- Imagine finding the house of your dreams in the place you always wanted to live for a budget that doesn't break the bank. Sound impossible? 'What if you could truck the house you want to the section of your choice 'and maybe save money along the way?' - That's my lounge. - Whoo! Love it. - (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) - 'It's a journey that can be fraught with anxiety,...' (TYRES SCREECH) What was that? '...pressure,...' There's only inches in it, Leonie. - Oh my gosh. - '...and stress.' - Yeah, I've got some very unhappy people up here. - 'From grand old villas to brand-new buildings,...' It's on the move. There's no turning back. '...these homes are picked up, 'sliced up, 'and trucked down some of New Zealand's most challenging roads.' We're even taking them across the water. This is New Zealand's oldest recycling industry. From impassable roads to impossible deadlines. Is all the trucking, trauma, and tension really worth it? Tonight on Moving Houses, a newlywed couple pair up with a Victorian villa. Oh, this is fantastic. - I saw it Sunday afternoon. Walked into the lounge and... - Surprised me Tuesday night. - ...said I've bought it. - (BOTH LAUGH) - So, where's it going? And it could be enough to test any marriage. - Top of the house. The car. Ooh! - Is this a match made in heaven? (LAUGHTER) Or will it fail to go the distance? - (GROANS) - So come along for the ride. This is Moving Houses. You know, houses aren't just homes. They're large objects. Well, you wouldn't buy such a large object unless you had somewhere to put it. Well, not all of us play by the same rules. Leonie and Brendon married just two years ago. They live and work together in their modern home in Pukekohe. - I got down the aisle and just grabbed you and kissed you, which is not really what you're supposed to do. (LAUGHS) You're supposed to save that for the end. - Supposed to wait a moment. - There's our big moment. - I look like I've got the cheese. (BOTH LAUGH) - They have a dream to create a unique wedding venue. With Brendon's building skills and Leonie's design expertise, they've got an ambitious project in mind. - Creating happiness for couples. It's exciting. We look at these photos, and they're beautiful memories - But it's not gonna be easy. - We have... moved and lived in different houses but not necessarily moved a house before. - (LAUGHS) It's gonna be rewarding, and it's got its own adventure with it. - And it's not just any house. They've bought an ornate historic villa that Leonie found on an auction site for relocatable houses. - Marriage is a tradition. The villa's 1910, in that age of marriage and age of villa. All those sort of things coming together has quite a nice sort of feel to it. - Here we go, stepping on to the property. This is fantastic. - She's a beauty, isn't it? - It is a beauty. What a daunting prospect, having to... (LAUGHTER) ...move this home. - Yes. This beautiful 200-square-metre villa has graced leafy Remuera for over a century, but with the developers moving in, Leonie got in even quicker. You bought this place sight unseen. - Yes. Correct. I saw it on a Sunday afternoon. And then it went to auction online on the Tuesday. Then walked into the lounge and... - Surprised me Tuesday night. - ...said I've bought it. - (BOTH LAUGH) - So there was very little consultation, Brendon? - No consultation. I shouldn't say none. There was a little bit. - A little bit. - And what was the final price that you paid? - $87,000. - $87,000. So what was it about this house that you fell in love with? - You know, it's 1910, so it's got all the character. It's got the ceilings that you'll see inside, the front door, the leadlights. - Well, can we have a look inside? - Yeah. Come on in. - Absolutely. OK. Here we go. - Oh, this is fantastic. LAUGHS: What an entranceway! - These are pressed metal ceilings. - It's in remarkably good nick for something that went up 110 years ago. - It's incredible how they last. - Leonie wasn't kidding; these intricate pressed-tin ceilings are extraordinary. With the exceptional stained-glass windows, I feel like I've stepped into another era. Look, we've only tackled one room, and there's quite a bit more to discover here. Typically, this Victorian villa is divided by a long hallway with three spacious bedrooms to the right, which, to someone like Leonie, must scream potential. I mean, the fireplace immediately catches your eye. - It does. All the detail. They just don't build them like this anymore. - I'll lead the way. - On the other side, a formal living room with the most impressive ceiling of all. Oh yes. These Ceilings. They just capture your attention every time, don't they? There's quite a bit more detail in this one. - This was the one that I fell in love with it. - This is the ceiling that drew you in, Leonie. - It did. It's just sensational. - 'The pressed-in flowers and faces