Now a fourth-generation family business, Brian Burke Homes has been building homes to the best they can be for almost 40 years.
Brian Burke Homes Managing Director Michael Burke told New Homes it began in the 1950s when his grandfather started a business called Burke Brothers.
“They did a lot of homes in the Wembley and Floreat area. In 1961, my father started a company called Burke & Gaynor. People of a certain vintage would remember that it was a very well known brand back in the 60s and 70s,” he said. “In 1982, he started Brian Burke Homes with a view to building more upmarket quality finished homes.”
Before taking the reins, Mr Burke said he first had to convince his father to retire.
“In 1996, he made me manager, and my first managerial decision was to sack him,” he joked.
A focus on build quality has paid off for Brian Burke Homes, as the recipient of no less than 12 Master Builders Association Top Home in Western Australia awards over the last 26 years, as well as three national awards for best builder in Australia (2006, 2010 and 2012).
According to Mr Burke, the secret was never shying away from a challenge, with each member of the company sharing the same vision.
“We team up with architects to produce some pretty stunning, difficult to build designs on difficult to build properties, steep sites and cliff faces,” he said. “I believe the more interesting houses we have built have been on the more difficult sites.
“We’re always going to try to maximise the design to the benefit of the client, and if that means a more challenging build, then so be it. We’re up for it. We love it.”
It helps that the tradespeople employed by Brian Burke Homes are among the best in Perth, if not the nation, according to Mr Burke.
“Our trades, continually year after year win the best awards,” he said.
“I think that’s the secret of our success, and getting the quality to the standard we have, is we’re all on the same page. We all want that goal of building the best home we can.”
With his eldest daughter Lauren now heavily involved in the business, Mr Burke said he was confident this vision remained clear but at the same time would continue to evolve, as it had for the previous two generations.
“How I’ve run it differently to my father and grandfather is we’ve introduced a lot more technology as it becomes available,” he said. “Communication with clients is, I think, a lot better.
“We now actively want our clients to be involved the whole way through.”
Introducing state-of-the-art technologies and new ways of marketing the business, such as the high-end Refined Edge bespoke homes brand and the Property Concierge service for ongoing luxury home maintenance, positioned the builder well for the future.
“We’ve got fantastic staff. As a collective, I have no doubt if I wanted to go and have an extended holiday or retire, then I know that the philosophies and the ethos of the business are in very good hands,” Mr Burke said.
