Original subtitles

- From its barren beauty

to lush landscapes,

the Australian countryside is as beautiful as it is breathtaking.

Many Australians are discovering rural life and making the move.

So I'm on the hunt to help everyday Australians find their perfect country house.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023.

I am in Ballarat

looking at breathtaking heritage homes

with 22-year-old go-getter Grace,

who is with her mum/bestie, Chelsea.

Now, straight up, I need to let you know, these two ladies, they are my kind of people.

I love them.

- Another outdoor entertaining area. There's the platters and the wine again.

- Love it.

We will tour three beautiful country homes,

all of them offering a different balance of both old and new.

So join us as we set out to find Grace and her pet Chihuahua, Pablo, the perfect Ballarat home.

Today's country house hunt through the historic town of Ballarat

I think will inspire you about the youth of today.

You see, our buyer is only 22, yet she totally has her head screwed on,

she knows exactly what she wants in life, and she's being joined by her best friend, her mum.

I think you'll love today's show.

Our Ballarat buyers are mother and daughter duo Chelsea and Grace.

Now it's Grace who's in the market, and she is looking for something in Ballarat

to be a little bit closer to both her work and also to her mum and stepdad, Steve.

- Looking for... in a property, something with a little bit of character.

Obviously liking that older style heritage home, especially being in the heart of Ballarat.

My style's a little bit of a mix between the Hampton and the French Provincial.

- And a bit of sort of Victorian antiquey. - Yeah, Victorian antiquey.

- It's a good mix. - So it's more of an older style.

A lot of whites, a lot of greys, all kind of mixes in quite well.

- Grace would also absolutely love to find something with a little bit of a backyard too

for her four-legged baby, Pablo.

- Pablo is my little Chihuahua.

I got Pablo after I lost my dog of 17 years, Batman.

So Pablo is the perfect little Chihuahua for that void.

So, yeah, I absolutely love him.

- He's beautiful.

- Grace and Chelsea value each and every day

after overcoming a major scare when Grace was just a child.

- I nearly lost Grace when she was 9 years old.

She had a appendicitis,

which is generally a run of the mill operation.

Unfortunately, Grace developed a very rare form of septicaemia.

Her superbug had a 97% mortality rate, so we're very lucky that she's earthside with us.

And so every day is valued.

We have a mother-daughter friendship, but it goes beyond that.

So I feel very blessed as a parent to have that beautiful family life.

It's complete. - Yeah.

- Ballarat is around about an hour and a half drive northwest of Melbourne.

The region was first populated by the Wathawurrung people,

but the discovery of gold in 1851 triggered a gold rush

that generated enormous wealth and investment into this area.

To this day, the beautifully detailed Victorian architecture is one of the city's major attractions.

So I am just so excited to see some character-filled homes in this historic gold rush city.

The first home on our tour presents beautifully,

and it's just a short walk to the train station.

I love this area, and I know it will appeal to Grace.

So let's bring in the ladies to see what they make of this home.

Come and join me, girls.

I have been so looking forward to meeting you.

I think you are the poster girl for kick-bottom women.

- Oh, thank you. - I am in awe. You are amazing.

Where does this love of real estate come from?

- I've probably always grown up with Mum being a boss lady.

She's had a fair few businesses and things, so being a national sales and marketing manager,

and along those lines, she's always kind of instilled that in me from a very young age.

- Oh, Mum! I think I'm going to start crying.

What's the vision for you? - Something that we can kind of sink our teeth into a littlebit,

but it's still got that older charm with character.

- Now, just remind us of that wish list.

You'd like a few bedrooms?

- Yes, a few bedrooms.

Something that's an older character-style home, a little bit of renovating work that canbe done.

And budget range, we're probably looking at that 750 to 850 mark.

- Brilliant. Brilliant. - Yeah.

- This first property meets everything on that wish list.

Let's go and have a look inside. OK? - Sounds good. - Great.

