Restoration Australia S7E02,
Restoration Australia - Season 7 Episode 2,
Restoration Australia Season 7 Episode 2,
Restoration Australia ,
#RestorationAustralia
Restoration Australia - Season 7 Episode 2,
Restoration Australia Season 7 Episode 2,
Restoration Australia ,
#RestorationAustralia
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00A big period home close to the city has become a cruel mirage for so many everyday Australians
00:10looking for some room and some heritage style.
00:13And if you're a young working couple planning to start a family, well forget about it.
00:19Unless of course you don't mind some traffic at the front gate and you're prepared to
00:23look beyond a catalogue of ugly alterations and decades of guest room detritus and some
00:29fine print that imperils the very house itself to imagine and then conjure your inner city
00:36forever home.
00:42I'm Anthony Berg, a professor of architecture, passionate about buildings of the past.
00:48This is incredibly impressive.
00:51And what they can tell us about better ways to live in the future.
00:54This is very confronting.
00:56It's a ruin.
00:57It is.
00:58It's a ruin for the country, meaning homeowners embarking on the challenge of a lifetime,
01:03restoring homes from the 1800s to the swinging 60s, looking to balance our rich cultural
01:10heritage with life in modern Australia.
01:23It's a pulsing old artery close to the beating heart of Melbourne.
01:27The legendary Punt Road.
01:30Choked and sclerotic in places, carrying traffic it just wasn't built for, Punt Road is nevertheless
01:37one of Australian sports' great boulevards, spearing alongside Melbourne's legendary
01:42sporting precinct, which of course includes the mighty MCG.
01:48The Hoddle Bridge takes Punt Road over the Yarra, where the namesake punts once ferried
01:53horses and carriages and people in the early days of the city.
01:58This hard-working road grinds on through the suburbs of South Yarra and Paran.
02:04I always wanted to live in a suburb where I felt like I had everything there and Paran
02:08has that.
02:09If you're going to be in central Melbourne and you want to be near parks, there's no
02:14way better.
02:15We've got great shopping precinct, there's lovely little antique stores that we can browse
02:20on a Saturday, which is nice.
02:22On a good day, you can walk into the city and we just love the area.
02:29Look at those chandeliers.
02:31Lovely, right?
02:33Thirty-somethings Steph and Paul Ryan recently completed a renovation in an outer suburb
02:38and now they've got their hearts set on a period house in this stylish slice of inner
02:43Melbourne.
02:46We really love the older Victorian properties and around, you know, Paran, there just aren't
02:54any that aren't already restored to a really high quality and unavailable to us within
03:01our budget.
03:02They've both got good jobs.
03:04Steph's a marketing manager and Paul's a software engineer, but there's another looming lid
03:10on their finances.
03:12They're planning to have kids.
03:14We were trying for a baby back in 2020 and it didn't happen.
03:19And after some tests, it came back that IVF was probably the best route for us.
03:24So we actually froze embryos last year.
03:28And when the time is right, we will be getting them out of the freezer.
03:32We want to have a family and not have to move for a long time.
03:35So not just an affordable period house in Paran, a house big enough for a growing tribe
03:41of Ryans.
03:44What about a monster house like this on busy Punt Road?
03:50We first walked in, didn't we?
03:52And kind of had our breath taken away by the absolute scale of everything.
03:56And I immediately started saying to Paul, we have to have this house.
04:02This is my husband checking out the size of the corbels.
04:04He loves a big corbel, as do I.
04:06We're very excited.
04:07This is a horrible hellhole that was under the stairs.
04:11I swear somebody probably died here.
04:13It's really creepy.
04:15This late 19th century Italianate mansion started out as a grand family home.
04:21But as the calendar flipped into this century, it had become a gritty backpacker's hostel,
04:26Lord's Lodge.
04:27At times, it was hard to know what was noisier, the traffic on Punt Road or the partying punters
04:33inside.
04:34At first glance, I said I didn't like it because it was on a busy main road in Melbourne.
04:40But we went and had a look at it and I realised that once the door is closed, that's the home
04:45that you're living in, not the road that you're on.
04:47Still, this is a grand period mansion on a good-sized block in premium Peran.
04:53Surely, it was out of their reach.
04:56Well, no.
04:57Turns out, Lord's Lodge is sitting on some precarious ground.
05:02It's subject to what's known as a public acquisition overlay.
05:06Which in theory means the council can widen the road, which would mean buying and demoing
05:12our house.
05:13I think that put off quite a few people, but that was what got us in.
05:17If it was facing the other way around or it was a block in the right direction, it could
05:22be $2 million more expensive.
05:25They bought Lord's Lodge in 2021 for just under $2 million.
05:30The prospect of a council wrecking ball hanging over the house scared off most people.
05:35But Paul and Steph were prepared to risk it.
05:38They're brave, optimistic and prepared to do whatever it takes to make this work.
05:43So, currently, we're living with my mother and we're back in the same bedroom I was in
05:50when I was 17 years old, only now I have my wife with me and my dog.
05:56And thank you, Mum, for being so generous and putting up with us.
06:02Steph and Paul reckon this project was meant to be, written in the stars.
06:07Its previous life as budget accommodation was an omen.
06:12We met 15 years ago in a Backpackers in Bangkok.
06:15And now, 15 years later, we're renovating a Backpackers to live in as our family home.
06:20The dream home that we love so much, that will support a growing family, but is also
06:26the peri-property that we love.
06:29They're going to be in this house for quite a while.
06:35That is, of course, unless the local council decides that the traffic jams along Punt Road
06:39here need some relief and decide to compulsorily acquire their family home in the making.
06:46But surely not.
06:47Well, hopefully not.
06:49Paul and Steph certainly don't think it's going to happen, but who knows?
06:52It's a big roll of the dice.
06:55I'm going to jump on their optimism bandwagon for now, but what if they can pull this off?
07:00I mean, what a triumph.
07:01Prahran is such a fantastic place to raise a family, and all the beautiful parklands
07:07surrounding are an absolute antidote to all of this Punt Road mayhem.
07:17Hey, Paul.
07:18Hey, Steph.
07:19Hey.
07:20It's like coming into a secret garden, isn't it?
