7TH HOLE - THE VINTAGE GOLF COURSE
Unique Development Delivers a Perfectly Balanced Lifestyle JOHN STEVENS
WORDS LIANE MORRIS The Stevens Group is one of the industry's leading private and diversified property development companies. Founded in 1982 by John Stevens, the company has delivered over 250 quality and award-winning landmark developments throughout New South Wales, including residential properties, industrial, retail, commercial, hotels and resort living. The company has won many awards, including the recent 2021 UDIA Award for the best regional development in NSW with their newly completed Foreshore development at Toronto. John Stevens grew up on the Central Coast near Gosford and still lives there to this day. His first job was in real estate sales with Peter Walsh, who taught him ethics and the benefits of hard work. The move into property development was driven by a passion for the industry and a desire to create the type of dwellings and communities that people want to live in. “Everything we create is based on sustainability and quality,” said John. “We build communities that we want to live in ourselves. I’m extremely fortunate to have the best team in the industry beside me, as well as amazing partnerships that have had a major influence over the projects we produce.” John refers to partners in The Vintage such as golfer Greg Norman and Medallist, with who he collaborated with in the early days of The Vintage in the Hunter Valley, as the 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Greg Norman himself. He also talks with great
admiration of the American developer and entrepreneur Don Panoz whom he partnered on the development of Chateau Elan, saying Don was a great guy. John is also proud of the team that works alongside him. Ben Shoo, the urban designer and Lin Armstrong, our town planner who have worked on the early plans for The Vintage Hunter Valley, and are still on the design team today, along with a number of longterm professionals who have been with the Stevens Group between 20 to 25 years and are considered the best in the industry. “We never stop looking at new and innovative ways to improve on the unique living experience for our projects”. The Vintage Hunter Valley is a unique development in the vineyard precinct that combines leisure and tourism with residential dwellings, creating a perfectly balanced lifestyle in a location that is surrounded by cellar doors, restaurants and sweeping country views, all within 2 hours of Sydney. The latest development, The Residence Apartments at The Vintage, for the first time, builds on this by offering luxury space with the ease of apartment living. Designed by EJE, the apartments feature large open plan living spaces leading to balconies that overlook the vineyard views and deliver a new high benchmark of quality and subtle elegance. Currently under construction, the apartments are due to be completed by mid-2023, with many of them already sold to people who currently own in The Vintage - a fact that indicates the high esteem the estate has in the eyes of its community*.
Another exciting new development for The Vintage Hunter Valley is the near completion of NINETEEN, a restaurant and bar complex that will open mid-2022 and is designed to be the centrepiece of The Vintage, delivering a lifestyle that would be hard to match. The venue will be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and relaxed dinners with a Sports Bar connected to an undercover outdoor entertainment area. Upstairs is a laid-back, casual dining area with an indoor/outdoor fireplace. The architecture of the building has taken the vineyard architectural style into account, with heritage trusses and 100-year-old timber floors a stylistic feature. There are plans to extend the estate out to Palmers Lane in the future, and a commitment to the architectural and landscaping guidelines delivered from the beginning of the development. Families will continue to grow within the estate as part of the community. There is more in the pipeline, from kilometres of running and walking paths, sculptures and lifestyle developments, all forming part of the future vision of the estate. “It still takes my breath away when I drive into the entrance of The Vintage, and I know we’ve delivered an outstanding project. Over 23 years we have created a sustainable, stunning, natural environment on over 1000 acres of land, and I’m extremely proud of it. We didn’t just build an estate; we created a community.” * The Residence Apartments at The Vintage are being sold off the plan. HUNTER HOMES & LIFESTYLE •
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