For most of us, trading in the city life for a slice of tropical paradise remains a pipe dream. But for Aussie friends Maureen Pound and Carmen Williams, this daydream morphed into reality when their dream block popped up online.
The catch - it was in another country.
“Carmen and I would go on holidays with our kids to the beach in Australia and dream about owning land right by the ocean,” Maureen told realestate.com.au about the pair’s fantasy of co-owning a beach house.
Building their dream home in a tropical paradise was not without its challenges. Picture: Supplied
Given the sky-high price of beachfront properties in Australia, their dream looked like it was an unattainable one. However, after their dream lay dormant for years, a chance post on TikTok in 2022 reignited it.
“One Sunday afternoon Carmen rang me excited,” recalled Maureen. “She’d seen some absolute beachfront land for sale on TikTok — an acre of land on a remote island in Vanuatu.
“Roads weren’t an issue — there weren’t any!” laughed the mum-of-two. “We got very excited and the next thing, Carmen was booked on a flight to Vanuatu.”
Aussie friends Maureen Pound and Carmen Williams are the owners of two beachfront blocks in Vanuatu. Picture: Supplied
After staying for a week on the island, Carmen sealed the deal and soon the friends were proud owners of two adjacent, one acre, ocean-facing plots.
When it came to helping manage the building process, Maureen knew just the person to help bring their vision to life: Fiona, a resourceful British expat that she had initially found on Airtasker for house cleaning.
“She also happened to be a good project manager and handy with a drill!” Maureen said. “I knew she’d be the perfect project manager for the build in Vanuatu and luckily she said yes.”
The pair oversaw the build remotely from Australia, hiring an on-the-ground project manager. Picture: Supplied
Having met a decade or so ago via a single parents adventure group, Maureen and Carmen became best friends and business partners - they launched virtual assistant sourcing agency, Global Teams, six years ago - so they were not strangers to working together.
So, with the pair overseeing the project remotely — handling costs, management, and staffing from their Melbourne base — Fiona became the on ground project manager in Vanuatu.
“Fiona did a lot of research about the area and the best materials and helped to design the house with an architect,” Maureen explained. “A local Vatu builder was employed to start the build. He had an excellent track record as none of his houses had ever come down in a cyclone, so that was encouraging!”
Sourcing materials to the isolated location presented challenges. Picture: Supplied
Any build has its challenges but a build on a South Pacific island comes with a raft of unexpected potential pitfalls. Despite the idyllic setting, the journey was far from smooth. Material shortages, local politics, and the sheer isolation presented constant hurdles.
"Loads of times I wondered what we'd done," admitted the 56-year-old. “Every week there’d be something: can’t get materials, tricky local politics…it was tough!”
The open-plan kitchen and living leads out to a deck with ocean views.
The house was completed in July 2024, just as the local airline went into receivership, creating unexpected delays. While the project went over budget, the beauty of their creation is undeniable.
However, the jury is still out on whether it was all truly "worth it.”
“Right now we probably wouldn’t do it again as it’s been a difficult journey, especially financially,” Maureen said. “However, ask us in 12 to 24 months once the dust has settled and once we’ve spent more time in paradise, then we might say something different!
“In hindsight, it’s a lot harder than building in Australia — you definitely need someone on the ground or it just won’t work. Also, you need to do your sums carefully and look at business and personal finance structures well. In short: weigh up your dream with your reality.”
The pair one day hope to build small huts in the neighbouring block. Picture: Supplied
While the journey has been challenging, Maureen is grateful for her own slice of beachfront bliss and is envisioning a future where she and Carmen can spend more time in their very own island paradise.
“We have certainly learnt a lot and are so grateful to have our piece of land in one of the most beautiful places on earth,” she enthused.
“We’d love to do small huts on the other block in the future and we can’t wait until our kids are a bit older so we can spend months at a time there. We’re very excited about the future possibilities!”
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