Our Story

Award-winning home builders, offering a one-stop solution to planning, design & construction of beautiful, contemporary homes with a hands-on approach.

 

Whether you’re buying your first block of land, thinking about a knock-down-rebuild, or looking for an investment property – the decision to build a new home is a big one. Finding the right builders, who you can trust to bring your ideas to life and keep the process under control from start to finish, is the first big step.

At Hilstin, we bring the value, punctuality and innovation of a large builder, with the superior workmanship and personal attention that only a boutique-sized firm can offer.

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James Hillenaar

A Registered Builder with over 20 years of experience,  James believes in quality workmanship and great design.  A qualified carpenter & builder by trade, James has first-hand experience of what makes great craftmanship. Having built not one, but four, of his own homes in Bayside,  James is on hand to guide you through the process and understands the importance of delivering on budget, on time and to expectations.

“Success to us is not in how many homes we can build, but in how well we build them and how happy our clients are.”

In 2014,  James joined forces with Lucas and launched Hilstin; design excellence & quality construction of beautiful homes to suit the stylish, contemporary Melbourne lifestyle.

Lucus Stinton

Qualified in Architecture and Building Design, Lucas brings more than 12 years building experience to his role at Hilstin. Previously having worked for some of the largest home builders in Australia, Lucas works closely with clients to create their perfect home. With an eye for architectural desigh and planning detail Lucas will make sure you get the very best from the land, space and investment/budget available.

“With our design and documentation expertise we will take your project from an idea and concept, right through to construction.”

Lucas brings valuable experience in architecture, project planning, contract management and construction to the team. With his knack for project management and skill in juggling volume projects you can be sure everything will stay on track, on time and on budget.  

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   Testimonials

  • Thank you Hilstin for making the most of the opportunity on this split-block. Designing and building a house on a dual-occupancy block can be challenging. The team at Hilstin managed to turn this challenge into not one, but two perfect houses. In addition, Lucas, was such a pleasure to work with. His attention to detail and pleasant professional manner instilled trust in the workmanship. We could not be happier. We highly recommend Hilstin as a builder of choice for your investment property or dual-occupancy.

    Tom
  • Hilstin are a professional organisation in building custom homes and bring a personal hands-on approach in dealing with their customers. The workmanship and build quality of our new home was to an extremely high-standard and a lot of care was taken at every point to ensure that things were right before moving to the next stage. We are delighted with our new home and would recommend Hilstin as your next builder.

    Dora
  • The service from the team at Hilstin was exceptional, you guided us through the process seamlessly and the home you delivered well exceeded our expectations, especially the attention to all the little details. We really appreciated working with boutique firm rather than a bulk-builder, having you there throughout the process and being able to talk directly with our architect and builder rather than a call-centre gave us real peace of mind.

    Lisa
  • After spending months looking at display homes we realised the only way we would be completely happy was to custom-designed our new home to our own unique specifications. Hilstin offered the perfect solution: full custom design flexibility, a very high level of build quality, high-end fittings and a hands-on, personal service at a very competitive price. Thanks Hilstin we couldn’t be happier.

    James
  • My relationship with James dates back more than 3 years, from before I had even purchased my first block of land. Their service had been outstanding, on every project, from the very beginning through to the final delivery of high-quality properties. Since first meeting James, I had confidence that he would deliver everything I’d needed  in a building partner. He would listen to my ideas and incorporate them in the design or suggest alternatives when they wouldn’t work! With Hilstin my projects stay on track, hit budget and make the most of my investment potential.

    John
  • It was a fantastic experience to go through the process of building our first home with Hilstin. With high recommendations from within the industry, they delivered everything we needed and their attention to detail was excellent. The ability to deal with James & Lucas personally made for such a smooth process and one that was enjoyable all the way through. Thanks Hilstin for delivering us a great home.

    Julia
  • We have just moved into our beautiful home built by the Hilstin team here in Bayside. The house is absolutely perfect and we can't recommend Lucas & James highly enough. It has been a wonderful experience building with them. They were able to turn our limited budget into our perfect home and the whole process was genuinely stress free. We have been so happy with the whole team, the process and most of all the finished product!

    Tom
  • We are absolutely delighted with our new home, and have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Hilstin for anyone looking to build a new custom home of the highest quality. We look forward to many happy years enjoying our new lifestyle in our wonderful family home.

    John
  • We had the pleasure of partnering up with Hilstin in the redesign and alteration of this award-winning heritage property in Middle Park. We were immediately impressed by the way the team combine a professional approach with practical solutions. They embraced several existing challenges during the renovation but their ability to listen and interpret design resulted in this stunning, beautiful property. We would like to take this chance to recommend Hilstin to any client or professional considering working with them.

    Toby

Master Builder

Hilstin became a member of the Master Builders Association of Victoria in 2006

As an accredited Master Builder, Hilstin meets best practice guidelines as well as working to the Master Builders’ National Code of Practice. The Master Builders Association is committed to making sure that all its clients – Australian business and consumers – can enter into contracts in good faith and expect fair play and honesty.

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