- When we first walked into the house, I was absolutely taken away by the beautiful hallway.

- The leadlight entry. - The high ceilings. It was absolutely gorgeous.

- I just wanted to quickly show you what is currently being used as a sitting room,

because the layout of these older homes is so different to what you'd see with a new build today.

- Yes. - And that's what we love. - Yeah, exactly.

That's exactly what we're looking for ― that character in the home.

And this room 100% has it.

- Well, let's go and have a look at that kitchen, and once again,

just take in that beautiful hallway and all the little details. - Perfect.

- Well, I really wanted to show you this room because the moment you open up that front door,

the light that comes in from this lovely large window.

But what do you think of this current renovation?

- Probably is a little bit small for what I'm looking at,

but when I'm looking at the finishes and everything like that, it's been beautifully done.

And though it's a little bit more updated than the other rooms,

it still ties in beautifully with the rest of the home.

- Yes. - We're speaking about doing these little renovations,

but we still want it to tie in with the period style of each home.

And this kitchen does it quite well. It's just probably little bit on the small size.

- Clearly, you don't want to spend a lot of time at the kitchen.

That's all sorted. And check out the bedrooms, because I can't wait to show you out the back.

I think we've got a fair bit to talk about when we check that out. I'll see you soon.

- Perfect. Thank you.

- Wow. The ceiling in here is absolutely beautiful.

It's got some amazing detail.

It absolutely wraps in with every other room that we've been into in here.

- Yeah, it's beautiful. - Yeah.

- Probably only thing is maybe the colour of the paint in here.

Maybe a whiter, fresh white. - Fresh.

- It'll just make it a lot more lighter.

- Probably match in the kitchen a lot more too. - Yes.

Well, should we go check out the backyard? See if it works for Pablo? - OK.

- All right.

- Come and join me in this beautiful green space.

I tell you one thing, you would save money on flowers, because everything you need is righthere.

I think it's really lovely. - I think Pablo will love it here. - Pablo will love this.

- It will be zoomies. - Yeah.

- This can be Pablo's space, but also Grace... - It's got potential too.

- ...this is where you're going to go into that million-dollar mark. - Yes.

- Especially with the kitchen being a little small. - Yes.

- You've got the opportunity to build it. - Extend it.

- What do you think this house is on the market for?

- $780,000 to $800,000 mark.

- You are pretty close. It's actually on the market for around 790 to 850.

- I wasn't really too surprised about the price.

It's in a beautiful location and one of the best streets in Ballarat. - Yeah.

- Should we go and have a look at house number two? - Yes.

- We should. Definitely. - Love it. Lead the way.

Coming up, we have two more homes to explore;

one that is all ready to go inside,

but it does have some creative opportunities required for the backyard ― let's put it that way.

And one that really does strike a nice balance of old and new.

I am in Ballarat helping mum and daughter duo Chelsea and Grace find a character home.

We've toured one house already, which certainly had a lot of character. That's what Grace is looking for.

But it was at the top end of the budget and it did kind of need some work to make it fully functional.

So let's check out our second option and see if this one can win Grace over.

Welcome to Cranbrook.

Love a house with a name. And I love a house that is set on a wide country street.

The houses here all have so much character.

This one is a little bit more of that miners cottage.

You can tell it doesn't have the bullnose veranda, but it does have the lace fretwork at thefront.

- Yeah. - What do you think of Cranbrook so far?

- We're looking for older-style properties, but this has that Hamptons type of look,

which is the style that we're going for. - Yeah.

And I think that's fair that you question yourself by saying country.

It is country. You want character and you want those beautiful features that you can only find here.

- It's a bit smaller too, this place. - Yes.

- This one is a little bit smaller. It does have three bedrooms.

It's got two bathrooms. - Very light, bright, which is a lot of my style.

- OK, let's go and check out Cranbrook.

Come on through to the main living room.

