The complete 63 page guide - including horse management plan and templates to design your own.
We didn't buy the dream horse property. We built it.
When we purchased our run-down four-acre property, we had two young children, two horses and a vision to create a beautiful, functional country home without an endless budget.
Four years later, we've transformed that property into Rose Hill Stables, complete with purpose-built stables, horse shelters, three paddocks, a full-size riding arena, reticulation, pasture and practical horse facilities.
Now we're sharing some tips of how we did it.
The Horse Property Designer's Guide takes you behind the scenes of our transformation, sharing real projects, plans, photographs, costs, money-saving ideas and lessons learnt along the way.
What's inside?
- Horse shelters: Our design, construction approach and money-saving decisions.
- Stables: Planning a practical, beautiful stable facility, including storage, ventilation, wash bays and layout.
- Riding arena: How we managed the construction of our 60 m × 20 m arena, including materials, drainage and finishing.
- Paddocks and fencing: Layout, pasture, fencing choices and horse management.
- Composting and storage: Practical solutions for everyday horse-property life.
- Real project costs: What we were quoted, what we spent and how we saved thousands.
- Horse management planning: Key considerations when preparing and planning your property.
- Printable planning templates: Space to sketch your property, compare quotes and organise trades.
Built from real experience
This isn't a guide to building a million-dollar equestrian estate.
It's a practical look at how an everyday family created a boutique horse property by planning carefully, sourcing materials directly, managing trades and doing plenty of the work themselves.
Whether you're purchasing acreage, starting from scratch or improving the property you already own, we hope our experience helps you make confident decisions and get more from your budget.
63-page digital PDF | Instant download | AUD $39.95
Please note: This guide shares our personal experience, historical project costs and planning examples. It does not replace professional engineering, construction, veterinary or local council advice. Construction requirements and costs vary by property and location.
Our Stable
In this section we go into detail about how to transform a shed to become a stable. What we did, our design and products we used.
The Arena
Dimensions, the layers of the base, edging, drainage and how to build one at a fraction of the cost.
The quotes that came in to build our arena were outrageous. So we had a crack at it, and couldn't be happier. We can't wait to share our learnings with you.
Contact Us
We'd love to hear from you! Please contact us using this form for any questions or comments.