Built in 1885 by a stone mason from Aberdeen, Keith Hall is no more than a pile of granite. Clay is planning to rebuild the original building, manhandling the stone blocks entirely on his own.
Attempting to leave the ghosts of the Kinglake fires behind them, Jo and Marcus bought Woodcot Park. They find that they have taken on not only a restoration but also the ghost of the original Scottish owner.
The little shop in Harrington Street is one of the oldest timber buildings left in Hobart. Vacant and derelict, it has been the victim of two arson attacks. To avoid demolition, owners Haydn and Penny need to act. We join Hadyn and Penny in their fight to save the building. They plan to recreate the shop and restore the living area above as their main residence. What we will witness is an incredible commitment to heritage and appreciation for detail as they balance what is left of the building with what they can source. But is this shop really capable of restoration? And will Penny ever get a proper kitchen?
Marnie and Dale dream of converting the beautiful Gervasoni Homestead into a unique family home. The original owner, Carlo Gervasoni came seeking gold in 1852 but instead started a dairy business selling milk, butter and other products to the gold miners. He built this group of buildings from the local stone. Over two years, it’s Marnie and Dale’s plan to restore first the black smithy, then ‘grannies’ cottage, which they will progressively live in, before they restore the two story stone house in the third year. With their new baby, Gilly, they initially move into a caravan on site. Winter is approaching. Has the romance of these beautiful buildings gone to their heads, and do they have the skills and dedication to complete this restoration?
Is the cottage Emmaville the long lost birth place of legendary bush poet and composer of ‘Waltzing Matilda’, Banjo Patterson? Whether it is or isn’t, this cottage is one of the oldest in the colony and the unique style of architecture should be saved. Luckily, the locals have banded together under the leadership of Reg to save it from demolition and restore it to its original glory. With the cottage precariously sited on the edge of footy oval and under threat from developers, the community must rally together and act quickly, lifting and transporting it to a new resting place, next to the city’s botanic garden. However, the clock is already ticking as the restoration needs to be completed in time to celebrate Banjo’s 150th Birthday, only a year away.
Keera Vale is one of the oldest properties in the Wollongong area. Built in 1843 for Judge Therry, the building has been unloved and butchered by many succeeding owners and requires major restoration. But this hasn’t deterred Jen and Harold. These two fell in love with the ‘house on the hill’ and their impetuous move to buy it may indeed be a case of ‘love is blind’. The house, made of crumbling convict bricks, has many surprises in store for the pair. Jen is passionate and dynamic, Harold is a born builder and nothing will stop them fulfilling their dream of restoring and living in Keera Vale with their family. With a big mortgage, Harold has taken long service leave to do most of the work himself. But living in this house with their four children, is going to put their passion and patience to the test.
Established in 1853 by the Warwicks, Holowiliena is the only remaining pastoral property in Australia held by the original family. Many of the original settlers’ buildings are also still standing, but they are in desperate need of restoration. These days Frances and her husband Luke assist her father, Richard Warwick, in the running of the property. But with two families to feed, and a property on the edge of marginal land, they are looking for ways to make ends meet. Restoring the buildings built by their forebears could hold the key to protecting their unique history and also to securing the family’s long term future. But without the finances or skills, Frances needs help and she finds it in a unique ‘Construction Industry Training Scheme’, run by English stone mason Keith McAllister.
Host Stuart Harrison meets a Perth couple who want to resurrect their adored family home that was lost to fire in 2015. But will they be able to rebuild the 1960s iconic modernist house as its original architect envisioned?
Dale and Michael embark on a project to restore two 19th Century timber cottages on their Tasmanian rural property. Will they accomplish their dream?
The 1960s introduced us to shag rugs, lava lamps, minimalism and bright, open spaces. Melbourne couple Laura and Reece are leaving inner Melbourne for suburbia, with plans to restore a modernist home to its former glory.
Snapping up a piece of local history and preserving it appealed to Jan and her daughter Annie. Joined by Annie's carpenter partner, Chris, they tackle the daunting task of making the 1840s homestead a new family home.
Johnny and Ann want to transform a 19th Century stables and pickers cottages, in the wine region of McLaren Vale, into their new home. With a Christmas deadline, the pressure is on to restore the derelict buildings.
AFL fanatics John and Rosie have bought an iconic 19th century gasworks building overlooking the North Melbourne Football Club and oval, and they want to turn into their dream home.
