we do one thing, and we do it properly.
Honest Haus is a full-service design studio. We design your home from the first sketch to the final finish, so it's healthy to live in, comfortable all year and built from materials you'd be happy to have your family around.
Full-Service Design
Who we're for
You’ve built or renovated before, so you know how it goes. Decisions made in a rush. Materials nobody explained. A house that looks good but doesn’t feel good.
This time you want a home that’s built to support your family’s health, comfortable all year round, and still beautiful.
If you’re building new on land in the Hunter, and low-tox living isn’t a trend for you but simply how you want to live, we’d love to hear from you.
What you get
Full-Service Design
Everything your home needs, designed by one team, so nothing gets lost between the plans and the finishes.
Your Plans
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Site analysis: sun, slope, wind, views and council rules
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Concept design and floor plans
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Design development, refining every room until it works for how you actually live
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Full documentation, coordinated with your engineer and other consultants
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Plans lodged with council through our town planner or certifier
Your Interiors
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Every fixture, fitting and finish selected and documented
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Low-tox materials throughout: paints, flooring, joinery, adhesives, the lot
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A complete selections schedule for your builder to price and build from
Your Build (where it’s the right fit)
On some projects, Sam Horn Building can build your home too, keeping design and construction under one roof. We’ll talk about whether that’s right for your project early on.
How well do you want your home to perform?
Every Honest Haus is high performing. How far you take performance is up to you
Energy Efficient: a better home, same expectations
Built well above the minimum, around 7 to 7.5 stars. Upgraded insulation, double glazed thermally broken windows, and a layout planned around the sun and breeze on your block.
High Performance: Passive House comfort, less process
Where most of our clients land. The whole building is designed as a system: continuous insulation, high performance windows, and airtightness that’s tested, not guessed. Fresh, filtered air comes from a ventilation system that recovers heat. On some projects we model the design to check how it should perform before it’s built.
Passive House: verified, top-tier performance
Designed and modelled to the Passive House standard from day one, with airtightness tested to its strict limit. Certification is optional, and we’ll talk you through whether it’s worth it for your project.
Building costs climb modestly as you move up. Running costs drop a lot more, for the life of the home. We walk you through all three before drawings begin.