Original subtitles

SIBELLA COURT:

Historic houses across Australia

are at risk of being lost

forever.

They're links to our past

and should be saved.

In this series, you'll meet

families facing the challenge of

a lifetime.

(Grunts)

Here we are, dumb and dumber.

(Laughs)

Half a million dollars on this?

Are we mad?

They'll quickly realise

the sheer scale of the

projects...

MAN: Not quite what I meant.

..as they restore these ruins

to family homes.

I'm Sibella Court.

I'm a designer, author,

lover of old houses and

restoration.

I'm passionate about old

buildings and the need to save

our history.

To succeed, our families must

learn dying heritage skills

and stick to budget.

He just likes to spend the

money.

Bastards. Bastards. Bastards!

Oh, Jo! No, don't!

It's a slow train wreck.

Can they rescue

their slice of Australia's

history

before it's too late?

This is Restoration Australia.

Tasmania.

Beautiful, remote and home

to more heritage-listed

buildings

than any other state in

Australia.

25 years ago, you could snap up

a piece of heritage real estate

here

for next to nothing.

So that's what Sydney antique

dealer Haydn Pearce did.

You've got to grab things

when they come along,

and history like this

doesn't grow on trees.

But Haydn is buying old

buildings faster than he can

restore them.

We discuss it, but I tell her

what we have to buy in the end.

I'm getting to the stage

where I've had enough.

Haydn's wife Penny

just wants somewhere to call

home.

This is the kitchen area.

Now there's a little building

that might answer her prayer.

But her dream looks like a

nightmare.

121 Harrington Street

is one of the oldest timber

buildings

left in Hobart's CBD.

Built almost 160 years ago,

it's a beautiful example

of neo-Gothic architecture.

But Harrington Street

has been neglected.

Vacant and derelict,

the little shop has been

the victim of two arson attacks.

(Siren blares)

It's now an eyesore

whose existence hangs in the

balance.

If Harrington Street is to avoid

demolition and become a home,

owners Haydn and Penny need

to act now.

So this is it.

This is the place,

this is the place.

Well, it looks like

an ambitious project.

Oh, don't say that.

Bit daunting.

(All chuckle)

What attracted you to the

property?

Just the architecture

of the building.

I mean Gothic Revival is just

the prettiest little building

and it's so rare to find

anything like this, especially

in timber.

This is the dado.

You can see the fire damage.

And look how wide those boards

are.

Huge, huge.

Were there

some stand-out features

that just caught your attention?

Oh, totally.

The dormer windows,

the old shopfront, the rosettes.

Can I open it?

Yeah, beautiful.

Should I be scared?

Straight outta the showroom.

It's not easy to see

past the damage here.

Beautiful old blue in there,

it's a render then it's a

plaster...

..but once your eyes

start to seek out that detail,

when you move through the space,

the Gothic essence of this

building

is palpable.

And what is through here?

That's a little kitchenette

and a bathroom.

But I think Haydn's very

ambitious.

Harrington Street started as a

two-storey Georgian brick

residence,

built around 1857.

The front timber addition

was completed by 1875.

Haydn and Penny plan to make

the downstairs an antiques shop.

They will turn the upstairs

section into their home.

So when did you purchase

this property?

It was about 18 years ago.

The real estate agent took me

in,

and opened it up

and turned the lights on

and I walked around in

amazement - what a fantastic

building.

And he looked at me and he said,

'My God, you're the first person

that hasn't run out screaming!'

Anyway, so we made a silly offer

and they started talking to us

and we ended up

buying it on a credit card.

Haydn paid just 50,000

for Harrington Street.

Everything was so cheap back

then.

Every time we got close

to doing something to the

building,

something else would come up.

So, you didn't mean to sit on it

for 18 years?

No, the idea was always to do

it up.

Do you have a timeframe for

this job?

It's not that big a job.

I mean, it looks horrific and,

um...

Uh, you know... If we could do

it in 12 months, that'd be

great.

So, do you both have a budget

in mind?

Ugh...

We have a lot of the materials

and a lot of work

that Haydn will be doing.

But no budget.

It'll cost what it'll cost.

The main thing is

to keep servicing the debt

and be able to afford it.

And if we can do that, well,

great.

Jesus...

Gentle.

Yep, that's it.

This side's loose.

Yep.

OK, this one's off so now we

need to get the other side off.

OK, so it's just pinned

at the top now.

The next day, the immense job

of resurrecting Harrington

Street begins.

Jump round the other side.

Just roll that up

and see if we've got...

Haydn is removing what was

the original Huon pine

staircase.

Roll the whole lot.

It's a rare timber today,

so the heritage loss is

significant.

Pfff! Not quite what I meant.

Pfff.

There ain't much left.

Andrew Zacharek, or Zac,

is a scientist turned

heritage carpenter.

He's Haydn's right-hand man

on the project.

What we've got here is an

incredibly strong, solid

building.

Even with a fire, and a hot

fire,

it's really just charred the

timbers on the outside.

They're so much bigger than

you'd put in this same timber

in a modern house.