Milton Terrace at Millers Point in Sydney was sold off for $4.25M in 2015 as part of the NSW Government's disposal of 300 public housing buildings. For property developer Michael Stokes, it's a Mayfair terrace in the making!
Hardware store owners Jo and Digby McNeil took on more than just the restoration of a heritage home in Inverell, NSW, when they bought an historic 'job lot' that included a convent and an old boys' boarding school.
Carl and Jennie Palmer set about trying to recreate their Federation homestead's grandeur but finding the line between a functioning modern home and a heritage restoration is harder than they anticipate.
When carpenter Kate and her mother Ann buy two old prospecting huts for $100,000 in Clydesdale in regional Victoria, they take on 180 years worth of dilapidation.
When a former Baptist Church-cum-nightclub hits the market in Ballarat, local anaesthetist Michael Whitehead buys it and plans to turn it into a home, but he soon finds the task could drag on for eternity.
When a Sydney couple buy a colonial cottage in one of Australia's most protected heritage areas, they get more than they bargained for. How will they transform a home from the 19th century into a family home for the 21st?
When Mel and Jack buy a derelict old Queenslander for $21,000 and move it to their land in Noosa it seems they've scored the bargain of the century, or at least a century old bargain!
Heritage devotees Val and John Jessop decide to buy and reassemble two old buildings - an old ghost town cottage and an old sawmill. What could be more difficult than that?
Host Anthony Burke meets Deb and Mike who are saving a rickety colonial cottage and digging for the true story of its origins.
Host Anthony Burke meets a couple who are transforming their Mid-Century Modern 1950s house into a family home suitable for 21st Century living, in a beachside paradise just outside Melbourne.
Host Anthony Burke meets a couple who've bought a huge rundown Victorian mansion in Milton, NSW and plan to restore its regal beauty and throw open its doors to the local community.
Host Anthony Burke meets retired couple David and Mandy who take on the transformation of a hugely significant historic cottage in Hobart, Tasmania.
Host Anthony Burke meets a couple who are saving an important example of Federation Queen Anne architecture in coastal NSW, while dealing with a profound health crisis.
Host Anthony Burke meets a couple who have purchased one of the most significant buildings in the historic town of Kyneton, Victoria.
Host Anthony Burke meets Martin Nix who is restoring an 1850s workers cottage in Balmain on Sydney Harbour, all while dealing with a recent family tragedy.
Anthony Burke meets self-confessed 'Architecture Nerds' Annette and Michael Pitman who own the smallest of all the Walter Burley Griffin-designed houses in Castlecrag and want to restore and extend the house.
Host Anthony Burke meets a young couple turning a big crumbling church in remote South Australia - bought with a credit card - into a family home, using the internet as their guide.
Host Anthony Burke meets a couple turning a neglected inner-city Queenslander into a period showcase and eco-friendly, healthy haven as one partner recovers from cancer.
Host Anthony Burke meets a young couple transforming a tiny miner's cottage into a family home in a celebration of sustainability and old-fashioned craftsmanship.
Host Anthony Burke meets a couple turning a dilapidated orphanage into a family home. Can their restoration bring laughter and warmth back to an institutional building with a confronting history?
When a charming old Queenslander travels 800 kilometres south of the tropics to an eco-village, it needs a complete retrofit to become uber energy efficient - but will this come at the expense of its heritage?
Host Anthony Burke meets a family aiming to turn a tiny war memorial church into a holiday home in the face of local hopes it would be kept as a venerated public landmark.
Host Anthony Burke meets a Brisbane couple determined to return a vandalised, graffiti-daubed wreck to its rightful place as one of the city's finest mansions, no matter the cost.
Host Anthony Burke meets a King Islander returning home to one of Australia's most remote and weatherbeaten outposts to reclaim and restore a derelict farmhouse.
Host Professor Anthony Burke joins a dedicated couple doing all they can to preserve a valuable slice of Australian history that would otherwise dissolve into the dirt and be lost forever.
Anthony Burke meets a couple supersizing a beachside bungalow into a Sydney trophy home while still somehow trying to preserve its quaint 1920's identity.
Anthony Burke meets a couple turning an 1880s two-storey weatherboard wreck in South Melbourne into a dream home for their growing young family.
Anthony Burke meets a couple aiming to restore a crumbling stone police station and hope to solve the baffling case of the missing jailhouse.
