Grand Designs Australia on ABC and ABC iview S11E6 – Living on the land can be a powerful draw, especially when it’s land that’s been in your family for over six generations. Which is exactly the case for schoolteacher Sam.
Having grown up on the 600-acre sheep farm on the outskirts of Canberra, Sam has a dream to return to his childhood playground, along with his sweetheart, fellow schoolteacher Selina and their three young boys. The plan is to live alongside his parents and brother in an inspirational fully sustainable home, made with recycled bricks. But not just any bricks, over 14,000 original Canberra Red bricks, now considered a prized collector’s item.
Inspired by their own Tiny House build during Covid lockdowns, the family are relying on their bowerbird resourcefulness to find as many second-hand bricks and recyclable materials as possible, to build their forever home; one that may continue being home to their autistic son Sebastion long into the future. Having spent the first eight years of his life as non-verbal, family life has always been challenging. But now 12-year-old Seb is on the cusp of high school and has dreams of his own to be a farmer, so the race is on to get the house built and the whole family settled in before the new year starts.
The problem is the remaining finance for the project is tied to the sale of their existing suburban home, and with interest rates continuing to rise and house prices in their area falling, it couldn’t be a worse time to sell.
Coupled with the stresses of the build and their need to move the family of five into their Tiny House with no running water and an outside loo in the middle of winter, will they be able to cope? Or will it all become too much?
Production credits:
Grand Designs Australia is produced by Fremantle Australia for ABC. Head of Unscripted: Josie Mason Campbell. Supervising Executive Producer: Brooke Bayvel. Executive Producer: Michael Collett. ABC Commissioning Editor, Factual: Jo Chichester. ABC Head of Factual: Susie Jones. ABC Head of Screen Content: Jennifer Collins. International Distribution: Fremantle Distribution.
Grand Designs Australia on ABC and ABC iview – Thursday 14 November at 8.00pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
Grand Designs Australia on ABC and ABC iview S11E6