Really?

We'll need to make sure that

these are OK and then we'll work

upwards.

Removing so much burnt building

is a devastating way

to start a restoration.

Look at those nails.

Blacksmith-made?

Beautiful things.

I think Haydn's prediction of

finishing this project in 12

months

may be unrealistic...

Jesus. That ain't coming off

in a hurry.

..given that he has a track

record of not finishing

projects... at all.

Nuh, too hard.

Come on, Eric, let's go.

When Haydn settled in Tasmania

more than 20 years ago

with Penny

and their two young children,

this outsider instantly saw

the island's real estate

potential.

When I left Sydney,

I could not even hope

to afford to buy a house.

And my first sandstone building

down here in Tasmania cost us

20,000

with three acres,

so the idea was to buy as much

as we could before the prices

went up.

His buying has turned into

a spree that is stretching

finances

and testing his relationship

with Penny.

Haydn collects houses

like people collect art.

He just comes home and tells me

he's bought something.

As well as Harrington,

he owns a 180-year-old farm

in the Southern Midlands.

He told me, 'This is all I want.

I won't go anywhere else.'

Then six years ago

he borrowed heavily

to buy five more heritage

buildings in a complex called

Willow Court.

It was Australia's

oldest mental asylum.

Well, this is the morgue

in the asylum.

We're gonna turn it into a

motel.

But Haydn's asylum

also needs a lot of work.

The buildings are in various

stages of being restored,

not ready to be used or sold.

I told Penny it would be two

years,

and we'd be in and out,

and here we are six years later.

Haydn's 'have to have'

philosophy

has left them with over

1 million in mortgages

and more work

than most can do in a lifetime.

Huge amounts of work.

The farm produced meat for

Hobart...

His track record has Penny

wondering

if she'll ever call

Harrington Street home.

Haydn doesn't seem to worry

about how we live.

All he cares about is buying

stock and buying buildings.

It's been 25 years

and I'm sort of getting to the

stage

where I've had enough

of not looking after ourselves

and having a place

where it's nice to come home to.

You know, we live in the shop.

The shop where they live

is their antique business

in one of their buildings

at Willow Court.

Got some classics here.

Yeah, I've been trying to find

this one for ages -

I'm really stoked to find it.

In the shop, Penny is working

hard.

Her challenge is to make more

money than Haydn spends.

The better the cash flow,

the sooner Penny can call

Harrington Street home.

(Woman speaks indistinctly)

If we sell well, we can have

five people working there.

If we don't sell well,

progress will be a lot slower.

But just how long can

Harrington Street afford to

take?

2011 serves as a reminder

of the price you pay for

neglect.

We got a phone call at two or

three in the morning from a

detective

to tell us

that the place was burning.

I can still remember thinking,

'Oh, my God,

what are we gonna find

when we get there?

Is it just a little fire

or is it all gone?

(Siren blares)

And of course, there it was,

still flames coming out of it.

It was a mess.

Of course, the detective,

with a smile on his face said,

'Well, how much was it insured

for?' and I said, 'Well, it

wasn't.'

And he had this puzzled look

on his face.

But the intention

was always to restore it.

I guess my biggest

disappointment

is that we did take so long

to do anything to it,

and if we had restored it,

it wouldn't have burnt down.

But this is another thing

on Haydn's list, you see?

While Haydn paid 50,000

for Harrington Street,

it's now worth 500,000.

At that price, he could sell and

take some pressure off his

finances.

But not Haydn.

The fire started on the

staircase...

He lives and breathes

heritage buildings,

which is why he's ready for a

fight.

Heritage Tasmania seem hell-bent

on taking it off the heritage

list.

They are trying to shed

problematic buildings.

And if it's delisted,

it's just left open then.

Unless we keep it,

it can be demolished.

Today, Heritage Tasmania

are coming here

to come and have

a look at the building.

It's a big day for us.

I guess we'll see what they say

and put forward some arguments

and see if we can talk

some sense to them.

I can restore it

and I can save it while I'm

here,

but when I'm gone, if this

building is not heritage-listed,

then anybody can demolish it.

And this is the last timber

building in the CBD,

and if you let this go,

you're letting

the fabric of Hobart disappear.

Haydn's a bit of an outsider.

He's a bit rough

and he doesn't suffer fools,

but he brings passion

and incredible knowledge.

If they delist us, we will

fight them and they know that

and they'll fall on their sword.

I presume everybody has presumed

that I started the fire

for want of getting rid of the

building and taking the

insurance,

although there was no insurance.

Maybe I forgot.

And there was no evidence

to suggest that, so...

Well... And there would be none.

For the chair of the Heritage

Council, Di Snowden,

it's the fire damage

to the shop's facade

that is of greatest concern.

See, originally there

would have been fluted columns.

You can actually see

where the little column was.

One of the problems

that we have where a place

has been partially destroyed

is that when it's made good

and there's new fabric,

we have to consider whether it

is still a heritage building or

not.

Well, when you're faced with

things that are not there,

then you have to replace.