07:23We like to think so.
07:24Yeah, beautiful.
07:25Well, obviously, a mid-Victorian you've got here, but the Italianate expression here is
07:31wonderful.
07:32You've got the asymmetrical facade, the extended eaves up there, relatively flat roof, the
07:37bracketing, all those things you might see if you're walking around the Italian countryside.
07:41At this period, the Victorians, they were really keen to try and bring that flavour
07:45with them.
07:46Actually, the Italian style had gone through the UK, America, and then to Australia in
07:51sort of around the 1850s on.
07:53So there's an aspiration here about a beautiful, rustic lifestyle or a wonderful palazzo.
07:59We know that it was built in 1876.
08:03If you were to build a building like this today, it would be ostentatious and ridiculous.
08:08But restoring something that was built like this so long ago is acceptable and lovely.
08:14Yeah.
08:15So that period is really interesting.
08:16That late 1870s, we're about to come into boom time, and there's a lot of money in Melbourne.
08:20There's a lot of aspiration, a lot of success needing to be expressed, if I could put it
08:25that way.
08:26This has all been boarded in from when it was a hostel.
08:29They didn't actually destroy too much.
08:31There's actually a lot of the original beauty still there, like the Victorian tiles, like
08:35the original lacework, which are able to be kept.
08:39So I guess I'm going to see a bit more of that detail inside.
08:41You sure will.
08:42We'd love to show you.
08:43Can we have a look?
08:44Yeah.
08:45Please.
08:46The house was a family home for only a short time after it was built.
08:49And inside, the Italianate promise of the facade fades into the stark facility of its
08:55budget accommodation years.
08:58It's a bit of a disappointment.
08:59Well, welcome.
09:00Yeah.
09:01All the promise from out there, and then you come into this.
09:03It looks like it's had some really tough days.
09:05It has.
09:06It's been bedsits, it's been a hostel, it's been a halfway house.
09:11We're going to be the first family to live in this house in 100 years.
09:15The good thing is that because it was a hostel and that they were trying to cut corners,
09:19they actually just did things where they just built around what was already there,
09:22which is actually making this restoration easier.
09:25We're not having to source original parts of the house.
09:28So yeah, what's already here is going to come to life, but then we are going to be modernizing
09:32where we can to fit today's living.
09:34Yeah.
09:35Yeah, you're not going to come into this house and think you've been teleported back in time,
09:38but hopefully you'll be able to appreciate some of the amazing features that they had
09:42from that time.
09:45Yeah.
09:48There's features like these columns, which is why we bought the house.
09:52We just love them.
09:53These are spectacular, aren't they?
09:54Look at the commitment.
09:55It's so grand as an expression of this house, and these corbels, look at the size of that.
10:00Yep.
10:01They're pretty huge.
10:02Oh, wow.
10:03Love it.
10:04Chunky, ornate Corinthian columns and sweeping staircases aside.
10:09That balustrade is beautiful.
10:12And even allowing for other surviving features.
10:15All the detail is still here.
10:16Look at the roses, the ceiling roses, the corbels, everywhere there's this little bit
10:20of floral patterning going on and detail, just decoration, which is fantastic.
10:26The backpacker period still dominates, from the bleak institutional ablution areas to
10:32the charmless fluoro lit admin rooms, all the way up to where even the smallest, noisiest
10:39spaces were converted for service.
10:42This would have been a bedroom, this little balcony.
10:47It's unbelievable.
10:48Yeah.
10:49It's a crazy jumble of the very grand and the very grubby.
10:53And then I suppose, oh my, this is disgusting.
10:56It's horrendous.
10:57It is.
10:58Yep.
10:59I mean, that's just terrible.
11:00And there's a pair of pants above your head there, so just don't walk under there.
11:02Don't walk under the unlucky underpants that are hanging from the ceiling.
11:04Is that what you're saying?
11:05Yeah.
11:06We're too scared to touch them.
11:08Steph and Paul have managed to declutter and ditch the dorm room partitions of these upstairs
11:13bedrooms, and they're back to being enormous.
11:19In fact, pretty much all of the original rooms with their floor space and vaulted ceilings
11:24are gigantic.
11:25But upstairs, Paul and Steph are losing the smallest bedroom, saying bye-bye to the backpacker
11:31conveniences and creating their master bedroom, walk-in robe and ensuite.
11:37The bathroom will be created next to the staircase, and those undistrewn dog boxes
11:42at the front will become the open balcony they once were.
11:46Downstairs, a later lean-to will go altogether, shrinking the overall size of the footprint.
11:53The cluttered floor plan will give way to open plan, two sprawling living areas, a dining
12:00area opening onto the garden, and a kitchen in the middle of it all.
12:04And so, a rough-and-tumble Backpackers becomes an elegant, sophisticated four-bedroom family
12:10home.
12:12That's pretty unusual, putting the kitchen right in the middle of the home.
12:16What's the thinking there?
12:17Yeah, it is unusual, but we wanted to live within the main rooms that we're spending
12:21most of our time with.
12:22We wanted them to be within the main part of the building and not in some extension
12:25out the back.
12:26Okay.
12:27These formal rooms in these older houses that get treated as formal rooms are often where
12:32you go to collect dust, and that's all that happens.
12:34So, what you're saying is, by moving the kitchen closer to the center, you're actually
12:38going to be in here all the time.
12:40Exactly.
12:41That's why we bought the house.
12:42The scale of these types of rooms just impressed us so much, and we want to be living in these
12:46original rooms.
12:47Yeah.
12:48I mean, scale.
12:49Just look at the size of the skirting boards.
12:50I know.
12:51I love big skirting boards.
12:52They're my thing.
12:53Oh, you've got a thing for skirting boards.
12:54Yep, I do.
12:55Even as a kid, I would always notice the size of skirting boards when I would walk into
12:59houses.
13:00So, when I walked into this house and I saw them, I was very impressed.
13:05That's quite specific.
13:06Yeah.
13:07I was a weird kid.
13:12So, this is a long time coming, or this is a dream come true?
13:15Dream come true.
13:16Yeah.
13:17I think so as well.
13:18How much money is this dream going to cost you?
