Across eight new episodes, Restoration Australia will see host, architect and historian Stuart Harrison take viewers on a journey meeting some of Australia’s bravest heritage warriors as they transform tumbledown ruins into their remarkable historic homes.
From a Federation rambler in country NSW, to a massive, but derelict Baptist Church in Ballarat… a beautiful old Queenslander in the Noosa hinterland that was cut up and bought for $21,000, to a grand inner-city terrace under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the series follows the homeowners as they embark on the massive tasks of restoring their old homes. But the vision of re-creating the houses to turn them into ‘forever’ homes isn’t simple.
It’s Stuart’s job to help the homeowners on the journey, not only investigating their homes’ historic past but also providing advice, support and insight into the restoration process. With often tight budgets and limited timeframes the challenge is to help them protect the past while creating beautiful and functional homes for the present without compromising what they fell in love with in the first place.
Episode one tells the story of Milton Terrace at Millers Point in Sydney. Controversially sold off for $4.25 million in 2015 as part of then NSW State Government’s disposal of 300 public housing buildings, this former boarding house was derelict, riddled with termites and stripped of much of its original Victorian charm.
But for property developer Michael Stokes and his partner Maryanne Collins, it was a glamourous Mayfair terrace in the making! But high-end glamour and stringent heritage requirements are not the most compatible bedfellows and finding the middle ground is a painful and expensive business.
Production details: ABC Executive Producer, Leo Faber. Supervising Executive Producer, Brook Bayvel. Executive Producer, Amanda Bainbridge. A Fremantle Australia production.