Two months into the restoration,

Haydn, Zac and friends

are 25km west of Hobart

in the Lachlan Valley.

There's some old pine trees

here, macrocarpa pine.

They seeded the macrocarpa

pine trees as wind breaks

and now they've come to the end

of their useful age as such

and are starting

to fall down and die,

so we've had...

The farmer's given us

permission to come up here

and cut our timbers

that we need for Harrington

Street.

The pine will be used

to replace fire-damaged timbers,

including the framing,

the weatherboards and the

staircase.

It's a good use for the trees.

In the past, they just burn them

and push them over and let them

rot.

With the timber free,

and Zac and friends

charging mates rates,

today will save Haydn

tens of thousands of dollars.

This timber here

is only a few miles away

from where we're gonna use it.

It's in the same climate,

so they'll be good for another

100 years, with a bit of luck.

The pine from the valley will

need to dry for a couple of

months

before it can be used.

Back at Harrington Street,

Zac is cutting stringybark

milled from Haydn's old farm

property.

It's being used to replace all

the joists in the two front

rooms.

Yep, thank you.

While the floor goes in,

the old paint is being

steamed off the walls.

So, you're basically

melting the paints and anything

off.

Brings us back

to the original fabrics

to be able to work with

and rebuild from there.

Bring it in. OK.

During all the activity on site,

Haydn's had several

conversations

with the Heritage Council.

(Strains)

He's used his own brand of

charm to extract some news on

the delisting.

They wanted to make

a meeting for next week,

so I said, 'No, I don't wanna

have a meeting for next week,

I wanna know what

the delisting was.'

Ten minutes later,

Diane rings me back and tells me

that they haven't taken it off

the heritage listing.

They've kept it on, which is

great.

It's about time

they've come to their senses.

So, we're still on the heritage

and the building's got a future.

(Barks)

The last time I visited

was three months ago

and it doesn't look like much

more has happened,

but I can hear some pretty

positive sounds coming from

inside.

Hi, Haydn.

Hey! Hi, Sibella, how are you?

At the moment,

there's no safe access to

upstairs.

And being pregnant,

I'm sticking to the ground

floor.

This front room, we haven't

really done an awful lot in

here.

It'd be nice just to be able

to put up some plasterboard

and have it done in a day.

Wow, this room feels...

I know Haydn's got a reputation

for not finishing things

because he has too much on the

go...

What happened to the floor?

Ah, the floor...

..but I can see another reason

why time might blow out.

This was actually black

when you came in here last.

The man doesn't cut corners.

The original colours, I love

them.

They're great, aren't they?

Yeah.

So, once we do a little bit

of rendering and plastering,

then we can get back

to all those original colours,

even though pink's not my colour

either, but it's still nice.

Yeah,

something nice about the

history.

This door is incredible!

Isn't it great?

Yeah, it's a beautiful prison

door that we got from the Hobart

jail

that they so thoughtfully

demolished back in the 1960s.

Wow, lucky you picked it up.

Beautiful heavy iron.

Yeah.

And the hot rivets...

Hot rivets.

..to hold the steel plate

on the back of it.

So, um, that should keep

the bogans out, you reckon?

I think it will.

Let's hope.

Come on!

(Eric barks)

Haydn has been collecting

architectural antiques

from old buildings for years.

It's given him a huge supply

of features and timbers

he and Zac can use for

Harrington.

Is that cedar?

It is, yeah. Georgian cedar.

Some of the collection is local,

while many pieces

have come from Sydney

and even more

been sourced from the UK.

Every year,

Haydn and Penny visit the UK.

It's their own Antiques

Roadshow,

buying for their business

in Tasmania.

We're 10,000 miles away from

home on the Welsh border in

England

and we're here to buy-buy-buy.

Aussie antique dealers.

Have cash, will travel,

interested in your antiques.

WOMAN:

What would you offer me for

that?

A lady rang us from our ad

that we put in the local

paper...

Five quid.

..and she said she had a few

bits of china and bits and

pieces,

and her husband might have

something in the sheds for us as

well.

So, we've come out to

the Welsh Borders to have a

look.

How you doing?

Mick, is it? Yeah.

How you doing? Haydn and Penny.

Pleased to meet you.

Good to see you.

Every day is another exciting

day here in the UK

because it is a treasure hunt

and you never know

what you're going to find.

Oh, wow!

Quick, keep a poker face, Penny.

Don't say anything.

God, look at it all.

Little bit crowded in here,

like.

Stuff everywhere.

There's always a lot of rubbish

as well as good bits and pieces,

but you just have to ferret

through

and find anything

that's interesting.

Here you go.

She's found something now.

Heap of flatirons.

That'll be interesting.

That's the old fire fender.

It's nice that is.

That might do Harrington Street.

That would be a good one.

It's very much colonial design,

and that's pretty much

what they had in Hobart.

We have a list of things that we

have to buy for Harrington

Street.

We're talking doors and fire

surrounds, specific bits and

pieces.

A lot of the Welsh and the

English

came out to Tasmania

and settled there,

and they brought their goods

with them.