look down at what I can only describe as unique Australiana tiles.' - So, this will be quite a glamorous living room. Beautiful feature in a living room, having a window seat, somewhere to relax. That will get restored. - At the end of the hallway is a more recently added kitchen, which doesn't have the original Victorian feel of the rest of the house. When do you think this was done, Brendon? - Oh, well, it must have been installed in the '80s, eh? - I'd actually like to run the kitchen along this back wall here, which is about 7m. - Along that way? - What? - The kitchen. - Yeah. - Oh. That's not how I thought you talking about it. - Slight difference in opinion with the kitchen? - I think I just haven't caught up, perhaps. - (LAUGHS) - Yeah, I've possibly been working on this in my mind on how things are gonna progress and the design of the property and the interiors. - Brendon is better off leaving the interiors to Leonie. He's got enough on his plate. The house must be moved in four weeks, and the house-moving company can't supply labour for this complicated prep job, so it's Brendon and his builders on the tools. But you've got the team to come in to do it? - Yeah. We've got our own crews that can help out on these sorts of things. - They have experience in this sort of stuff? - No. - They don't? - No. - So is there someone overseeing them or giving them a bit of guidance? - I've got to do that. Yeah. I'm sure it can't be too difficult, if you know what I mean. - So where's it going? - That way somewhere. (LAUGHS) - Off the site. - Off the site. - In about four weeks. - We've got a couple of options that are in play at the moment, but nothing's set in stone, so hopefully the thing goes off over the next 24 hours kind of thing. - Brendon and Leonie have fallen in love with this wonderful heritage house. They seem remarkably relaxed about relocating it. But for me, walking through these stately rooms with their elaborate windows, ceilings, and chandeliers, I can't imagine cutting this precious old house up, let alone loading it on to the back of a truck. And let's review. It needs to be off this site within one month. The people coming to prepare it for removal, they're ring-ins. And it's got absolutely nowhere to go. So I guess my question is are Brendon and Leonie taking too much of a risk? Well, that's a question for Gary Andrews. He's been trucking houses forever. - I get a great kick out of seeing things recycled. Just the thrill of actually saving landfills and making sure that we can house people in affordable manners, it's a driving force for all of us. - Brendon knows how to build a house, but Gary, he knows how to slice it in half. The deal is Brendon preps the house and Gary moves it for around 100 grand. He's here to make sure Brendon gets it right with a to-do list a mile long. - What do you reckon? Where do we start with this old girl? - You have to lower the gables right down, take them right off. - You want me to take the whole roof off? - You've got to take the whole roof off. Have a look inside, shall we? Strip off here. This. - Yeah. - And our cut line then will come straight down. You'll have to take this door here down and this door out. And then this is all open that way. - There's a massive amount of work to be done. - Take it out through here. And then we'll put our cut line down here. - And Gary's just getting started. - Here. - OK. - Put some cross bracing in. This has to be done in every room. That'll help hold all this here in. Fireplace out. Put a plate through the top. Ply all the way around here. - OK. - Take all these out. I want you to remove all the chandeliers. All this comes out. Top plate. Bottom plate. Don't forget the underlay. Take this balustrade right out. - Both sides? - No, no, that one's OK. It's only where the cuts come in. Anything else we need to go over? - I think you've given me enough to do, mate. That's for sure. - I think we could safely say there's a good two or three weeks' work here. - Sweet. - With just four weeks till the move, Brendon's got a team of five guys getting stuck in immediately. (ROCK MUSIC) - So, this next two weeks, really, the boys are in here, pulling it apart now. And then have all the protection work done around the doors and the leadlights by the end of today, tomorrow. And then, next week, start ripping chimneys down and peeling into the roof at some stage. This time next week, we should be well ahead of the game. - By the end of the day, the house is starting to look like a shell. And the worst possible news comes in. The rural site Brendon and Leonie had their hearts set on has fallen over. - It just poses a few more problems for us, but I guess you can't walk into one of these projects thinking it's going to be a smooth ride. - This is more than a rough ride. With nowhere to go, could their wedding venue dream be left standing at the altar? So, you get to