13:20Well, we have a million dollars to do everything that needs to be done.
13:25Do you just need to have a little breath with that number?
13:27Yeah, look, it hurts.
13:31It's a lot of money that we have to borrow to get this done, and interest rates have
13:35changed a lot in the last 12 months.
13:38We wouldn't, I don't think we possibly could have started this project today if we had
13:43of known what interest rates were going to be like.
13:46It's going to be very challenging, I think, over the coming years.
13:49It sounds quite precarious.
13:50Yeah.
13:51Financially speaking.
13:52Yeah.
13:53And we are making sacrifices.
13:54Day to day, we're cutting back on things to help pay for this.
13:57What happens when you go over a million dollars?
14:00We can't.
14:02We hope that we can get everything we want done for that money.
14:05If we can't, we have to make some compromises.
14:07So what is your timeframe for the project?
14:10We're expecting it to be done 12 months from today.
14:12Wow, 12 months is pretty tight, I'd suggest.
14:16I mean, if you go over 12 months, how's that going to affect you?
14:21I mean, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but things like starting a family is on hold
14:26until we know with certainty that we will be in this house.
14:29So it is going to have an effect on our lives.
14:33What do you think the backpackers who would be sitting here normally at Lord's Lodge would
14:36be saying now?
14:37I think they'd think we're so boring, they'd say, keep the party house going.
14:45As we've come to know in restoration, time is money.
14:48And 12 months to complete all of this, to me, feels like a fantasy.
14:53The tolerances on this project are so very thin and it's not going to take much of a
14:58drift in the schedule to push Paul and Steph over their budget.
15:01And when you consider the sheer scale of what they're trying to achieve here, as well as
15:06all the unknowns lurking inside this monster house, their ambitions become really precarious.
15:14It's going to be fascinating to see how they navigate what's ahead.
15:26Seven months after buying the house, the building permit has finally arrived, as have
15:32the demolition crew on site to unbuild the unoriginal additions.
15:39We're actually making this house smaller.
15:41We're not extending on it, so we're removing extensions that have previously been built.
15:47We're just so glad that the demo started.
15:50We're really getting stuck in now and we're seeing everything change.
15:54We've been waiting so long, it's almost unbelievable that we're here now and it's really started.
15:59That is good, yeah.
16:02Steph and Paul want to shake off these unsympathetic extensions, including a redundant kitchen
16:08and an ugly lean-to, and work with the original configuration.
16:13Cigarette butts, lighters, cutlery.
16:18No surprise really, the demo uncovers more party hostel relics in oddball places.
16:24That's you, pool ball.
16:26Undies in the rafters, pool balls in an unlikely pocket out back.
16:31What went on at Lord's Lodge?
16:34But as all this unsightly stuff comes down, Steph and Paul have been further pressed by
16:38what's been going up and up and up.
16:42The relentless rise in interest rates has already forced a rethink.
16:49We had some capacity to handle some interest rate rises, we knew that interest rates were
16:54very low, but we obviously didn't expect to have increases at the rate that they are in
17:00and it's certainly been a significant financial pressure.
17:03It feels now like things have stabilised.
17:06We know it's expensive, but at least we know how to prepare for it.
17:10We have these grand plans of having this beautiful home with everything finished and that's realistically
17:15not going to happen.
17:16We've had to de-scope things, but it's not going to affect us actually moving in.
17:21Making the house liveable is the number one priority for us, even if it's not completely finished.
17:29One feature they're not prepared to sacrifice in their restoration review, the striking
17:34suite of original sash windows.
17:38We're keeping all the architrave and the sills hopefully, but the windows themselves are
17:43going to have to get reproduced.
17:45We have had break-ins and that has been because the original windows have been so thin that
17:50it's been very easy for people to break in, so from a security point of view I'm excited.
17:54We're getting the double glazing in as well, so it's fantastic being on Punt Road with
17:58the double glazing.
17:59And they're going to be lifelike, so I'm happy.
18:03It feels like windows are almost the house's jewellery.
18:07You know, that's what you see when you look at the house, the windows, and to have that
18:11put into the house and to know that they're sturdy, they're going to last another 150
18:15years, hopefully longer, because we're going to be looking after them in our lifetime,
18:18that is money well spent to me.
18:21And we'll be able to keep these little brass handles as well.
18:23Yeah, for sure.
18:24I didn't even realise that we had these.
18:26No.
18:27It wasn't something I'd even realised, but it's a really lovely Italianate feature.
18:32They're huge and heavy, and they've seen more than a century of Melbourne weather, rattled
18:37with the heavy Punt Road traffic outside and trembled with the backpacker antics inside.
18:43But they've had their day.
18:45The sash actions are shot, and they can't readily accommodate the new double glazing
18:50Steph and Paul need to keep the noise out and the warmth in.
18:54So they're coming out for copying.
19:08So this is why we took them all out of the house rather than trying to measure them up.
19:11We didn't want to leave it to trial and error.
19:13So we brought them here, and we've made these directly from your windows, so we know they
19:19fit.
19:20Fingers crossed.
19:21Absolutely.
19:22Window maker Steve and his team have the old school skills to precisely replicate the original
19:29windows and set them up for more effective use.
19:33It's so good to see this being made in the same way that it would have been originally
19:37in the house.
19:39We try and keep it traditional.
19:42Each one of these windows are a composition of precision parts, from the arched tops crowning
19:48the upper sash to the distinctive profiles of the timber panels.
19:53This profile is very Victorian, and we found, yeah, it matches yours exactly.
19:58And they look wonderful.
19:59Thank you, yeah.
20:01These window pieces are joined the old-fashioned way, mortise and tenon, and the pride of Steve's
20:07factory is a veteran mortiser that's still sharply accurate 100 years on.
20:13We've dated this machine back to the 1920s, and the way we've done this is my wife's great-grandfather
20:19gave us these books, and we've found the exact same machine in there.
20:24As you can see, it's a carbon copy.
20:26It looks a little bit better here, but, yeah, carbon copy.
20:30Yeah, you can tell.
20:31It's the same thing.
20:32This one's got a few battle scars.
20:33Oh, definitely got some battle scars, yeah.