And so the stuff here is very

similar to what we have there.

Nine irons.

£3.50 each for the irons.

No, £5. Can't go 3.50.

OK, £4.

No, £5. It's inflation, man.

But inflation

from 3.50 to 4 is inflation.

No, no, no. Five apiece.

Five apiece. Yeah, OK?

You happy with this now?

Yep, well, thank you very much.

You've robbed me.

You're all the same, you know?

Our Welsh habit,

which going now, see?

Yeah, well,

it's going to a better place.

No.

The business is giving us the

money to pay for the

renovations.

And if we can pick up items

for the building, which we have

-

doors and things - it's a bonus.

How's that, eh?

Haydn's pleased

to have scored items

like this Victorian toilet

for Harrington Street,

but it'll be eight weeks before

the container arrives in Hobart

and they can start making money.

Just take both out,

and then replace them both

and that one can come out...

Six months in and work

at Harrington has moved

upstairs.

The framing for the roof

is in the final stages.

They just have to join up here,

don't they?

And... But this one's staying?

That one stays, yeah.

'Cause from here down, it's OK.

It's not like building

from the top down.

You've gotta look

at an old structure

and see where it's not good

enough.

You've gotta pull the old bits

out and fit new bits in.

But there's enough of the old

stuff

that it is essentially

the old building.

It's just had a lot of repair.

Today marks a huge milestone

in the Harrington Street

restoration.

For the last three years, the

blue tarp has covered the

building.

Now work on the roof

means it's about to come off.

While the team set to work,

another of Haydn's friends,

Marlon,

is putting the finishing touches

on a mural.

We've had reports in the paper

saying how bad we are

about leaving the place.

Little do they know

that we're actually working on

it.

We've put a little painting

on the front

trying to give a picture of

roughly what the shopfront will

look like.

When you get a call from Haydn,

it's...

..you have to ask yourself,

'Am I prepared

to be roped into his

enthusiasm?'

And I usually am.

I wanted to just do some

reflections of things across the

road

and still make it look like

the shopfront that it used to

be.

He realised that people

were getting a little bit sick

of seeing it abandoned-looking

and wanted to appease

a few of the local people.

You know, just a little bit

of a joke, I guess.

Um... tongue-in-cheek.

While passers-by take in the

mural,

the job of removing the tarp

is in full swing.

That's good. That's the way.

Good work.

Nice Huon pine.

Beautiful. Bit more.

And we should be right.

Can you grab that other corner

and just pull it out a bit?

For former scientist Zac,

carpentry was a late career

change.

This is his first major project.

I was awake at four,

sort of planning this day

in the sequence of what we

would do

and how far we were gonna get.

Hey!

That God for that.

It's a shame that we had to go

so far backwards in the fire,

but we're here now

and we have to keep pushing

forward.

Feet on it.

Away you go. Righto.

With the tarp off,

the old tin can be removed.

OK.

These all loose, are they?

I want to get the roof on as

quickly as possible for rain,

for security.

It was arson when the place

burnt,

so it's always in your mind that

that person could come back.

So, hopefully, we can have it

tinned up before winter sets in.

Roll it up, please.

Haydn plans to replace

the old tin with recycled tin,

but the original roof

was made with wooden shingles.

They used to split the

stringybark

into very thin shingles,

usually about

five or six inches wide,

and they'd nail them on and that

was basically the finished

roofing.

You really wouldn't use them

today, because they are a fire

risk

and they tend to leak

a little bit anyway,

and it would be very expensive

and time-consuming.

It's just too prohibitive

to be able to do that

and too impractical, really.

(Whistles)

Come on, Eric, quick, let's go.

So, Haydn is definite

about using tin...

..until the next day.

I've been thinking, Zac,

that maybe, maybe,

we could actually put shingles

on the roof instead of tin.

Mm.

What do you think about that?

Timber shingles

instead of corrugated iron.

I mean, how beautiful would

that be?

This isn't just...

a bright idea you had at the pub

over a couple of beers,

a couple of Guinnesses...

If you're going to do something,

do it well.

It would look awesome

if it's a really good shingle

roof,

and I think to get

a really good shingle roof,

you've got to know

all the ins and outs.

How long is it going to take and

how much is it going to cost

and...

Well, it's obviously going

to cost a whole arm and leg

more,

that's the problem.

I mean, we thought

we'd get a roof on - a tin roof

on in a few weeks.

But if we're talking...

It would take six months.

..months and months and months.

It would add months, yes.

It's gotta be finished.

It's gotta be absorbed. It does.

It's gotta be done.

Well, that's it.

Despite the choice of shingles

threatening to blow the budget

and delay putting a roof on,

the next day,

Haydn calls in the expert.

All the shingles I've split over

the years were 4.5 inches-wide.

It depends on the building, you

see?

John Graham has been making

shingle roofs for 50 years

and has come to Willow Court

to give Zac and Hayden an idea

of what's involved

in splitting the shingles.

I could knock out 1,000 a day

if I had all the billets ready.

