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

On today's episode, I am in the wonderful town of Woodend with Kel and her friend Cara.

What are your first thoughts? I have a feeling that Cara is going to let loose.

- Now, we're on the hunt for a Hamptons house.

- I can definitely see myself cooking at that oven. - Cara, can you see yourself...?

- But only one will win Kel over,...

So, Kel, your heart ― what is it telling you to do?

- I'm putting an offer in house...

- ...so stick around to find out which one it is.

Welcome to the Victorian country town of Woodend,

where I have always thought there is a― a fairy-tale charm to it.

That's exactly what has drawn today's buyer, Kelly, to the neighbourhood.

She's after a Hamptons-style cottage. She's leaving acreage ― doesn't wanna deal with too muchgarden

but wouldn't mind a few bedrooms for and her son, Sam, to share,

and is also looking for somewhere that's, maybe,

near a park for her and her two geriatric Labradors to enjoy.

And they have a budget of around about a million dollars.

Now, today, Kelly is being joined by her good friend Cara.

They met through mothers group. Great friendship, but Cara keeps her on the straight and narrow.

I know that, today, we will find them their dream country home.

So let's go and meet them before the clouds roll in.

Kel's just an amazing woman who...

You know, she's been known as Corporate Kel within our mothers group.

And, you know, she's the one who's always put herself last

and, you know, does everything for her son and makes sure her friends and family are all cared for.

Uh, but she sometimes, you know, forgets that she also needs to look after herself.

Uh, so I've come along with her to, you know, try and help her find her dream home for the nextfew years,

and, you know, just help her with a fresh start and get on the right track again.

- And she's that friend that always says yes when I want to do crazy things,...

...um, like this.

- You know, she said something. When I had some scatter-brained ideas about renovating

and doing Airbnbs and building houses, she said, 'No, no, no. You need a rest, not a project.'

So she's that voice of reason and, um, yeah, just, you know, a great friend.

Thanks, Kel.

- In an ideal world, my wish list for my dream home would be white weatherboard,

um, a little porch out the front, roses and lavender in the front garden,

um, lots of windows, lots of natural light,

floorboards, a more country-style kitchen ― you know, with that tapware...

country-style tapware and basins, and...

In Sam's world, that would mean pool, basketball court and a games room.

If you can find that, I think you've hit the jackpot.

- Woodend is located under an hour's drive from Melbourne.

It's in the centre of the Macedon Ranges, which are gorgeous,

and also the gateway to loads of attractions throughout the region,

so you'll discover country-style bakeries, cosmopolitan cafes

and brilliant pubs in this lovely town.

So, let's bring out the umbrella. I know. Sorry. But it's all gonna be OK.

Let's kick things off with house number one.

- Ooh, what do you think? - Wow. It's cute. - It is cute.

- A lick of paint... - It's cute. I can hear you saying that. Yeah, it's cute.

- Hello. - Come on in, out of the rain.

I have to admit this is the first Country House Hunters I have done in gumboots,

but, you know, this area isn't really known for its hot, sunny days, so... - No.

- That's OK. - The charm of the ranges.

- So, you guys know each other from mothers group.

Is that right? - That's right. - Yep.

- But I do know that you're also supporting today with your builder's hat.

You are from a long line of builders. - That's right. Correct. Yes.

Husband's a builder, so... - Right.

- Yeah, here to give some tips and... - Pulled in the big guns.

- That's right.

- As you were walking up that, uh― that gravel driveway, what did you think of the house?

- Very cute, yeah. - It does have your sort of Kel feel to it.

- Yeah. A lick of paint. - Easily done. - Easily done.

- Yeah, and you love light and bright, don't you? - Yep, and it's got character ―

bit of character. - Mm. - Yeah.

- I've got three houses that all fit something that is on the wish list,

and, with this first house, it does actually have four bedrooms, two bathrooms,

but we're calling it lofty living in Woodend.

You'll see that in just a moment. Would you like to go inside? - Love to.

- Let me take you through. Give me the brolly. Give me the brolly. We'll leave that outside.

You won't― won't need that now, but come on through. We'll check it out. Cara, builder's haton.

Well, you can see, straight away, there's your loft. - Yeah.

- It's light. It's bright. As the door slams ― boom ― what do you think as you walk in?

- Wow. - Oh, great. - It's really deceiving how big

and open and spacious and bright and light and white ― I love the white walls.

But I'm just so drawn, straight away, to that, um... - You like the stacked-stone hearth?

- Love it. Absolutely love it. Always wanted to do it in my old place.

I really liked the interior. I could do a lot with it.

I could, you know, tweak quite a few things. I liked the white walls

and the fireplace and the surround around the fireplace. I really liked the vaulted ceiling.

