Restoration Australia on ABC and ABC iview S7E1 – From a grubby hostel on a busy city street to a creaking, spartan weatherboard in remote countryside, and a raft of daunting restorations in between, the challenges of saving Australia’s heritage homes is a test of willpower, ingenuity, bank balances and relationships. Architecture expert Anthony Burke takes us deep into these passion projects in this brand-new series of Restoration Australia.
Episode Two
Lord’s Lodge on Melbourne’s super-busy Punt Road is a huge dowdy, fluro-lit former backpacker hostel where the flotsam of its previous life remains readily evident. Discarded undies swing from ceiling beams upstairs, pool balls have been shot into the weedy back yard and partition scars reveal just about every available space was once carved into tight accommodation. In its heyday, Lords Lodge developed a pretty dubious reputation. Full of young budget travellers it might’ve been hard to tell which was more raucous, the hostel or the rumbling peak hour traffic out front.
Young professional couple Steph and Paul were initially put off by the main road address as well as the threatening covenant that lingered over the 150yo, two story Italianate house: if Punt Road needed to be widened sometime in the future then the house might be compulsorily acquired and demolished. Still, Steph and Paul braved the bustle, stepped inside and were instantly convinced – Lord’s Lodge was their affordable ticket into stylish inner-city Prahran with the sort of scale they wanted in a family home.
But with a baby on the way and a tight lid on their restoration budget they’ll be pushed to the extremes of their deadline and their bank balance to transform this bruised and battered giant into the family sanctuary of their dreams.
Host Anthony Burke joins a young couple as they set out bravely and optimistically to write a happy, luxe new chapter for a storied Melbourne institution.
Production credit: Commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A Freemantle production. Supervising Executive Producer: Brooke Bayvel. Executive Producer: Michael Collette. ABC Commissioning Editor: Jo Chichester.
Restoration Australia on ABC and ABC iview – Thursday 10 April at 8.00pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
Restoration Australia on ABC and ABC iview S7E2