Right.

How fast would a beginner

split them?

You'd do about three a day, Zac.

Oh, I was thinking of you, mate.

(Chuckles)

I'll be too busy building.

I reckon they'll be lucky

to get 100 or 200,

depends on the person.

It's a reality check.

I'll have a go.

Come on, Haydn first.

John thinks that Harrington

Street will need more than

14,000 shingles.

Yeah, put it

where you had it before.

That'll do. Now press down on

him.

That's it.

That's what I like to hear.

Now... Now push it.

(Grunts)

OK, so I've just cut four.

So what's that? That's about

14,787 to go, I think. Hey!

Back at the antique centre,

Penny's feeling the pressure.

The container was held up in

Customs

and it's taken four months to

have the new stock available for

sale.

It is very stressful.

I don't think Haydn

actually realises

how much I manage this place -

keeping the books happening

and, you know,

paying things and the bills.

He's got no idea.

He just likes to spend the

money.

When I tell him, 'Stop buying,'

I put the computer

on the next morning

and there's another ten items

he's bought.

I thought, 'What don't you

understand about "not buying"?'

He doesn't understand.

Well, there's always

financial strain.

Penny's always hopping mad at me

for buying another something.

But, um... it's just a bit of

fun.

Hey, Haydn. First sheet.

Beautiful.

It's cut to size.

While Penny works

to balance the budget,

Haydn continues down the costly

and time-consuming path of

shingles.

It'll be lovely with shingles.

It'll be a really pretty little

building.

And I always thought galvanised

iron

was the bane of all evil -

it is ugly.

Any chance you could roll that

out?

I thought he was joking.

I'm still reluctantly following

on,

but we're doing shingles

and that's it.

But it's going to take us

a lot more time.

You've got about five layers

of materials

that actually go on

before the shingles go on...

Hold that there...

..which will be a long time

coming.

Is the level alright?

Yeah, it's not too bad.

That looks pretty close.

Until Harrington Street

is watertight and vandal-proof,

it remains vulnerable.

Almost 18 months since

Harrington Street was started,

Haydn's prediction of finishing

in a year now seems ambitious.

But there has been some

progress,

and this time

I'm able to go upstairs.

Wow, I couldn't

come up here last time.

No. Well, nobody could, really.

The top floor

took the brunt of the fire.

Certainly, the place

was pretty well charcoaled.

The brick walls are good,

but otherwise pretty much

the apex was burnt out.

But there's one section of

timber,

probably the most defining piece

of this building, that has

survived.

So what can you salvage from

these?

We're salvaging

virtually everything.

You can see the definition's

been lost a bit with the fire,

but, um... but that'll still

work.

It's got a much softer shape

now,

doesn't it? Quite organic.

Well, it almost looks like

a 500-year-old window

out of the UK or something now,

'cause it's been so weathered.

So, what's this room going to

be?

This is the dining room

and kitchen area.

And what we're doing here is,

from this rafter here,

we'll be putting in

a four-metre dormer window

that was burnt out, that was

there.

So replicating the original?

Yes.

The dormer windows were

a later addition to the

building,

around the turn of the 20th

century.

This is the first chance I've

had to get a good look at them.

And you can see

where the top of this dormer,

we've gone and rebuilt the top

'cause the top

was totally burnt off.

Now we just have to fix the

facades

and so forth...

You've almost got a whole one

here that you can copy it from.

That's it. If it had burnt

for another 20 minutes,

we would have had probably none,

you know?

To avoid another fire,

Haydn needs a roof on quickly.

But he's been distracted.

North of Hobart yet another

building, one dear to Haydn's

heart,

is demanding attention.

Well, this is my father's place,

an 1830s' gem of Tasmania.

A beautiful old sandstone

building.

I'd like to see it

retained in the family.

Haydn's father, Norman,

has passed away.

(Bagpipes playing)

(Barks)

He's the third member

of Haydn's family to be buried

here.

(Playing the Skye Boat Song)

My brother had passed away

in a car accident 14, 15 years

ago.

So, he's up there

and then my mother's up there

and now my father's up there.

So, I would hope maybe I could

be planted up there at some

stage.

Earth to earth, dust to dust.

We give thanks for his life...

Why do I keep taking on

projects?

Because what else would I be

doing?

The end point is being placed

in a box, isn't it, you know?

The thing is

is that I'm enjoying what I'm

doing

and if it doesn't get finished,

I'm not too worried about it.

And I guess if you finish it,

there's always that feeling

that you might do it wrong

anyway,

so it's all about the journey,

I think.

But Penny is hoping that

Harrington Street will be

different,

that unlike his other projects,

it will be more than a journey.

She wants a home.

Everybody wanted it pulled down,

and he's like,

'No, I'm going to rebuild it.'

We've come so far

in the last 12 months

that he really desperately

wants to show everybody

that, 'Yes, I'm going to finish

this

and have this wonderful building

in Hobart.'

It's 12 months into the

restoration.

Instead of having the project

finished by now as planned,

Haydn has let Harrington Street

slip.