- OK. Great. Well, let's check out the second living space, through here, and the kitchen as well.

- Great.

- What are your first thoughts? I have a feeling that Cara is going to let loose.

No, I think it's great. Um, I mean, firstly,

I like that you've got the dual areas ― so you've got somewhere to hang out;

Sam's got somewhere to hang out. I'm not sure if the design is exactly your cupof tea.

And what do you think?

- I don't mind it. I don't mind the tiles. I can live with the kitchen.

I'm not much of a cook. That's why I have her. You know? It's gotta look pretty and look nice.

- Yep. - But it's not all about the functionality to me.

- OK. What was that movie with Diane Keaton? - Oh.

- Ooh. - Yes, and, um, Jack Nicholson.

- Yes. Yeah. - Yeah, I watched a lot of that movie to get inspiration, yeah.

- Absolutely, because she is literally loving the Hamptons kitchen,...

- Yeah. - ...and you can tell. Those cosmetic cues...

- Yeah. - ...are really easy to do.

Check out the loft upstairs. The working space ― would that work for you?

And when you're ready, we'll catch up, and I'll let you know what the price is.

- OK. - Sounds good. - I'll head this way.

- Oh, Kel, I can see you up here. - Wow. Great home office. - This could be your office.

You could work from here. You've still got a bit of a view out there, too.

- Yeah, a view of the mount. - You could almost spy on Sam at school.

- Yeah, great home-office space for me,... - Mm.

- ...but also for Sam. I could see him setting up, you know, the Xbox, um...

- His little gaming centre. - But still being, uh, in an open space,

where I can keep an eye on him.

- Come on out. Join me on the ironbark deck.

I just love the fact that the design is so easy. It's so well thought out.

What do you think, Handbrake?

- No, I do. It's functional. I can see... It does flow. I like the floor plan, the layout ―

it's very clever. - Yeah. - So, let's get to the fun part.

And I'm sure Cara's done the homework on this.

- What do you think this on the market for? - Maybe late eights, early nines?

- You're spot on. It's actually 890 to 920. - Oh.

- Given that it's under budget, I think, you know, that's great.

It gives me a bit― a little bit more room to move on doing some minor renovations.

But, when― when they say 'under budget', I immediately think,

'Great. I've got more money to go and spend on holidays or go on a trip away somewhere.'

- Well, I still have two more houses to show you.

- The next one might be a little bit more Hamptons for your liking. - Yeah.

- Head on through this way. Let's check it out.

After the break...

Cara, let 'er rip. - Oh, I am absolutely loving this.

- And, later...

So, Kel, your heart ― what is it telling you to do? - I'm putting an offer in house...

Today I am in the gorgeous town of Woodend with friends Kel and Cara.

We are on the hunt for a Hamptons-style home for Kel and her son, Sam.

Now, we've toured one house already, but it may just need a little bit more work.

So we are now off to house number two.

Well, this one really is turnkey-ready. Let's see if it's a better fit.

All right, girls. You want white weatherboard? You got white weatherboard.

Nailed it.

- What's one of the first things that you spot over my shoulder?

- Um, other than the beautiful farm, uh, is that, uh, basketball ring,

which is gonna tick somebody's box in this decision-making process, so, yeah.

- I think that Sam might notice that. - Yeah.

- I think so. - Absolutely. - Potentially some new friends,

as well, for him. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- Well, I can't wait to show you inside,

because this home was actually built by a wonderful local builder.

It's almost brand-new, and he built this home for his sister-in-law.

Extra bit of love and attention has gone into this home. So, shall we have a look inside?

- Can't wait. Thank you. - Definitely. - Follow me.

- And here is your Hamptons kitchen. - You've nailed it.

- I could see all my furniture just fitting straight in here, without having to change that uptoo much.

- Cara, let 'er rip. - Oh, I am absolutely loving this for Kel. It just...

I think it's really... it's you. It's got a beautiful feel to the property. Um, instantly,

you're just sort of greeted with that gorgeous entry. It's got the pine lining.

- Mm. - Uh, it's very much your sort of feel.

I can definitely work with your kitchen.

- I can see us having some dinner parties here. - Nice.

- I'll have to cook up a little seafood special for you. - Yeah. Might have a...

- Maybe a paella, or... - You might have to teach me how to use the oven.

- I can definitely do that. But you make the sangria. I'll do the paella. We'll be...

- You're on. - We'll be sorted. - You're on.

- I will let you have a look at the main bedroom, which is just through here.

And when you're ready, come and meet me outside. - OK.

- We'll talk about the price. - Sounds good. - OK. Lovely.

- Oh, Kel, this is you.

This is beautiful.

And it's bright and airy. - Yep. You can see the trees.