the bottom of the Bombay Hills, you turn west, and with luck, you arrive here at the Awhitu Peninsula, opening up to the Manukau Harbour. This is one of Auckland's best kept secrets. In fact, Auckland's not that far away, as the crow flies. Brendon and Leonie fell in love with the Awhitu Peninsula when they tried to buy this site with a 19th century church that would have been the heart of their heritage wedding venue. Sadly, council consent issues meant that they had to walk away. That is a picture. It can't be easy, once you've seen this and you've started to develop that vision in your head. - The whole journey I didn't want to end. We were happy with the direction that we were going in. We want to create a wedding venue. We like this area. We've kind of fallen in love with out here, actually. - This is what drew us to Awhitu, was this church. - I got up, and I thought, 'Right. I've got an idea.' So I went into the lounge and saw Brendon and said to him, 'Well, if we can't do that church and we've got limitations and restrictions, 'can you build me a church?' He looked at me, said, 'Well, I can't build you a church, 'but I can build you a church-style barn.' - But you think you're on to something else that is going to be even better? - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yup. - Which might solve Leonie's wedding venue dream, but it still doesn't give them a site. And while Brendon's focusing on where to put the house, his team are busy getting it prepped to go. - (BLEEP) hell. Looks like a disaster zone. Yes, it does. I mean, the old lady's lost her dress, I guess. - Unfortunately, it's not the only thing that's been lost. - All those chandeliers have managed to find the way out into somebody else's car, so that's a bit disappointing. They've come and taken all the copper from the house. It's just another element that you have to deal with, isn't it? - I guess is less of a market for stolen Australiana fire surrounds. And while Brendon retrieves meticulously-crafted pieces of the 110-year-old villa from the grass, Leonie's keen to bring a modern colour palette to their piece of history. - It's really nice to see the brass tap where that's arrived. We're full-on into it. I mean, there's so much detail in this property. - The brass will look really nice with the warm tones in the tiles. - The villa itself is a big, big part of the wedding day. Bridal party, the night before, to have all their hair and make-up done and then the bride and groom the night of the wedding and maybe even a couple of nights after. I guess the feeling is you're in a nice peaceful home. It's got a contemporary feel to the inside, and the colour palette is just soft and timeless, really. The softness of this with the contrast of the darker sitting underneath will look stunning. - And the colours have thrown up a new dilemma ` whether to keep the original look of the villa's kauri floorboards. - It's the one that's gonna be a bit of a challenge, Mel. (BOTH LAUGH) We've got the natural flooring, which I would like to stain. We're gonna have to talk to the flooring people and really see what our limitations are. Definitely would like to bring it up and level with what we're doing with the colour palette. - With just 10 days until the house moves, there's good news. The couple have found a bigger and even better property at the top of their beloved Awhitu Peninsula. The bad news is how the villa will have to get there ` through a steep valley, across a creek bed, and up the other side. Can't see their beautiful villa making it up this hill on the back of a truck. But once we get to the top, I can see why they want to try. And suddenly it all makes sense. Wow. I didn't realise we'd have that much perspective back on the water. Yet here we are. - Nah, it's huge. A massive, expansive view. - And so this is the building site? - Out here at this location is probably the back of the villa. - The main bedroom looking out through to the view through here. And then also with the church on this side looking straight through to the view. - It's the type of building that, give it a couple of years and let some grass and a bit of shrubbery grow, no one will have any idea that it once had a very urban existence. - Exactly. - At 657,500 bucks, this 1250-hectare-plus site is a gorgeous spot. Right now, well, it's just a paddock. Brendon knows how to make things happen fast, but he's got less than two weeks to sort consent, foundations, and truck access. Back at Clonbern Road, they've made huge progress. With the roof off, it's a very different looking building. Five days to the move, and Gary's handing over the reins to his foreman, second generation house mover Damian, who's in charge of the move on the night. - Brendan, this is Damian. - Hey, Damian. - Gidday, mate. - Going all right? - Damian's the it man for looking after the whole of the operation from here on. - I'll