You'll be seeing

some differences then.

Oh, I can see already.

His visits have dropped off

and now he's in the UK again,

sourcing another

container load of antiques.

You were still finishing the

roof when I was last here.

So, who's going to do

all the plastering? Don't know.

Haydn hasn't been at

Harrington Street a lot of the

time,

and he knows that, he knows

he's had a bit of a slack

winter,

not being there.

The only way he's gonna get

Harrington Street done

is by being there himself,

'cause Zac and Tony, they need

some decisions made on the spot,

and Haydn's not there.

There's the old render,

original, and we just blended

it.

So, we'll just check if that's

alright when Haydn gets back...

He's not spending

a lot of time here.

I guess he's doing other things

- earning the money to pay us.

I can understand that

but, really, I think I need him

a bit more hands-on here.

It's not just Haydn's absence

that's holding up the work.

I haven't seen these before

today.

His decision to put shingles

on the roof instead of tin

is threatening

to derail the whole project.

So, this is probably

10% or something?

I think it's a bit over 10%

of what we need.

It's a slow train wreck.

I think it's a stuff-up.

And I wish we could

just kind of backtrack

and go up and put the tin up

and just leave it at that.

Well, if this is slowing up

everything else being

finished...

Well, it has already.

It has.

Why should I kill myself to

push on

when other people

can make decisions

that slow the job down?

And at some point I've got

to go and earn a decent wage,

and what do I do?

For Penny, the question is not

WHEN but IF this project will be

finished.

25 years of marriage

and I've never lived in a house

that's actually

got a proper kitchen.

There are gonna be

four sash windows here...

And this is the kitchen area?

This is your kitchen, yeah.

So, this will be interesting,

trying to fit it out.

I'm looking forward to designing

this and having something new.

I'd like to paint a scene on

here

of, um, old Hobart town.

Rooftops.

We've got to get this building

done,

and we don't want to have

another fire in there

because it's been sitting there

not finished,

'cause it's still at the stage

where somebody could easily

break into it.

But we need to have it finished

and be using it.

This week, he's gonna

have to make that decision -

can the shingles, go tin

and then everything can be done.

He hasn't got the time he needs.

So you're about there, you see.

From where the bead starts.

After four weeks in the UK,

Haydn is back in Hobart.

That's better.

Don't change your mind again.

25 will be good.

It's 18 months since work

started at Harrington Street.

The macrocarpa timber

that Haydn milled

is dry and being used to make

weatherboards.

Zac is working

to replace the staircase

that was destroyed in the fire.

The staircase is a bit

technical, it's a bit of a

challenge for me.

Every step, every piece of

timber should be exactly the

same size

and in exactly the same place

as the original.

The new stairs are also being

made

from the macrocarpa.

That looks pretty good.

The restoration has so far

cost less than 80,000.

(Strains)

For Haydn, using his own

materials and doing a lot of the

work himself

is paying off, but it takes

time.

You just ooze it through

the little gaps in the timber,

and that's what makes it hang

on.

The lath and plaster walls

are a traditional feature

that could take months to

restore.

Despite the workload,

Haydn is dragged away again.

It's Hobart's lucrative

summer tourist season.

WOMAN: Padlock -

does it work, do you think?

Lovely old Victorian padlock.

It's time to make money

to pay for their building work.

Uh, look, I could probably

do that for... 45.

Yeah, 45.

45.

At Harrington Street,

a frustrated Zac

continues work on the staircase.

I've made most of the pieces,

and not far away

from putting it in place.

Although,

if I put the staircase in place

and we still get water coming

in, it may get some rain damage.

So, we don't want that.

We need to wait for Haydn

to get his act together

and make a decision on the roof,

and we need to get going on it.

Zac has to be one of the most

patient builders I've ever met,

but the lack of direction from

Haydn is clearly wearing him

down.

But finally Zac's patience

is rewarded.

It's a year later than planned,

but the roof is going on.

We were gonna do shingles.

We've basically run out of time,

we've run out of money

and... um...

Yeah, we've run out

of time and money.

I hate going with brand-new

stuff

and we were lucky enough to get

100 sheets of really good tin.

And Zac looks really excited.

I'm not sure I can be pleased

about the project at this stage

'cause it's...

there's still a lot to do.

But I'm relieved that we can

get on.

Using recycled tin

gives the roof instant character

and the tin cost just 200.

By comparison, just one-tenth

of the shingles he needs

cost Haydn 2,000.

With the roof going up,

the original Gothic wooden

bargeboard is put back in place.

Haydn has also uncovered the

sign 'Thompson Motors',

the name of a garage

that was the most recent

incarnation

of a little shop

that's had many lives

and is beginning to look

like it will have another.

I don't think the building

would have happened

if it hadn't been for Zac.

You know?

Haydn needed somebody else there

to push him along,

and Zac's been great.

He's pushed him along

and it's got to this stage.

It's not too heavy, eh?

No. Yeah, right.

You got the front?

MAN: Yeah.

Just straighten her up

and then we'll push that end

out...