20:36This reliable old Centurion cuts square rebates in one piece of wood to receive the timber
20:42tenon from another.
20:44No nails, no screws, and when it's all glued up, it's tight as a drum.
20:49We use modern glues now, so they stay together a lot better, but apart from that, we keep
20:55all the traditions running.
20:57So hopefully we'll have these beautiful windows lasting us another 150 years.
21:01150 years, I'd like to see that.
21:06This is one of the project's big ticket items.
21:09Removing, reproducing and reinstalling the windows is going to cost $130,000.
21:17Steph is going to be super excited when she sees these and all the small details that
21:22have been reproduced.
21:23The amount of work, the craftsmanship that's involved in creating these windows, it really
21:28is special.
21:29Oh, that's great.
21:31I just really can't wait to see them in place, finished.
21:34It's going to be amazing.
21:41Back on site, altogether new window and door spaces are being created at the rear of the
21:46house to get as much natural light as possible into the new, freer-flowing zones.
21:52Inside, Operation Open Plan is underway and walls are coming down.
21:59Downstairs where Steph and Paul are turning a host of rooms into a conjoined living, kitchen
22:04and dining area.
22:05This feels huge.
22:08And upstairs...
22:09So, I've just cut back this old lard and now I'm about to jump on the demo saw and cut
22:15this opening.
22:16This is going to be into the walk-in robe slash ensuite.
22:25They're turning the smallest bedroom and a couple of adjoining rooms into a grander,
22:30cohesive master suite.
22:32I want to take the bricks down, give them a bit of a clean and we'll keep all these
22:39to use to close up any old openings and do the new brick wall out the front.
22:43So, hopefully we get another 100 years out of it.
22:48Structural stuff like this, in such a grand setting, is another big budget item.
22:53But for Steph and Paul, it's all very necessary as they turn this old backpacker warren into
22:59a functional family home.
23:02All the vestiges of those backpacker years have got to go.
23:05And out the front, there's a moment of symbolism as the old Lord's Lodge hoardings come down
23:12and the building sheds its commercial skin.
23:15Do you want to keep the awning?
23:18Absolutely not.
23:19That is one part that I'm happy to throw in the bin.
23:26It's the end of an era.
23:28Some famous, or is that infamous, Horan's signage bites the dust.
23:45The bustling inner city suburb we know today, with its rich vein of heritage housing, grew
23:50out of marshy, wildlife-rich ground, home to the Wurundjeri, Wairarung and Boonwurrung
23:57peoples of the East Kulin Nation.
23:59They called it Pararan, land partially surrounded by water.
24:03But with the arrival of Europeans, the establishment of Melbourne and then the supercharged propulsion
24:09of the Gold Rush, the area south and east of the Yarra soon became a scene of frenetic
24:15development.
24:18We've got some early subdivision plans here, showing the first subdivision here.
24:26Local historian Simone has assembled a timeline of Steph and Paul's house, and it's intriguing.
24:33The period of the 1880s was known as the land boom time in Melbourne, and there was a lot
24:39of development, including in Paran, where the population doubled from 20,000 to 40,000
24:45just in those 10 years.
24:47Paran was targeted by speculators keen to cash in.
24:51One developer, John Longbottom, bought a couple of punt road blocks, commissioned an Italianate
24:56pile on one of them and flipped it, and so began its short early iteration as a family
25:01home until a crippling drought triggered a real estate crash and the untimely death of
25:07its first occupant, John Morrow.
25:09From heat stroke, there was a really bad drought that year, which also precipitated the land
25:15crash and really hot weather even in the suburbs.
25:19And John Morrow was one of four people who passed away that week of heat stroke.
25:24Wow, that's remarkable.
25:26The house was the scene of a small-time burglary that still made the local paper, earned a
25:31new name Menindee somewhere along the way, and for one high-flying stretch in the early
25:361900s, became the official residence of the Dutch Consul General.
25:41He was Boshart, the Consul General, and his wife Louisa.
25:46Oh, this is quite posh, old sutters.
25:48And they're entertaining dignitaries, including, of course, the local councillors, but also
25:54the Governor General.
25:56So it was quite a thriving place in the early 20th century in this house.
26:01So that would have really put this house on the map.
26:04Yes.
26:05Perhaps it was the harsh social conditions of the Great Depression, followed by the upheaval
26:09of the Second World War, that saw Menindee start its long life as budget accommodation,
26:15transferring all the way through to its most recent chapter as Lord's Lodge.
26:19It has.
26:20It's had a few personalities.
26:21It has.
26:22And a lot of occupants.
26:24Yes.
26:25A lot of people have moved through here.
26:27So it really has seen it all.
26:29It has.
26:30Yes.
26:31Yes.
26:32It's quite a little microcosm of Perhans, even Melbourne's, history in the one house.
26:37Oh, if the walls could talk.
26:39And they are a little bit, aren't they?
26:40Yeah.
26:46Forget the walls, we've found another witness to the more raucous life and times of Lord's
26:51Lodge, far from the pell-mell of Punt Road and Perhans, in the storied goldfields town
26:57of Castlemaine.
26:59That's the business.
27:00Fruit here in Castlemaine.
27:02Oh, fantastic.
27:03Castlemaine, if you're a local.
27:06I haven't looked at these photos in years, but you can see eating areas out the back,
27:10communal eating areas, the kitchen faced out into the outdoor courtyard.
27:14Oh, yeah, right.
27:15In the good weather, people would be sunbathing out the front and having a great time.
27:19Yeah, music going.
27:20Publican Pat was about the same age of many of his backpacker guests when he took on the
27:25creaking premises and the backpacker business.
27:28I took on the lease back in 2006 when I was 26 years old and ran it as a backpacker hostel
27:35for 14 years.
27:36Right.
27:37That sounds kind of like a crazy thing for a 26-year-old to do.
27:40For me, it was always a dream to run a hostel.
27:43It was a pretty run-down old building, but it still had all these great aspects of the
27:49period that it was built in.
27:51And that was a big part of the charm.
27:52And so how many backpackers are we talking about at any one time?
27:55Up to about 50.
27:56Eight or nine in some of the rooms, sleeping in a room at a time.
28:00Oh, great.