The renovation has already been done, so to speak.

I don't think you'd have a lot of projects to do internally.

Is that OK with you? - Yeah, completely.

I'm very happy with that.

We've still got this in here. We've got the original tiles, it seems.

- And also something that I've noticed in regards to that renovation,

you've got your original Baltic pines. - Yeah. They're beautiful.

- And that works for Pablo. - I'm thinking Pablo.

Straight away, I'm thinking Pablo. - Yes.

- Let's take a look at the kitchen, because I think you might like that space there.

- Perfect.

- I love how bright it is. - It's lovely.

- Do you like it? Is this your style? Yeah.

- I would love to come over, utilize the kitchen,

spend plenty of time in that family room/dining room/kitchen together.

- Yeah. - I think that's a really great space.

- And it's still got some original features,

as well as having plenty of space for platters.

- And champagne. - Sorry. And champagne.

Well, how about you check out the rest of the house?

Let me know what you think of the bathroom situation, and I'll meet you at the back when you're ready.

Perfect. Thank you.

- Oh, this is lovely and cozy.

- Yeah. - What do you think?

- It's smaller. - Yeah.

- But how they've used the space is really efficient.

- It's great. - It's beautiful.

Let's have a look at the backyard and see if we can make use of the kitchen

and integrate it into the backyard as well. I'm really interested to see what that's like.

- Me too. Let's go.

- OK, ladies, join me underneath the blossom tree.

I'm matching my pinks here.

And to be quite honest with you, the back garden is a little bit of a dump.

- Yeah. - But that is actually what you are after.

Considering there are no projects, really, to do inside.

Here, this is where you could get creative. What do you think you'd do?

- See if we can bring that kitchen out a bit further even.

- Yeah. - And then have a bit of an outdoor kitchen,

another outdoor entertaining area. There's the platters and the wine again.

- Love it. Love it. You guys are the dynamic duo.

What do you think this is on the market for?

- Well, we were discussing inside, weren't we? - I'm thinking 680 to 700.

- Yeah. - It's actually so far under your budget.

It's actually 625 to 675.

- Right. - Wow.

- Due to the fact that it is under the price range in which we're looking at

that we can facilitate plans here.

- Yeah, you can really utilize that extra money into re-renovating some of the back half.

- After the break, I would love you to meet Erin.

I'm chatting to her about a local programme that revives the past through its methods of production.

And then we're off to our final house, which hopefully will offer a mix of old and new

that will appeal to Grace.

Ballarat Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades

is a totally inspiring initiative that helps people reengage with traditional forms of production.

I spoke with Erin to learn more.

For what it's worth, Erin, all the locals have told me how proud they are of what you're doinghere,

but I don't quite know how to explain to others what is happening in this space.

How do I share that story?

- Well, this is a brand new institution

with world-class facilities where people can come and learn

all sorts of things directly from artisans, experts in their field, and help keep rare tradesalive.

- I can hear little things happening around me.

I can hear the artisans at work.

What are some of the trades that you've got on offer here at the moment?

- Well, the kinds of trades that we'll have in the programme

are built around the world-class facilities.

So wood, metal, fashion and textiles, leather, decorative arts.

I'm talking about things like how to make a chair.

How to make― - This chair?

- Yeah, the chair we're sitting on.

Earrings, silversmithing. There's something for everyone in the programme here.

- What does it say about Ballarat that this even exists?

Because a lot of people were talking about the creativity of this area.

We can see it in the homes.

What is it about this place?

- Well, I think it stems from a place where we're all really proud of our heritage

and the story of this town that comes before us,

whether it's from the GOLD Rush or before that with First Nations 60,000 years ago.

And we're a museum. And so our job is to look after history,

preserve it and pass it on to future generations.

And this place is all about that.

- Well, there is still one more house for us to take a walk through.

Now, I think that this one offers a lovely balance of old and new.

However, the outdoor area, will it be suitable for Pablo?