The roof on means that

Harrington Street is now

weatherproof.

The staircase that Zac has been

working on can finally go in.

Come a bit forward

and gently lower it.

I'm excited to be getting

this staircase up today.

That'll be a really big

milestone.

This staircase is the last bit

of structural work in the

building.

I'll catch it.

So, what we're gonna do first

is we'll put the upper one in.

Hopefully,

that will just slide into place.

I've fitted the pieces

individually,

but I haven't fitted the flights

in place yet.

So, I'm not 100% sure

that everything's gonna fit

together first time.

Just slip it down gently.

(Timber scraping)

Yeah, OK, keep it coming.

Righto. Let it drop. That's

good.

The weight of the staircase

makes manoeuvring tricky.

It's a team effort

to get the top flight into

place.

MAN: Time for us

to lift up, isn't it?

Hand it over to me, that's it.

MAN: Yeah.

Yep.

Alright, hold it there.

That's the way. Hold there.

Looks good.

The top stair is a snug fit,

but the bottom flight

needs a bit of a nudge.

(Grunts)

How are we going?

Well, yeah, it's lined up,

but just needs to go in now.

I've got a ten-ton jack

in the car. Great.

That'll push it over.

(Men talk over each other)

Wa-hey! It's in.

After months of tension

between Haydn and Zac,

sharing this piece of progress

feels good.

Hey, Haydn,

how many steps did you want?

Um, isn't there 18?

Yeah, that's 17-18.

Oh.

Cool.

I told you

it was supposed to be 19!

19. You can't have 19.

With the roof and the stairs

finished,

there remains just one

major structural piece to do -

the front window.

Harrington Street has been

without a shopfront window for

60 years.

Rebuilding the 28-pane frame

using traditional joinery

is a specialist job.

But Haydn's got other ideas.

I'm gonna to be building

the shopfront.

Um, the problem being

that I can't find anybody

that wants to do it cheap

enough,

I can't find anybody

that wants to do it properly.

Come on, mate. Upstairs. Come

on.

I haven't tackled a window

of that size.

Come to think of it,

I've never built a window

before.

I don't think Zac's very

confident,

but, um, well, you know,

it's probably not a big point,

so...

He thinks he can do it,

so that's up to him.

I can do what I can do here

and he has to do his bit.

What can happen? How bad can it

be?

It's possible that Haydn

may just be baiting Zac,

but he is too busy to bite.

While he works to put the last

of the weatherboard on the

dormers,

he can only hope Haydn will make

a sensible decision on the

window.

It would have been a lot easier

if that job was outsourced

to a joiner.

Maybe he was just

playing with my head.

Just three weeks later,

the window frame arrives.

Haydn, where do you want to put

it?

In the front of the shop, of

course.

(Chuckles)

(Low chatter)

It's not that heavy, is it?

It turns out the window frame

wasn't made by Haydn.

Instead he ended up paying

a reasonable 5,000 to have it

made.

Is it gonna fit?

Doesn't look like it, does it?

Didn't you do the measurements,

Haydn?

Even for experienced joiner

Jono, it was a big job.

It looks good. It looks right.

Haydn's a bit of a

traditionalist and he wanted it

to be made

just as it would have been made

in the old days.

So, if I was to build it again,

I'd probably charge double.

With the frame delivered,

it's now up to Zac, Haydn and

Tony

to make it fit.

OK, come my way a bit.

It's just catching

right at the top.

It's just a bit tight

'cause the wood comes down.

We could plane 5mm

off the top off the window

frame,

or the sill.

I really need to plane

a couple of mil off that sill

where we put that glue, so...

OK.

Making the adjustment to fit the

window is pretty

straightforward...

(Phone rings)

..unless you get distracted.

Oh! Oh!

(Clattering)

Yeah, not supposed to do that

either. There you go.

Hello.

Ah, yeah, great. Great.

Yeah, window's going well.

(Chuckles)

FC... FC Holden. 500.

Yeah. OK, talk to you in a bit.

OK, see ya. Cheers.

FC Holden, Gumtree, 500 bucks.

Quick.

Stop work, let's go. Brighton.

Another FC Holden.

Got your priorities wrong again.

FC Holden, that's right.

How far across do you wanna

come?

Same at the top.

15 to 18 at the top.

Yeah, I've got

20 tapering down to about 12.

Despite his difficulty

in focusing on one thing at a

time,

Haydn has achieved yet another

milestone with the window.

Well, you got your window

after all, Haydn.

Yeah, well done.

Thank you.

Cheers.

Congratulations. Thanks, guys.

Last big piece of the puzzle.

Yeah, nice one.

Well, took a load off my mind

to not have to build it myself.

Like a bought one. Those pillars

look original, don't they, now?

But, um,

he's done a really good job.

Thompson Motors would be

probably about the last business

in there.

Looks beautiful.

Zac's partner, Jo,

has come to admire the window.

She's yet another person

willing to donate some time

and will help to paint the

shopfront.

So, glass is coming.

Be here this afternoon.

So, I'll be glazing all night.