28:01There was a lot of nightlife around the area.
28:05And so the backpackers would go out, they'd have a good time, and they'd bring the fun
28:09home.
28:10Yeah, OK.
28:11Come back and make a lot of noise.
28:12Yes.
28:13It was a great sense of humour to live next to us.
28:16So it was that kind of melting pot where, you know, people from all over.
28:20Pat recalls a kind of knockabout United Nations of wide-eyed, globetrotting youth, cooking,
28:27sleeping like sardines, partying, forming friendships, even falling in love.
28:33Five marriages that we know of of people who met there in that 14-year period.
28:39So Lord's Lodge has created families.
28:42And Pat, for one, couldn't be happier.
28:44It's now getting a new life as a family home.
28:48It brought people together.
28:50And I'm thrilled that it's now going to be a family home where a family unit can live.
28:55I'm thrilled for the building, too.
28:57It's going to get a bit of relief now.
28:58It's really beautiful, actually.
28:59It's sort of full circle, isn't it?
29:01Started off as a house, went through as a sort of a boarding house, then a hostel, Lord's
29:05Lodge, now coming back to a house for a young family.
29:09And as you say, the house itself is saved.
29:12Yes.
29:20Back at Punt Road, the first tranche of recreated windows has arrived on site.
29:28They should fit seamlessly into their spaces and match up with the originals as readily
29:33as twin brother chippies, Michael and Alex.
29:37Now we just need to get it up to level back on our packers.
29:40We've worked together for the past 13 years.
29:45When they first meet us, people do do a double take to see if we're the same person or not.
29:49Hence why I've gone blonde.
29:50Made it easier for people to tell the difference.
29:54This place is around 150 years old, so to get these windows exactly spot on is quite
30:01a task.
30:02Top first.
30:03Top first.
30:04Bottom in.
30:06These windows are quite heavy.
30:07If they get damaged, they've got to be remade.
30:08So that's not good for anybody.
30:14Upstairs, the relentless effort to fit as many guests as possible into the old Lord's
30:19Lodge layout meant an original window opening became a doorway to that cramped, enclosed
30:25balcony space.
30:31Thankfully, that unsightly, cannibalised opening is being returned to its original purpose.
30:36And with the new windows in place, the façade of the house will be well on its way back
30:41in time, looking just as it did when it was first built.
30:47These old houses have such a history and story behind them that we're just a small chapter
30:51of that now, which is great.
30:53We are pretty proud.
30:54Pretty proud.
31:01Beautiful.
31:02Sweet.
31:06Beautiful.
31:18It's been five months since work started and that Italianate face has lifted immeasurably.
31:24The balconies, top and bottom, have been unboxed and the original façade is revealing its
31:30old self.
31:31But so too are the yawning gaps between the budget and the real costs of restoring this
31:36giant house.
31:38And we'll be able to sandblast all of this?
31:40Yeah, we will.
31:41We'll be able to sandblast those and restore those for repainting.
31:45OK.
31:46But, yes, replicating it exactly the same upstairs is a bit of an issue.
31:52Restorative structural and cosmetic work on the balconies, including sandblasting and
31:57repainting the ground floor fretwork, was in range, but the cost of replacing the rusty
32:03upstairs fretwork with cast iron has surprised Steph and builder Tom.
32:08It's prohibitive.
32:09So, obviously, we have to look at some alternate ways to replicate as much of the original
32:17features as possible.
32:18Yes.
32:19So doing off-the-shelf aluminium profiles is probably going to be the best solution.
32:25This is just one of the quirks, one of the compromises we're having to make with the
32:27house.
32:28As long as we can do something which will have a nod to its Victorian heritage, then
32:33we'll be happy with that.
32:34Yeah, I think so.
32:38We bought this house because we love all of the original features and we wanted to restore
32:42as many of them as possible.
32:44But the balcony was something for us, the balcony and the veranda, was something where
32:47we were really excited to replicate that as it would have been and, yeah, I mean, to replicate
32:54this in cast iron would have been amazing, but the cost has just come in way above what
32:59we thought it was going to be because replicating stuff like this is not cheap.
33:05But there is the aluminium option, so, yeah, I think I need to remind myself we bought
33:10this house.
33:11Someone else could have bought this to knock it down and we're doing a good job.
33:15So I just need to remind myself of that.
33:24The epic plasterwork, the restoration and installation of the intricate ceiling roses
33:29and the miles and miles of cornices, and the elaborate corbels peppered throughout the
33:37house are also draining the budget big time.
33:40Currently, based on his quote, we just can't possibly afford to do the exterior painting.
33:47Because if we're going to do any more, we'd have him do interiors.
33:52Steph and Paul are building a list of things they just won't be able to do, and it's growing
33:57longer and longer.
33:59The budget for the front wall looks like it's just not going to be there for this first
34:04phase, so something we'll have to address down the track.
34:07It looks like we may be doing a significant amount of the painting ourselves.
34:13If we can't figure out where that money is coming from, that's yet to come.
34:18Certainly all the garden is stuff for us to sort out.
34:20I think external painting will be down the track.
34:23There's some more work on the balcony and veranda to do in the future as well.
34:30So this is definitely going to be a project that continues over some time.
34:34Despite the issues we're having, you know, with money at the moment, our goal is definitely
34:39to finish the project in the way that we feel is appropriate.
34:43So if we don't have the money to do something the way that it deserves to be done, we're
34:47just going to not do it at all until we can find the money to address it properly.
34:53So far, we haven't had to cut anything that's critical to us living in the house, anything
34:59critical to the practicality of us living in there, so assuming we get to the end in
35:04that state, then, you know, very happy.
35:13The intensifying budget squeeze means some of the grunt work has become do-it-yourself.
35:18Originally, I didn't think that I'd be doing this.
35:23I thought we'd have the builders, some professional trades clean all this up, but I'm taking it
35:28on.
35:29It feels good doing a bit of this stuff myself.
35:32I'll be able to look at it and always know that I sorted it out, so that's great.
35:38There we go.
35:40Stripping, sanding and re-varnishing the staircase balusters is fiddly, repetitive work.