What do you think as you approach this corner home?

Are you getting a good feeling?

You can see some corner features.

- 100%. I mean, it has a lot of a mix of the first and the second home.

I mean, the second didn't have a lot of that heritage type of feel,

whereas the first one was boasting with that.

But now here we've got a mix of both, which I'm loving.

- Well, I suppose as you look at the period features of this house,

you're probably going to have to make good friends with your hardware store.

- Yes, 100%. - Because if you have a house of character like this,

they do need a little bit of love and attention.

But as you come into this living area, which has beautiful big picture windows,

would you change anything as you come in?

- Walking in, probably not.

The heritage pieces that we're looking at that I'm wanting for the character,

they're here, they need a little bit of care.

- They do. - But they are here so we can look after those things.

- What do you think of this extension? Brand new extension. - Yeah. Stunning in here.

Light, bright, modern. -Yeah, wow.

- Modern is the word. - Yes. - This is a brand new extension.

Pablo may not approve of this fact,

but where they came out here to give you this massive kitchen living space,

and I should mention, there's a European laundry behind those doors there,

you pretty much lose the garden. - Yeah.

- It's interesting because if we were talking about a Labrador, totally different story.

- Yes. - But what is Pablo?

He's a Chihuahua, so...

So have a look and we'll catch up when you're ready to chat about price.

- Perfect. Thank you.

- This is gorgeous. - It is amazing.

- The views are stunning.

One of the major concerns is probably that bathroom,

just because it is needing quite a large rearrangement.

The shed is also a little bit of a concern.

- I just don't know where we're going to put a value on it. And if...

- And if we're already looking at quite a large bathroom renovation. - If we're in the higherof your...

yeah, price bracket.

- Come and join me on the front veranda.

I quite like this little possie here. - Yes. It's cute, isn't it? - I love it.

I love the fact that you can say hello to everybody.

I'm going to shake things up a little bit, and I'm going to tell you the price.

You don't need to guess the price, because I think it will open up a different conversation.

So it's actually on the market for 680 to 720.

That's 80 grand under your budget.

- Definitely surprised by the value of this house.

I mean, we've only got a street down to being at the train station.

- Aren't they just gorgeous?

I could not love Ballarat anymore if I tried, but I actually loved all three of the homes we've seen today.

I think Grace will have a very difficult time choosing just one.

Let's see if Grace has made a decision.

So, after touring three very impressive Ballarat homes,

that all offered something different for Grace's wishlist,

I am keen to check in now that she's had some time to carefully think through her options

and see what she feels.

Hello, lovely ladies.

I've brought you some sweetie treats.

We can share these. - Thank you.

- How did you feel after our day together?

Because it's a big day.

- All the houses were gorgeous, weren't they?

- So, of those three homes, do you think that there was one that we could rule out?

- Probably house number two.

A lot of the work that we're looking at doing with cosmetic stuff,

it's kind of already been done for us.

Yeah, it was probably that's one that we can definitely rule out.

- OK. All right. House number one.

OK. That one had my heart.

I absolutely loved that one.

- The facade, beautiful.

- Those details, that hallway, the high ceilings.

- The ornate ceilings throughout was magic. - Yeah, it was beautiful.

Probably for the work that needs to be done there, it's just probably a little bit out of reach.

- Yeah. - I think house number three is something that myself, Mum, Steve,

we can all get involved together, get on the paintbrushes and really make an impact there.

- So you'll put an offer in for number three?

- Yes. - Yes. - Yeah.

I think it will be just perfect for what we're wanting to do.

It was breathtaking. It was gorgeous. - All of the features.

- And being the lower end of Grace's price... - That helps.

- ...it allows that opportunity to do a really good reno there.

The bonus is we're spending Grace's money. - Yay!

Oh, Grace, we know that you will do a wonderful, wonderful job

as the custodian of your beautiful Ballarat home.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023.