Fantastic.

While he didn't build the window

frame, Haydn will do the

glazing.

Oh, well, let's get back into

it.

Come on, let's go, go.

With so much progress,

it begs the question...

Is Penny gonna get her

kitchen any time soon?

Um...

..no, I think,

is the answer to that one.

I guess Penny's priority

is different to my priority.

So, when are we going to do

that?

Um, once we get

everything else done, maybe.

Be the last thing done.

Yeah, last thing done.

Penny may not have her kitchen

yet,

but heading back to Harrington

Street for the last time,

I know that, like me, she's

amazed the project has come this

far.

(Bell tinkles)

Wow!

Hi.

This is looking amazing.

Hi.

It looks incredible.

It's come together well, hasn't

it?

Well done.

Isn't it great?

Oh, but look at the windows.

121 Harrington Street,

an unlikely survivor,

the phoenix of restorations.

After two years,

it might not be finished,

but it's already a major

restoration achievement.

Oh, so different. It's a shop

now.

It is a shop. It is.

Having this, you feel like

you've given the building its

life back.

And it's its first impressions

as well. It is.

And it has a roof on it as well.

It has.

It might not be the roof

that I expected to be on it,

but we've done all the base work

underneath that roof for

shingles.

So, um, at a later date, when

I'm older and sillier and

richer,

with a bit of luck...

And a lot more time.

..and a lot more time,

we can go back there

and revisit it and do it.

Well, this room's cosy.

Will it be part of the shop?

It will be part of the shop.

At the moment,

we've just got it as a lounge

room,

but, no, it will be

a flow-through from the shop.

And the dado looks beautiful.

Most of it is the original

Huon pine dado.

And have you done

a lath and plaster ceiling in

here?

Walls and ceiling

are in lath and plaster, yes.

Is this the original paintwork

here?

That's the original colour here,

yes. OK.

And a nice sort of goldy,

ochre colour.

So, what we'll do is just put

a wash on it, but we'll leave...

..you can see through it.

Mottled.

Mottled look, yes.

Beautiful.

Replacing the timbers

lost in the fire

could have made this

a very expensive restoration,

but having a cache

of recycled fittings

and milling his own new timbers

saved Haydn

tens of thousands of dollars.

So far, Penny thinks

they've spent just over 80,000.

They're not sure how much the

building will cost to finish...

Oh, wow! They look amazing.

..but Haydn will continue to

keep costs down by doing work

himself.

They're really good.

Very happy with them.

It looks like

a 400-year-old building now.

It's beautiful.

This is obviously the bathroom.

This will be the bathroom, yes.

'Cause that's a pretty

incredible piece in itself.

It's a great toilet.

They're really hard to buy

in the UK, they're so expensive.

The toilet is a nod to the

future when the house will be

finished,

but all alone,

it also serves to remind

how much is still to be done.

So, will this be the kitchen

you've always dreamed of?

This is the kitchen,

it's got a roof.

It's finished.

This is the kitchen. Here it is.

Look! (Chuckles)

It's fantastic.

Everything that you need.

It's the kitchen that I've

always dreamed of and here it

is.

(Speaks indistinctly)

You might take on all the stress

and, Haydn,

you're just having a fun time.

Do you think that is the balance

of the relationship?

I get very resentful of him.

You shouldn't be stressed.

And I say Penny shouldn't

be stressed because...

But you don't do what I do,

you've got no idea what I do,

because you don't do it.

This is our bedroom.

Oh, wow.

What can I do? I work very hard

to make things happen for you

and here it is.

And so, you know, if I'm

the big bad man, well, you know,

what can I say?

How long have you been married?

25 years now.

Oh, congratulations.

Well done.

I forgot that. Love you so much.

He missed that day.

Just get the house finished and

the kitchen finished to my

liking

and then I'll be happy.

Sure.

I think the only way that

Penny's gonna get her

long-awaited kitchen

is if she and Zac tackle it

together while Haydn's away

overseas.

(Whirring)

Zac's great

and he's learnt a lot of skills,

and I've learnt as well off him.

And, yeah, recommend him to

anybody.

Once I'm finished with him.

Once you let him go.

Yeah.

Which will be in probably about

ten years time, I'd suggest.

Would you do another project

with Haydn?

I'd contemplate it.

I think it took a special person

to hang on to this building

when there were no friends

for the building.

I think it shows people

who own heritage buildings

that you can bring something

back from the grave.

Hopefully Hobart can forgive

us for taking so long,

but it's still here

and it will look,

you know, beautiful

when it's finished.

Haydn and Penny have pulled off

something extraordinary.

Against all odds they've saved

this little house and its unique

history,

not just for themselves

but also for the people of

Hobart.

Old houses need to be used

or they die.

Which reminds me,

we've got a couple of others

that need a little bit of work

as well.

Yeah, well, that's next year.

Next year.

Two days after my visit, Haydn

went to the UK on another buying

trip,

and this time

he bought Penny a kitchen.

She's hoping it will

be installed soon.

Captions by CSI Australia