35:46There's 60 of them here, and I think it's going to take me probably half an hour just
35:52to clean this one up, and that doesn't even take into consideration maybe sanding it afterwards
35:58or varnishing it or anything like that.
36:01What 60 half an hour, that's 30 hours.
36:0615 evenings at two hours an evening, I think this will stop being fun, so I'm not sure.
36:12We'll see how we go.
36:21Any money that can be saved in labour is money that can be redirected to work that just cannot
36:26be done DIY.
36:29Deft and delicate restoration work.
36:33Like the repair and rebuild of the magnificent marble fireplace in the downstairs living
36:43room.
36:44It's just extremely challenging to find anyone who wants to repair broken mantelpieces, but
36:49we found someone and it's going to look fantastic, I hope.
36:56The striking marble mantel was cracked and split.
36:59Paul restored the iron hearth himself and saved $1,200, but fixing the main event, the
37:06beautiful marble surround, was specialist work.
37:10I reckon that's level, mate.
37:18There to there, say 5mm, up there we've got, say, 10mm.
37:28And returning it to its original spot isn't a straightforward assignment either, as floors
37:33and walls have slipped and shifted over the life of this house.
37:48A year on from my first visit, Punt Road is as busy and noisy as ever.
37:54But there's plenty of change on site.
37:56It's a picture of progress.
37:58There's so much space here now.
38:01The kitchen's gone, the backpackers have been stripped away.
38:05This is looking great.
38:12Hey Paul.
38:13Hey Anthony.
38:14How are you?
38:15Good, how are you?
38:16Great to see you.
38:17Great to see you.
38:18How are you going?
38:19Very well, thank you.
38:20Lauren's lodge is underway.
38:21She sure is.
38:22Yeah.
38:23She's looking good inside.
38:24Yeah.
38:26Now look, coming through the back, I can see the back, the rear of the property is looking
38:29actually great.
38:30A bit of a clean up.
38:31Yep.
38:32And that'll be fine.
38:33But I can see there's an enormous amount to do out here still.
38:34There is.
38:35Are you actually going to keep the name, Lauren's Lodge?
38:37Probably not.
38:38Well, definitely not.
38:39She's had a few names, but I think we're going to pick Menindee and reinstate that.
38:45And we've got another name that we need to choose, which is that I'm pregnant.
38:49Congratulations.
38:51Oh, that's such marvellous news.
38:53I mean, my God, no pressure then.
38:56So what is this timeline?
38:58So baby is coming on June the 4th, and we get into the house on May the 17th.
39:02So there's about a two week difference.
39:04It's exciting.
39:05So you've literally got, you're going to be moving in two weeks later, you will have the
39:09baby.
39:10Yes, correct.
39:11That is such an uncompromising deadline.
39:13Yeah.
39:14A little bit tighter than we originally maybe had hoped for, but it's good.
39:19I've heard about deadlines before, but this one feels like there's absolutely no wiggle
39:22room.
39:24Nothing like the arrival of your first child to add another level of intensity to this
39:29project.
39:30There's still so much to do outside, so the expectant parents are throwing their entire
39:35focus on the inside, making sure it's going to be ready to accommodate all three of them.
39:41Whatever state it's in by then, there will be no shortage of space.
39:46Upstairs where the master suite is taking solid shape.
39:49But yeah, this now is kind of the, this is where our bed will be.
39:52The ceiling rose is actually centred above the bed.
39:56Okay, controversial.
39:57Yeah, not technically centred to the room, but it will work.
40:04And downstairs, where the living space is now officially vast.
40:10The opening makes this room feel enormous actually, doesn't it?
40:14Yeah, it really does.
40:15This is one of the big structural changes that we made.
40:17The one thing I want to challenge you on is the opening itself is a very contemporary
40:22opening.
40:23It is.
40:24Very minimal.
40:25It is.
40:26Now, in heritage practice, it's either really good practice to not, you know, matchy-matchy.
40:30The other version is, though, looking at this, you think it's a bit too stark for all of
40:33this other high Victorian flamboyance that's going on around it.
40:37Yeah, so we did consider that.
40:40And the kind of approach that we're taking throughout the house is where we're adding
40:43something new.
40:44We're not trying to replicate maybe how it would have been done back in the 1800s, but
40:49instead just accepting that this is a new opening, hence it's modern.
40:53And then everything that is original, we're retaining that original flamboyance, as you
40:57put it.
40:58I'm sort of glad you have done that, because I think actually it would take away from rather
41:02than add to, you know, what's happening in these other rooms here.
41:14With just a couple of months before the baby's due, the momentum's picking up inside the
41:20house.
41:25And it continues to be a contest between the non-negotiable elements of this restoration,
41:30Steph and Paul's must-haves, like the stylish and expensive parquet flooring rolling out
41:35in key areas, and the stuff that can either wait for another time, or that can be done
41:42in a downscaled way.
41:44Let's hold it up then.
41:47Paul is trying to stay out of the way of progress inside, to occupy himself with work that might
41:53have fallen to professionals in the original plan, but that's now out of reach.
41:58Look, it's a compromise.
42:01Obviously, we would love to be getting these sandblasted, but we'd rather spend our money
42:05on other things at the moment of higher priority.
42:08Ideally, the cast iron lacework dressing the front of the house should be professionally
42:13dipped, sandblasted and repainted, but Paul's turned it into a one-man, front yard power
42:19tool and spray can operation.
42:22I am going to be a dad very shortly, and I want to be able to focus on that experience
42:27rather than sanding staircases or, you know, soaking steel or doing any restoration works
42:36for a couple of months, at least at that point.
42:39So it is really important that we get everything to a point that we can live in the house comfortably
42:44and happily, and then, you know, come back to some of these DIY projects in the future.
42:50So that's really what's on my mind at the moment.
42:52That's my preparation.
42:53That's my baby preparation.
42:56All right, so what do we need?
43:06Well we need to go through all of these boxes and decide what do we still want to keep because
43:11we packed these almost two years ago.
43:12I have no idea what's in most of this.
43:15The final frenetic phase of this project isn't just about getting the Punt Road house habitable.
43:21We've got loads of these pieces now, and we're just piling stuff up in here.
43:25I think we can do something with these.
