Kit Homes Drome

Title: From Airport Search to Land Ownership: A Young Family’s First Step onto Their Land

Drome is a rural locality in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 20 kilometres north of Albany. The area is characterised by farmland, bush blocks, and families seeking affordable acreage away from urban centres while remaining within reach of Albany’s services and coastline.

Cameron Russell, his wife, and their two young children – a three-year-old and a one-year-old – are currently living with Cameron’s mother. Their one-hectare block in Drome represents both immediate relief and long-term vision, and they’re eager to establish themselves on their land as soon as possible.

“We’re keen to initially build a small granny flat in order to be able to move out there, start using the land, and then in the future, we’ll do the main house build on the same parcel of land. We were keen to kind of get something that could be done relatively quick and a pretty affordable price.”

Cameron reached out to multiple granny flat kit suppliers during his research, but the response was disappointing – most never bothered to reply. He was sitting in an airport coming home from a work trip, still searching for options, when he found iBuild and sent a message through the website. The next day, John from iBuild texted him. The day after that, they were already on a phone call discussing his project.

“I had reached out to probably two or three other groups and didn’t get any response back from them. So I think the responsiveness of iBuild was a massive factor – you want your project to kind of continue heading forward and it wasn’t looking good from the other groups not getting back to me. So it was nice to see the proactiveness of you guys.”

When you’re managing two toddlers, sharing space with family, and trying to build your future on your own one-hectare block, delays aren’t just frustrating – they’re obstacles to progress. John from the iBuild team’s quick response and genuine follow-through gave Cameron the confidence that his project would actually happen, not just sit in someone’s inbox gathering dust.

Cameron chose the Mulgrave design – a compact 60-square-metre kit home that became available on iBuild’s website just weeks before he found it. The timing aligned perfectly with what he was looking for: something quick to build at an affordable price that would get his family onto their land. As a structural engineer himself, Cameron brings technical knowledge to the project and plans to owner-build.

The Mulgrave granny flat is just the beginning. Build small now, establish the family on their Drome property, start using the land – then tackle the main house without rental pressure or extended family living arrangements. With iBuild’s responsive team, streamlined processes, and support throughout construction, Cameron is turning his one-hectare block into home – stronger, smarter, faster, and more affordable.