look after you. - Really, what we've got to talk about is the bracing. The rest of the bracing has to happen in here, in there, like we talked about originally. - Yeah. - And also some up here. - Through this one. - Just so it all holds up. - The house will have to be jacked up, split in half to fit on the road, and loaded on two trucks. This bracing might look like overkill, but the stakes are high. - The more bracing you've got on a building, the more it will hold it together and stop it from flopping around and falling apart. - See, these here just need a bit of cross bracing, eh, because there's no bracing there at all. - That's what's tricky about it, is being able to get it to where it's got to go to without causing too much carnage. (LAUGHS) - This cross. - You want to protect your investment. - Yeah. - With five days to go, the bracing must be ready. - It's quite simple. - Yeah. Yeah. Don't try and complicate it. - No. - (LAUGHS) - Keep it simple, mate. - We'll be here Monday. - Yeah. OK. - It's now just two days to the move. Damian and the moving team are here to jack up the house but instead find there's more work to be done inside. Brendon's bracing, so critical to protect those precious ceilings, still isn't finished. And with the weather threatening to turn, Damian needs to get this house locked down, jacked up, and ready to move in less than 48 hours. Damian, how are ya? Flat out? - Yeah, full on, man. (CHUCKLES) Yeah, she's all go. Hasn't quite gone to plan, but we're slowly getting there. - Brendon not quick enough on the tools, is he? - He's doing all right for a learner. That's putting it kind. (LAUGHS) But nah, nah, he's doing all right. - There's quite a big difference between being a builder and being a house mover, isn't there? - The whole idea of making something that's not meant to be moved structurally sound to move, the concept is really different. - Yeah. On the scale of jobs that you've done, what's this house sitting at? - Difficult being 10, easy being 1, you're looking at about 9. - It's more hopeful at the top of the Awhitu Peninsula. Brendon's moving mountains, and he's found a solution to the problem of access. - Peter, our new lovely neighbour there, was very accommodating to let us come through the site there. It made their life a lot easier, that's for sure. Otherwise, with the bed weather coming, it wasn't gonna be a real go at all. Today is all about the screw piles getting in the ground, ready for the house. - These adjustable piles are set into the ground and fixed after the house is in place. Gary sent in area manager Les to ensure the foundations are set up so the trailers can get the house in. - So, I've got that one low, that one low, and that one low. - I need these low and these low. That can go up. - That's one's down. - That's down. - Gary's team would usually be responsible for this whole process, but Brendon's deal means he's had to upskill fast on the things that movers do every day. - Just going back to how this is gonna drop down. - Yes. - It'll stay up, and then the trucks will come out, then we lower down? - Yes, yes, yes. Once I see the two trailers sitting here, I'll be a very happy chappy. - (LAUGHS) Yeah. (ROCK MUSIC) - The day before the move, and they're jacking the house up. I'm surprised to find Brendon back here working on the bracing. I mean, I have to say, I wasn't expecting to see you in here today. - Neither was I. (LAUGHS) I was trying not to be. - What's happened? - Oh, just gotta get these last little bits done for these fellas. - I mean, would that suggest that things aren't going quite to plan as you'd hoped? - Oh, we always leave enough room to rush the last bits in, you know? Can't force these things too quickly. - Now, the clock is undoubtedly ticking. Brendon's obviously feeling the pressure because he's come in. And the other consideration is a significant rain event on the way, which feels like it has just started. It's the worst possible time. The hall roof stays open until the house is cut, and that can't happen until the trailers are underneath, which is scheduled for tomorrow. After 100 years of being protected, the hall floor is getting soaked. The move is tomorrow night. Is the weather going to play havoc with Leonie and Brendon's beloved villa? (DRAMATIC MUSIC) The house is scheduled to leave today, but it's been raining for 24 hours. - DAMIAN: Nice and easy. - The cut line is sodden, and Damian's team are way behind. They need to get both trailers under the house so they can start cutting. - Come to your right. Hold. Hold. - Getting the house balanced on the truck is the art of house moving. Damian uses his eye to estimate the right balance point between the heavy outside walls and the much lighter interior. - Hold backwards. Aaand hold it there. We've got to load the house centre of weight, not centre of width. If you load it centre of width and