- Oh, and the door, so you can actually go out and have a cuppa... - Yep.

- ...on a nice, summer day ― not like today. - It's quiet. It's private.

- En suite. Kel, those tiles. - Oh, they're gorgeous.

- Well, I think we need to go and find Catriona outside and get her thoughts and see a little bit more.

- Yep. Let's do it.

- What did you think of that retreat? It really is like a retreat.

- Absolutely, yeah. Um, beautiful ― big and spacious and bright.

Probably a little bit too bright. I'd probably paint a wall.

Um, the fact that it had access to the, um― the decking area and...

You know, with fly screens, I get some fresh air in there. - We've talked about all the pros.

There is, kind of, a con to this house as well.

The current, uh, owner hasn't got around to doing the landscaping.

- Yeah, I'm fine with that ― depending on the budget. - Mm.

- Um, and blank canvas to sort of put my own tweak on it. - Mm.

What do you think this is on the market for? - It's gotta be close to a mill.

- Yeah, I reckon it's... it's around the mill mark. Yeah. - Do you know what?

It's actually 925. - Really? - Yeah.

- Shocked and surprised at the price. - I agree.

- Um, I think it's good buying here. - Definitely, yep. - Good value for money.

- Let me show you one last house that I promise you don't need to do too much to.

- OK. - OK? One more up my sleeve. - Let's do it.

- If you wanna head out, I'll show you.

All this house-hunting is thirsty work, so, after the break,

I get down to the pub to find out more about this magical place.

And, after that, it's on to our final home.

While in Woodend, I made a quick pit stop to Holgates Bar & Restaurant for a refreshing drink with Natasha,

who talked me through the charm of all of this Macedon region.

I knew that Holgates was the hub of the town and that so much joy for the community has been found here.

But now that I'm in here, I had no idea about the size of your business. What have you got going here?

- So, we've got this beautiful, historic hotel that was built in the late 1890s.

And it's a great place to come, have a beer, have something to eat.

We're open every day except, uh, Christmas and Boxing Day.

You can have functions here as well. We've got function rooms. And we have accommodation,so...

I did not know you had accom here.

- What about the empire out the back? The distillery,... - Yes.

- ...which is, for you, where it all started. - Yeah.

So, I mean, beer is what we do. So, Holgate Brewhouse ― we make beer. That's― That's allwe do.

And, uh, craft beer has become so big, so popular, that we did this big $8 million, uh, expansion.

- Huge. - Uh, we finished it at the end of 2019.

- Yeah. - So we've got a really big facility now.

- OK. Now, I'm not a beer drinker, but you've got me covered?

- That's certainly true. So, we have hoppy beers, we have malty beers, we even have sour beers,

- and we have a beer made with chocolate. - Yes!

- So, this has actual real Belgian cocoa in it,... - Oh, I love it.

- ...as well as vanilla beans. - Oh gosh. It smells beautiful. - So, it―

it enhances the vanilla, chocolatey notes from the roasted malt.

You can see that beautiful colour comes from the roasted malts. - That is absolutely delicious.

- If someone had told me that, um, this was what I was gonna do for, you know,

um, 20 years, I would― I would have been shocked, but it's just been great.

We've met so many great people by running the pub.

Like, our close friends are actually people who we've met, being visitors here, who live in the area.

It's been great. - And it seems to me that the thread throughout everything

that you're saying is the community here in Woodend.

- Definitely. - Yeah.

Let's get back to our house hunt. House number one was a little bit too much work for Kel,

and house number two seemed to tick a lot of the boxes.

So, bring out your brolly again, and let's see what they think of house number three.

Out of the rain once again. This is move-in ready. This is turnkey.

I picked up on what you said before about wanting something that would be turnkey,

so there's no stress with this one. You know what? Really easily,

Sam could put a basketball ring right there. That could be fun.

- I see concrete. - I see concrete.

All right. Well, let's pop our brollies by the door and come in and have a look.

You know, girls, uh, I wouldn't normally show the main bedroom right off the bat,

but it's at the front of the house. What's something that you feel as soon as you come in?

- It's quiet. - Yeah, and it's warm. - Yeah, and it's warm.

- Yeah, it's very cosy. - Yeah, and, yeah, very cosy.

- Cara, you lead the way, because the kitchen's down the hall,

with one of two entertaining spaces here, so let's go and check that out.

Well, come on through to what is one of two entertaining spaces.

This kitchen area, everything is first-class. Smeg appliances.

You've got your Tassie oak flooring. What do you think of the set-up? - It's got a good feel,doesn't it?

- Yep. I love the... a lot of the artwork. I like― - I really like it too.

- It's like a gallery, yeah. And that table. - Let me tell you about that table.

