Inspiration

Written by Sibella Court

In April 2013 I embarked on the 2-and-a-half-year journey of a lifetime as the host of ABC TV's program, Restoration Australia. With an Australian history degree under my belt and a great love of heritage trades and historical houses, this was a match made in heaven. I traipsed across rural Australia, following the stories of 7 houses & 7 families, their trials & tribulations, joys & sorrows as they restored their heritage houses.

A community bands together to save their slice of Australian history, a rundown cottage on the outskirts of Orange, NSW, that may be the birthplace of one of the country's greatest literary icons

In 1852 a Scottish blacksmith, his wife, and six children, all walked 500km from Adelaide, South Australia, to start a new life. Their great-great-granddaughter seeks to restore her pioneering ancestor's original buildings.

A once-stately Georgian manor, perched high on a hill overlooking Wollongong, NSW, has been stripped of all its original features over the course of the last century. I join a plucky couple who want to bring back the grand old lady's glory days.

In Southern Gippsland, Victoria, an 1850s gentleman's house, rife with ghost stories and a bloody past, posed a huge challenge when the new owners found the current residents were a herd of cows.

Dating back to 1885, this piece of goldrush architecture lies in ruins at the foot of Australia's Snowy Mountain range - until a couple decides to turn it back into a family home

Tucked away near the spa town of Daylesford in Victoria, a heritage-listed ruin, unoccupied for 80 years, is transformed into a family home

A couple of Sydney antique dealers decided to restore one of the oldest timber buildings still standing (just!) in the centre of Hobart, Tasmania. The 160-year-old neogothic shop and residence had long been derelict and suffered two separate arson attacks.