it's heavy on one side, that's where you run into the problem of it falling off the trailer. - Lucky Brendon and Leonie aren't around here that. This process takes time, and with the house set to leave tonight, time is the one thing they don't have. (ROCK MUSIC) - Looking good. Plenty of room, yeah. - The race is on to get both sides of the house locked down to the trucks. Then the all-crucial cutting can start ` straight up the hallway. (MUSIC CONTINUES) It's hard to get my head around seeing this wedding-venue-in-waiting cut up like a wedding cake. But the team have measured the roads for the route and cut the big slice to maximum possible width. This is gonna be anything but a piece of cake. - Getting a bit buggered there, but I'm pretty sure in the next half an hour I'll be off, so I'll have my break, and we'll be ready to go for tonight. - With the house almost ready to go, Damian heads home. He's gonna need a sleep ahead of tonight's 90km move. The Transport Agency-approved journey takes the fully-loaded track south, parallel to the motorway, until they track west and up to the top of the Awhitu Peninsula, almost in a circle that will take the house just 20km away as the crow flies from where it started. As darkness approaches, it's all go. Feels like we're part of a historic moment, with the neighbours all out to say goodbye. - Weather's playing ball at the moment. - That's the thing I'm happiest most about; it's not raining. - Yeah, not wearing a raincoat. - So, what is the plan of attack from here? - Gotta pull the smaller load out on to the road first, and that'll allow enough room for the second load to come out. - It's crazy to think that four weeks ago, this was just an idea. Oh, hey, guys. How are you? - Hi. - All good? Good. Leonie, how do you feel, given here's your baby, all cut up and on the back of a truck? - Yeah, pretty surreal, actually. First time for me moving a house. Coming, seeing it cut in half, I'm just like, 'Oh! I hope it's gonna get there OK.' - Are you worried about the ceilings? - I'm probably disappointed we've had a bit of rain, I guess, you know, but it is what it is. - Hey, look. it looks like the truck's starting to move. - Oh, here we go. - We're all holding our breath as the truck pulls the house the first few metres on to the road. - RT: We've lost traction. - The rain means the truck's wheels can't get any traction on the ramp. - Lift one of the mats up with the wheels, just so we don't sink. - This is pretty nerve-racking, isn't it? (TENSE MUSIC) - Now off the site, the villa takes up practically all the narrow Remuera street. - Wow. Look at that. - We've got permission to be on the road early tonight, so as 8.30 hits, we're off. And no one is happier to see the old villa moving than Leonie and Brendon. - I've done my job. Now it's your turn. - (LAUGHS) My turn, is it? - Despite the movers having done a full letterbox drop, not everyone was expecting us. - Car parked on the road. - You've got low power lines that we're hard up against right now and a gap down there of about that much over those parked cars. And so now it's just a game of wriggling the house through to get out to one of the main arterial roads, and then we're away. This is where Kiwi technology comes to the fore. Hydraulics can lift this trailer up 2.8m in the air. With all the moving parts working independently, the house can be tilted at outrageous angles, so while the neighbours sleep, we're doing our best not to drop a house on top of anyone's expensive European car. - Nice and slowly. Come to your right now. Yeah. - My goodness me. Getting tight. - Whoo. Whoo. - Oh my gosh. - There's only inches in it, Leonie. - Oh my gosh. There's a whole heap of pressure on that tree branch over there. - Oh my gosh. The top of the house. The car. (PEOPLE EXCLAIM, LAUGH) - You're hoping that this is the worst part, right? - Yeah. I thought we'd got through the worst part, but clearly not, eh? - No. I just can't believe for an object this large, we're dealing in inches. - Yeah. - It's half past 10. We started pulling this at about 8 o'clock. We haven't even left the street yet. And somehow we've gotta get all the way up the end of Awhitu Peninsula. We've got a long way to go. With the trailer at maximum tilt level, they clear the car. - Keep it going. Straight wheels. - And Leonie gets the bubbles out. She's one step closer to her dream, and so am I. As a young kid who had Trucking Life's 'rig of the month' up on his bedroom wall, this is a dream come true, being able to drive with real truck drivers, pulling real loads. - (LAUGHS) Yeah. (ROCK MUSIC) - It's a slow start as the 100-year-old villa edges out on to Remuera's main drag. We've got 90km to go and eight hours to do it in. And if you think that sounds easy, well, you've never driven a villa across Auckland. And we're towing the big piece. Now, Damian wants us in front. He's chosen the