Englehart Homes: Brand, Legacy and a New Direction

An Interview with Englehart Homes

Neil McLennan’s path to becoming the director and owner of Englehart was not a straight route. With a background in commercial construction and development, he recognised early on the growing challenges in the sector—tight margins, high risk, and increasing competition.

“I saw the writing on the wall and started doing a few domestic jobs,” Neil explains. “I ended up renovating my own house, got my hands really dirty, and fell in love with the domestic market.”

Neil saw an opportunity with Englehart. After speaking with the previous owner, he connected with the liquidators, secured the bid, and took over Englehart, bringing its legacy and loyal team into a new era.

General Manager Robbie Lamont has been with Englehart for almost two decades, having worked his way up from Junior Estimator. He’s committed to maintaining client relationships while keeping an eye on market trends.

“We’ve always been a builder with a diverse portfolio and one thing we look to maintain is being one step ahead of the market,” Robbie says.

Bowens sat down with Neil and Robbie to get an insight into Englehart and their vision moving forward.

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Since acquiring the business, you’ve had to adapt and change with the market. How important is that adjustment as a business?

Neil: It’s very important. I’ve experienced several market cycles, but this is certainly one of the most challenging for us as builders. Many we know, across both domestic and commercial developments, have shared similar struggles.

Over the past year, we’ve had to pivot, adapt, and restructure the business. Unfortunately, this included the difficult decision to let go of some staff. At the same time, many of these changes were driven by our long-term strategic goals, ensuring we’re positioned for future growth.“

Englehart has successfully pivoted while maintaining the company brand and assets. What prompted the repositioning of the brand and what did it achieve?

Robbie: I think the brand repositioning, led by Neil, reinforced our high-end market position, while building on our long-standing reputation.

Neil: The Englehart brand, with a legacy approaching 45 years, is something we really wanted to retain and build on. We’ve enhanced the brand look and feel, modernising it to reflect a shift in focus towards modern design. 

Which strategies for moving into a more modern space have you implemented and how will this benefit your clients and your business?

Neil: Although Englehart is known for the classical build style, we’ve always designed & built contemporary homes as well. We’re taking our services a step further by working with leading architects that specialise in contemporary design. We now align our clients to the best architect for their brief, collaborating at early stages to ensure the designs make it beyond the drawing board and into construction.

We’ve seen it too many times, where client’s will approach us to tender a completed design, only to find they cannot afford to build it. This model addresses our clients’ pain point.

Robbie: We guide the client in the process and make sure we’re steering them in the right direction. Starting from a blank piece of paper means we can design exactly what fits the client’s needs and budget.

Robbie, as a general manager, you work closely with clients on each project. How does this approach differ from other builders?

Robbie: It’s probably not a common occurrence that the management team will be involved in the day-to-day dealings with clients but it’s something we take pride in and want to focus on. Since Neil has come on board, he’s maintained that as a priority, ensuring that we know and understand every client that builds with us. We do find it sets us apart from other builders in a similar market.

Spending time on site and getting to know the owners means we can really deliver quality, high-end homes.

Neil, where do you see Englehart in 5 to 10 years’ time?

Neil: We’re narrowing our focus into the $5 to $15 million home market in Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, Kew, Camberwell and Balwyn. These are areas we’re already building in, and it is a good market but quite thin on builders. In addition, we will continue to collaborate with external architects to look at buildability, new products and new designs.

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Bowens has worked closely with Englehart Homes for 35 years to help them meet both client expectations and architect specifications.

“Bowens has been fantastic,” Neil says. “When a client has a specific vision, we can go to Bowens and ask, ‘Do you have something like achieve this look and feel?’—and more often than not, they do.”

With a leadership team highly involved in the day-to-day operations, a strong commitment to design excellence, and a forward-thinking approach to market shifts, Englehart Homes continues to set the benchmark for high-end residential building.