43:28It's about sorting through storage and the salvaged elements plucked from the old Lord's
43:33Lodge carcass and figuring out what to do with it all.
43:37Why did we think this was a good idea to take these from the house?
43:41I think that maybe they're really special.
43:43Well...
43:44They're definitely dirty, but I think they've got a place, maybe.
43:49I'm really impressed how Paul and Steph have managed the challenges that they've had because
43:58there have been things not going right, but their teamwork is just exemplary.
44:07It's unlikely Steph and Paul could have come this far with the Punt Road project if they
44:11hadn't been able to bivouac at Paul's mum, Helen's house, all this time.
44:17Initially it was going to be about a year or so.
44:20I never thought it would be a year, I always thought it would be longer, and I'm delighted
44:26because I'm really happy to have them here, but now it's time for them to start, as they
44:33have, their own family, and it'd be lovely to do that in their own space, in their own
44:40home.
44:47It's been four years since Steph and Paul took their faith and their finances and bet
44:59it all on the house in their quest to get a piece of Paran's stately Victorian elegance.
45:08They knew it would be tough with plenty of compromises on the way, Punt Road for starters,
45:13but that was just the beginning.
45:17I know they've moved in and there's a new babe in the house, but the real question is,
45:22is it liveable?
45:30Secrets lie behind the blank gates.
45:45Wow, a stately manor once again.
45:48Great to see you.
45:50Welcome.
45:51This looks so good.
45:53We love it.
45:54We're very proud of how far it's come.
45:55There are a few things we're still working towards, but very happy.
46:00Like the garden perhaps?
46:01Yeah, it turns out landscaping is expensive, but hey, the goal was always for us to get
46:07inside and then this is going to be phase two.
46:10The big question, did you get in before the baby came along?
46:14We did.
46:15We did.
46:16We had two weeks and a little COVID in between as well.
46:19Oh no.
46:20Yeah, it was a busy time, but we got in.
46:22That sounds incredibly dramatic.
46:24It was.
46:25Yeah?
46:26Yeah.
46:27It's exhausting.
46:28I know you spent a lot of money, a lot of time on getting those windows right, but they're
46:33sort of sitting in there perfectly.
46:36So that money was well spent?
46:37Absolutely.
46:38Yeah.
46:39Yeah.
46:40You'll hear how quiet it is when we get inside.
46:41Yeah.
46:42Paul, you worked so hard on all of this wrought iron up here.
46:43It's looking amazing.
46:44Yeah, that's right.
46:45I spent a lot of time trying to restore the original cast iron fretwork that we had there.
46:50I think it came out pretty well.
46:51I like the idea of the vines going through it a little bit, you know, mapping into the
46:54garden out here.
46:56And then are you going to be calling the house Menindee?
46:59Yes.
47:00The first name that it had was Menindee.
47:02So we're going to be reinstating that name to, yeah, have a little nod to history.
47:06Yeah.
47:07Okay.
47:08Can we meet Menindee?
47:09Absolutely.
47:10Come on in.
47:11Even without any garden action, Menindee's got her majestic mojo back.
47:16Welcome to the Hallway of Dreams.
47:22I'm instantly reminded of the scale of this place and the grandeur, and it's all here
47:28in this room, isn't it?
47:29It really is.
47:30Yeah.
47:31I mean, these are the features that really sold this house for us, and all it really
47:33needed was fresh plaster and a lick of paint, and it feels wonderful.
47:38We're so happy.
47:39I love this ceremonial archway.
47:40I know.
47:41It's holding it all together.
47:43And then into the kitchen.
47:50This is spectacular.
47:52I think the trick that you've done here is you've balanced a contemporary room in a heritage
47:55home, and you've got that balance just right.
47:58Yeah.
48:01Yeah, we love it.
48:02We wanted to live in the original rooms of the house, and we spend so much time in the
48:03kitchen, so knowing that it is one of the original rooms just feels lovely.
48:07Yeah.
48:08But it was a big decision to put the kitchen in the middle of the house.
48:11It was, but I come down the staircase into the kitchen, and it really does feel like
48:15the heart of the home.
48:16So it's a decision that we're really happy with.
48:19Yeah, and you still do have views into the garden.
48:21You can see there through the dining room from where we're standing, we can see out
48:24through the pantry.
48:25Yeah, it's a lovely room.
48:26Yeah, we still have that connection.
48:27Yeah.
48:28And this is now a room we use all the time.
48:30It isn't just a pass-through to get somewhere else.
48:33Yeah.
48:34So I think it turned out really, really well.
48:36That room over there is looking really settled.
48:39The fireplace, again, another anchor point in a large room.
48:42Yeah.
48:43Beautiful mantle.
48:44Yeah.
48:45Getting that restored was a big expense, but such an important one, just to know that
48:49it's been brought back into its beauty, rather than us just buying a new one off the shelf.
48:53So you have fought hard for the heritage details that are important in this place.
48:58I can see that you've struggled to make sure that they've been respected.
49:01Absolutely.
49:02Yeah.
49:03And I mean, these ceiling roses are just stunning.
49:06I guess you've got plans, though, to finish the furnishing, because it does feel a bit
49:10bare at the moment.
49:13This is a house that we're going to be in for the next 20, 30 years, and I don't just
49:16want to be buying things to fill the space.
49:18I want to buy things because I actually love them and because we're going to be holding
49:21on to them for a long time.
49:22Do you ever sort of find yourself getting a bit like, oh, it feels really big?
49:26It's only a four-bedroom house, which isn't crazy.
49:29We do have a front room that we're not using yet, but, you know, that's one room, and we'll
49:33find a great use for it.
49:35So I feel completely fine with the scale of the house.
49:39That's good, because with the decades of dins a thing of the past, the white walls and soaring
49:44ceilings definitely amplify the volume of these spaces.
49:49But after all, it was the scale of this joint that Steph and Paul fell in love with in the
49:53first place.
49:55These balusters have come up really beautifully.
49:57I know you worked really hard on these, Paul.
49:58Yeah, I spent a lot of time sanding the spindles in particular.
50:02It's hard work.
50:04With everything looking so fresh, it's easy to forget the seriously hard graft to get
50:10it that way, particularly the disaster zone that was upstairs.