wide roads of Auckland's exclusive New Market shopping district as the place to overtake. - You have the widest load out the front. - Right. OK. - And the narrowest load up the back. - Is that so you get stuck first? - Pretty much. - OK. - (LAUGHS) - Make sense. - It's just a visibility thing as well. - This is where experienced pilots are worth their weight in gold, blocking the traffic ahead to keep our team and the public safe and guesstimating the clearance on every post and corner. - All clear. - How we doing there, Clarke? - Heaps. (ROCK MUSIC) - Go forward. - Roger. - All right. Next stop, Awhitu Peninsula. - Yeah, man. - Want a Pineapple Lump? - Nah, I'm all good, thanks. - All right. Might have to make this bad last. The shortest route south is the motorway, which house truckers aren't allowed to use, so we're heading down through the suburbs. You must get to know these roads pretty well, eh? - Yeah. - The last 20km of the drive are going to be slow. We've already lost time to the parked car, so hitting things like roadworks and low overbridges adds to the pressure. There's not a huge amount of clearance under here, is there? (SUSPENSFUL MUSIC) - Cleared the bridge, bro. (ROCK MUSIC) - So we've just cleared the city, eh? - Yeah, man. We're on the country roads now. - Country roads. - (LAUGHS) - Nothing stopping us. Driving an old villa on the open road is pretty bizarre. Each town slows us down. - Four or five hundy on your left. - And I worry about the bracing in Brendon and Leonie's villa with every bump and jolt. (TENSE MUSIC) (CREAKING) (BANGING) (METAL GROANS) They talk about wooden houses surviving earthquakes. Leonie's to-be wedding venue is getting a full workout. I just hope the house stays hitched to the trailer. (COUNTRY ROCK MUSIC) Between towns, we make good time, and it looks like we'll be safely off the road before dawn, when commuter traffic starts clogging up the roads. But Damian's the only one who really knows what we're up against. Talk me through it, Damian. How far have we got to go? - Roughly, we've got 20 Ks to go now, and it's the hardest 20 K of the night. It's gonna take most of the morning. - So when you say 'most of the morning', it's quarter to three now. - So we'll be getting off the road at 6, 6.30. - It must get a little bit tense when you get to that time and that morning traffic starts. Everything slows down. - Yeah, it does. - And as we race through the night, I grab the opportunity for a bit of shut-eye. It doesn't last long. (BRANCHES SNAP) The moving team have done a drive to check the route, but it's impossible to estimate the full dimensions of the load without the actual house on the back. (TENSE MUSIC) You take your eyes off it for a second, and it's in the bushes. - Yeah, man. - You keep thinking, 'Oh yeah, we'll be sweet through here.' Next minute, you hear crack, crack. (LOAD WHINING) As we get deeper into the country, trees that haven't been trimmed in years slow us to a crawl. (WHINING, SNAPPING CONTINUE) There's a big (BLEEP) branch sticking out on the left. Just gonna have to keep an eye on it. And then the road just gets too narrow. - Nah. Two big ones here. - Leonie and Brendon's house has come to a complete stop. Come on! (FLY BUZZES) THINKS: Hmmm... If I get hurt, who's gonna give me a bath? Come on! - Just need someone to watch it. I think we'll fit, but I can't see it. - With 10km to go, in the middle of the night, Damian and the team have stopped, stuck between trees and a bank halfway up Awhitu Peninsula. - I can see give a gap on the left. (BLEEP) all, but I can see one. - The pilots are the driver's eyes and ears on the road, making sure Leonie and Brendon's precious cargo isn't damaged. This is about as big and as awkward as it gets. - Yup. - 1500, bro, on the blind shoulders. - There's 500 on that left one. - Yeah, bro. Lead away. - And I'm torn between desperately wanting to sleep and not wanting to miss anything. (BRANCHES SCRAPE) - Looking good on those trees, bro. Looking good so far, bro. - Mercifully, a section of dense bush doesn't last for long, but we're now way behind schedule, and the heat goes on the team to make up for lost time. (ROCK MUSIC) Of course, when we're clear of the trees, we get power lines, power poles, a narrowing road, and the early-bird locals wanting to beat rush-hour traffic. Pull out and get past these cars. - We should have enough room if we just stay in the middle of the road here. Everyone can go round to the left, yup. - Right now we've jacked the house up as high as it can go and pulled right over. Let these guys get to work. It's quite a sight cos they've jacked the house right up, and everyone's sneaking through underneath. With the morning traffic out of the way, we're just two kilometres from Brendon and Leonie's site. (LAUGHTER) For the first time in probably about four hours. Oh, feels like we're flying. Yee-hoo. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Finally, we pull up across from the property. The rest of the journey is off-road. (GROANS) About 15 minutes shy of 12 hours. (LAUGHS) That's the longest I've ever spent in a truck. I feel a lot closer to Damian now. And we got here. It's here. Well, not quite. It's gotta get in there somehow. What's the plan? - The plan is we're just gonna drive her straight in and get 'em off the road, yeah. - Simple as that. - Simple as that, mate. (BOTH LAUGH) - Using the new neighbour's field for access does make things a whole lot simpler. - Nice and easy. - But the just-dropped soil isn't quite carrying the house's weight. Might be a wee issue here with a little bit of traction on the front of that truck. This is where these trailers come into their own. You can see the huge ram on the back of that truck pushing the trailer back and forth. And the tyres down the end turn independently, which allows the whole house to crab around a corner that would have been otherwise impossible. Ooh, just about there. - Round to your right. - The trucks make it in but only just. And Damian's not keen to risk an incident in the field. Luckily, Brendon's digger is on hand. (ROCK MUSIC) So now we've got a digger towing a truck towing a house. I'm sure I've read this book to my daughter. Watching this, all I can think about is those poor pressed tin ceilings. The insurance is with the moving company until the house is down on its piles, so I can see why Damian is so fastidious about getting the two halves of the house balanced just right. Leonie and Brendon have arrived, keen to watch this last dramatic part of the mission. - How good was that night, fullas? Just another day in the office, eh? - Brendon will be hoping those piles are exactly in the right place. He has consent to put the house on site but now has to wait on full consent before renovation can begin. It's fantastic, isn't it, seeing a house come together. - It's awesome. The guys have done such a great job. - Had a little bit of a cry earlier. - Did you? - Yeah, a couple of tears. Yeah, it's really exciting to see it finally here and just in the settings. It's beautiful. - And I don't think it's over yet. - No. No. Just really the beginning, isn't it? - Are you happy with how it's gone? - Yeah, I am, actually. It's actually gone better than what I thought it was gonna go. - That was better than you thought it was gonna go? - Yeah. (LAUGHS) - We were reduced to a crawl there for parts of it. - Yup. - It was tight. Oh, well, thank you for tolerating me. - No, no, no worries. Managed to stay awake, mate. - No, I didn't. - (LAUGHS) - Gary's team have got the villa home safely, and now Brendon and Leonie have a chance to see how their tin ceilings have survived the move. - (SIGHS) This is a happy moment. - This one's held up pretty well, eh? - Yeah. Yeah, really good. - I guess we're still gonna have to sandblast cos we've got a little bit of rust still coming through. Yeah, most of the tin's pretty good. There's only that one patch that's a bit damaged. The rest of it's actually held up pretty good. - It's interesting now, standing here, looking through where the round window's come out, and seeing the view through the house looks gorgeous. So I guess we've got a... decision to make around this wall and what we're going to do and if we put a window in it. - My thoughts are we just put the window back in. - Um.... Yeah. - You're gonna come back here one day, and it'll be painted and finished and look just perfect. - So the grand old villa of Clonbern Road has started the long journey to becoming the Clonbern Estate. And when they're finished, I'll be able to gaze in here at the incredible ceilings lit by vintage chandeliers hanging beneath. It's going to look beautiful. It's going to. It was a long enough journey just arriving here this morning. It's gonna be an even longer journey bringing her back to life. (SOFT MUSIC) It's been eight months since we trucked Brendon and Leonie's villa into the middle of a bare paddock. It seems like yesterday. But they tell me they finished the restoration. Just need to stop here and take it all in. What a treat! - She's back to her former glory. - I mean, I feel like I'm looking at a different house. - It's stunning. It's been worth all the effort to save this beautiful old home. - Shall we go in? - We shall. - Wow, this is fantastic. The entranceway has been transformed into a bright, inviting space. Paint alone has lifted how light it feels in here. But I really like these lights that are throwing a little bit of accent up on the ceiling. That's nice. It just lifts the feeling of the room to create a really nice atmosphere in here. The pressed tin ceilings have been rust treated and painted. Are you happy with how they've turned out? - Extremely. We're so lucky. We're so lucky to be able to have put them back together without any