That is actually from the local mill, and once upon a time,

when this was all green space ― before the houses were here ―

that table was made from a tree that was in situ, that― that was from here.

Take a little wander through to the second main bedroom.

Let me know what you think Sam would make of that. And when you're ready, I'll see you outside.

- Awesome. - All right. Lovely.

- Ooh, this is big. - Wow. Nice view of the garden.

- This is perfect for Sam. - Yeah. Good size. - And you can go straight outside.

- Yeah, access to the backyard. Nice view out the back... - It's beautiful, actually.

Look at all the trees and... - I'd probably steal this room from him, actually.

It's got a nice view and... - Forego the en suite.

- Yeah, I have my own home office, and... yeah.

Let's go find Catriona and get that magic number. - Sounds good.

- Girls,... - ...check this out. Whoo!

- I love that. - Oh! Love the tools!

- Oh, how do I stop it? - Oh, there we go.

- You can see this is a true indoor-outdoor... - Yeah.

- ...entertaining space. - Yep. Yep. - You've got your heaters.

You've got your fan there, the telly already set up.

And I actually think it's kind of lovely on a wet day, hearing the sound of that rain.

- Yeah.

- What do you think this home is on the market for? - More than a million, yeah.

- It is. It's 1 to 1.05.

And the reason why it's slightly higher than house number two is because it's all done.

- Yeah.

- And we'll catch up when you're ready and see if you have found the perfect country house.

- Awesome. Let's go. - Watch this space.

- She's made it difficult. - Um, like, this is really turnkey.

I wouldn't have to do a thing to it. All the landscaping's done.

House number two ― like, I just couldn't fault the house.

It was bang on the brief as far as Hamptons style. - Correct.

- But I've gotta do all that landscaping. - Yep.

- Well, I think that we have done very well today.

We've had our three weatherboard homes ― that was a tick off the list.

We had enough space, good fencing for the dogs.

I can't wait to catch up with them to see which one they will go for.

Well, I've given Kel and Cara some time to think about all three houses.

Now, I think I know which house they're going to go for, but I've been surprised before.

You never can tell. So let's check in again to see where things are at.

Hello, ladies. - Good morning.

- I'm glad that we've got the memo ― wearing blue. - Mm.

Ombre of blue there.

- Completely unplanned. Completely unplanned. I love this cafe, by the way.

- It's gorgeous. - I was thinking yesterday, with those houses,

I felt that two and three ― strong contenders. But I couldn't remember why number one was the weak one.

- I think it was more cos it was aged, and, therefore,

the renovation and the maintenance would start kicking in. - Right.

Which you're very clear you don't wanna do. - Yeah, I don't―

- You don't have the time to do it. - Yeah, don't have the time. It's hard to get tradies.

- Yeah. - I don't want a project. I want a rest.

- You made that very clear. - Correct. - Yeah.

- The buddy made that clear. - Yeah. - OK, so that―

- Whilst I think it's cute and gorgeous, I get, you know, my rose-coloured glasses on...

- Yes. - ...and think, 'Oh, I could do this. I could do that.

'I could do this.' And then that just starts adding up. - Yeah.

So, when it came to those homes ― two and three ― what did you think? - Oh, they― they sung to me.

They were both perfectly Kel. - Mm. - Style-wise, yes ―

did tick her Hamptons sort of feel. - Yes. Yes.

- Um, I could see her in either of those, to be honest. - Mm.

- There's a bit of a compromise in both. One, she'd need a little bit of...

um, like, the garden ― is gonna have to do some work. - That's true. Yeah.

- Uh, but the other one's move-in ready, but, then, is it quite roomy enough for what Kel'safter?

- Mm. Mm. - But, either way, I think she'd be happy in either of those.

- And with house number three, again, it was turnkey.

I could just walk in. The landscaping's all done, and Sam could play basketball out thefront.

- Yeah. So, Kel, your heart, your gut instinct ― what is it telling you to do?

- I'm putting an offer in house two. - OK. You back this?

- I'm very happy. I think that's a really wise decision. - Yeah, and...

- That kitchen. - The kitchen... - You're drawn to the kitchen.

- Oh, that kitchen. - Your friend will be happy in that kitchen.

- Yep. That's exactly right. I can see Cara in my kitchen. - It's not all about Kel.

- Um, the moment we walked through those doors, it― it spoke to me,... - Yeah.

- ...and it spoke to you. - Yeah.

- Thankfully it also spoke to the buyer. - It did, yeah.

- It's not all about me. - Yep. Yep.

- House two, it is.

- I don't know, but I think Cara is more excited than Kel about this decision.

I know that Kel and her son, Sam, will absolutely love living here. We wish you all the very best.