50:14Because I remember, though, all the backpackers' stuff, all the rooms, the plumbing, the wiring
50:20hanging everywhere, underpants in the ceiling.
50:22I remember that too.
50:23So, you know, you've done a lot to clean up the house.
50:26Yes.
50:27Yeah, and from this landing, you've really got access to all the other rooms on the first
50:31floor.
50:32We've got our master bedroom, the family bathroom.
50:35We've got Harriet's room.
50:37Can I have a peek?
50:38Absolutely.
50:40She's gorgeous.
50:43She is.
50:44How special is that?
50:45Yeah, she's gorgeous when she's quiet.
50:49I can see lots of colour in here.
50:50Yeah, so the thought was any of the new spaces, we were happy to colour drench.
50:55But for the old original rooms, we wanted to have the pops of colour on the walls and
51:00then keep the original features white.
51:02And then in the hallway, this is all white so that it links each of the spaces.
51:07We had quite a few conversations about that actually, because we wanted to paint the hallways
51:11yellow for a while, but we settled on white.
51:16So you won that battle then?
51:17Yeah.
51:18Yeah, OK.
51:21The main bedroom, with its impeccably renovated ensuite, is set at the back of the house,
51:27away from any lingering traffic noise.
51:30But it's the front room that's undergone the biggest change.
51:35This is the largest bedroom in the house.
51:38It does feel huge.
51:40I mean, there was a wall down here, wasn't there?
51:42Yeah, that's right.
51:43So this room was split into two distinct halves.
51:47The ceiling rose was cut in two, unfortunately really damaged, as was the corners.
51:52So this is new ceiling rose, new ceiling.
51:54In fact, this is probably the most work we had to do on the ceilings of any of the rooms.
52:00OK.
52:01But it came out great.
52:02The reality is that this will probably become a bit of a rumpus room for children when they're
52:05older.
52:06But for now, it's a great spot for my dad to stay when he comes in a few weeks.
52:10Yeah, not a bad spare room.
52:13So much space, so many choices.
52:16It's the story of this whole project, really.
52:19But Paul and Steph have done extremely well to hold a pretty steady course throughout
52:23it all.
52:24So I want to ask you, where do we actually end up with the money?
52:32So roughly 1.25, we'll call it.
52:35OK, so that's $250,000 over the budget of $1 million.
52:38Yes.
52:39That's kind of where you started.
52:41So why was that, do you reckon?
52:42Well, I think there were several reasons.
52:45Everything is just a bit more expensive, I think, than we thought.
52:48We're using a lot of specialist trades, so they're expensive.
52:52And a bit of it just comes down to the provisional sums as well.
52:55Maybe there was a bit of optimism in a few of those, and that led us to where we are.
53:01You can't be too unhappy with what you've got, because you spent $1.25 on the build.
53:05You spent about $1.8 on buy.
53:08So for just a bit over $3 million, you've got an enormous and a very beautiful house
53:14in one of Melbourne's most extraordinary suburbs, Paran.
53:17That's a fantastic outcome, isn't it?
53:19Yeah, we're very, very happy with that.
53:22I mean, we love this area.
53:24And yeah, you're right.
53:25For what we've spent in total, we've also got a home that is completely us.
53:28We've made it how we want it to be.
53:31Time-wise, you actually have done really well.
53:33I mean, you gave yourself 12 months.
53:36You moved in 14, 15 months after you started building.
53:40So it's a little bit longer.
53:41Yeah.
53:41But not much.
53:42Yeah, we feel really good about the timeline.
53:44Having said that, we did definitely put a lot of pressure on the builders near the end.
53:49Steph was heavily pregnant by the end, and we only did get in a couple of weeks before she gave birth.
53:55Nothing like a baby to get everybody motivated, right?
53:57That's my biggest tip for anyone going through a renovation.
54:00Have a baby, and it'll get done quicker.
54:02Oh, dear.
54:03But I suppose, too, at some point, you then also had to make a call and say,
54:06yeah, we are committing now to phase two.
54:08Yeah.
54:08You know, it feels exciting that we will have these extra phases,
54:11you know, landscaping being one of them,
54:14when we address the two front bedrooms and finally decide what they're going to be.
54:17There will be mini-projects within themselves.
54:20Did you ever get to the point where you together just thought, we can't do this?
54:23Yeah, many times.
54:24I think, had we foreseen that there would be so many rate rises,
54:28we never would have bought this property.
54:30Yeah.
54:31So, I guess ignorance is bliss, because now we have ended up in this beautiful home.
54:35So, if we can handle me being on maternity leave, and hopefully no more rate rises,
54:41this will be the most expensive time, and it should only get better from here.
54:45Everyone in Australia has their fingers crossed that you're right in saying that.
54:49Oh, yeah.
54:50Even though you've done all this work, there still is a covenant on the property here, isn't there?
54:55I mean, the council could come along tomorrow and say,
54:57well, hi, we're going to widen the road.
54:59After all, we're here to buy the property back.
55:02What would you do?
55:04I'm very confident that that won't actually eventuate,
55:07but if it does, emotionally, it would be torturous.
55:12I'd be removing all of the fixtures and fittings.
55:15I'm sort of picturing you both lying down in front of bulldozers out the front,
55:18or something like that, you know, like, we're fighting for this place.
55:20Absolutely, and taking the expensive lacework with us.
55:26Here you go.
55:32Yay!
55:33I reckon, in years to come, Paul and Steph will look back on all of this...
55:37It's beautiful, the detail of the way it's all...
55:40..and wonder quite how they managed to pull it all off.
55:43Thanks, Steph.
55:44Thanks for coming, everybody.
55:46You know, it's been a long journey getting here.
55:49It's been hard work, but it feels fantastic.
55:52So, cheers to the house!
55:54Cheers!
55:58Talk about new beginnings.
56:06As gambles go, this project has been gargantuan,
56:10but there's no denying it's been worth it.
56:13They've reinstated Menindee's elegant grandeur,
56:16and they're well on the way to creating for themselves
56:19a beautiful family oasis.
56:21Not to mention a lifetime's worth of home DIY projects.
56:51Subtitling by SUBS Hamburg