Punj Family
The Punj family were drawn to Whitlam by its central location and spacious environment. They appreciate the friendly, multicultural community and enjoy the natural beauty of the area. Their custom-built home features an extra large kitchen, designed to accommodate their love of cooking and family gatherings.
What is your favourite thing about living in Whitlam?
There are a lot of things. We like it’s a multicultural environment. We love celebrating everyone’s festivals and they have food sometimes. People are very friendly and they are very cosy, calm, like very nice families. This is what attracted us to live here.
What do you think of Whitlam’s location?
It’s a very central place, Whitlam, because everything is very nearby. City is just 8 or 9 minutes drive. Belconnen is quite near, and I work in the Woden area, so it’s like a 15 to 20 minutes drive.
What amenities are you looking forward to in Whitlam?
A school is coming soon, and there are local shops coming too. It will be great when it comes.
Why did you choose to customise your house?
We were thinking from the very start, a customised house. If you go for an established house, you have to stick with that thing. And while you are building, a lot of things come to your mind, you should have some big windows for more light, or you want a sitting area over here, lounge over here. We needed a prayer room. We compromised with a little bit of lounge area to make the kitchen bigger.
How have you found living in an all electric house?
As an Indian family… our cooking is a little bit different. My wife was used to cooking with gas stoves. But when we transferred to this induction cooking stove, it was a bit difficult for her to cook the way she used to.
So, the Mingle team taught us how to properly use the induction system. This was of great help, now she is used to it and it’s very easy.
You run your house on solar. How are you finding your bills compared to your last home?
We got a big solar system on our roof and a north-facing house. Normally in one year we get four bills. Now, three bills we got rebates from the government. In winter, we have to pay a little bit of money.
What are three words that describe Whitlam for you?
Vibrant. Multicultural, and green.
Read what other families living in Whitlam are saying here.