problems, really. - Let's talk about the floors, Leonie, because there was talk of staining them, and you've kept it pretty natural. - We have. Brendon wanted to keep the original floors, which is part of the character, and they have come up really well. - So it's one up to Brendon, but I'm sad to see he didn't get his way with the 'kia ora' leadlight window. Brendon, you did want to keep it. What happened there? - Some battles you've got to put aside, don't you? - No, I just thought the house here would look beautiful with a clear window, which it does. You can see through to the view. I'm really pleased that I guess I won that one. - And they're both winners with the restored hallway, which has some lovely period features. - So, we've added all the detailing down the hallway and through the entranceway. - Of course. I mean, eight months ago, this house, it was in two parts. Can we see the line? Is it these two? - No. It's these two here. - These two here? Man, that is incredible. God, they've done a good job. - They've done a great job. - Yeah. Not as incredible as the transformation of the formal lounge. Oh my goodness, look at this. The ornate fireplace has been modernised and the original stolen chandelier replaced by a modern interpretation. The newly upholstered window seat and the fresh gold trim on the ceiling give the room classic style. I guess it's been a large part of the challenge for you guys, because this is a 100-year-old villa with certain characteristics that you've tried to hang on to and yet bring modern componentry and aspects to as well. - Yeah. - But the changes aren't just decorative. They're structural. You've removed a whole wall (LAUGHS) as well. - Yes, yes. And now we've got that lounge-dining-kitchen room. Create that big, nice, open living space. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Getting rid of the old dining room wall opens the entire left side of the home for socialising. Where it once felt cramped, Brendon and Leonie have created space where a bridal party can crack the bubbles. And it's the kitchen where Leonie has really made her mark. Wow. There's walls where there were windows, and there's doors where there were walls. - Yeah, it's a big transformation in the kitchen. I remember when we were at Clonbern talking about this with you, the ideas were in my head of turning the kitchen around and making this big, nice, long island. - And with the back windows gone, French doors on both sides let the light in. - We've closed off this entrance that used to be a study, and so now we come through, and we've got a nice big scullery/laundry in here, so I feel the kitchen area has been... you know, we've achieved a great result. - Brendon and Leonie's dream is for the villa to be a haven for the bridal party in the chaos of their wedding day. With two and a half bathrooms and three double bedrooms, there's plenty of room. - We've got this beautiful bed here, this gorgeous bed that you can look out to this view, and then on the other side, designed a lovely dresser so the bride could get ready. - And this is just all detail that you've thought through in terms of its final application and how this place will be used. - Yeah, exactly. - With everything finished to Leonie and Brendon's exacting standards, it must have cost a fortune. - I've asked valuer Avella to give Leonie and Brendon as sense of the value of their investment. So, guys, I mean, regardless of where the valuation lands, this is more than just a property. This is the start of a journey for you guys, isn't it? - We have a bigger vision with the Clonbern Estate and building the Apex, so this is really just the beginning of the journey. - Stage two for the wedding venue includes a marquee for the reception and Brendon embarking on the Apex, a stylised chapel-style building, for the ceremony. Then ongoing planting and cottages discreetly tucked amongst the trees. But all Avella has to work with is what's here today. Hey. - Hi, guys. - Hey. How are ya? - Good. How are you? - Good. So, what do you reckon? - Well, firstly, I think you guys have done an awesome job. As you walk in, you get those stained glass windows and those pressed tin ceilings and that real sort of wow factor, like you're stepping back in time with a kind of modern edge to it, which is really, really impressive. I love what you've done with the kitchen and the bathrooms. But it's quite a difficult one to put a value range on and find comparable properties for cos it is so unique and so different, and I've appraise its range between the $1.3 to $1.4 million mark. - The story began with an unwanted villa on the internet which hatched the dream of an Awhitu Peninsula wedding venue, a dramatic move on the back of a truck, and then an incredible renovation. The dream hasn't come cheap, but with the heart of the wedding venue completed, Brendon and Leonie's story has just begun. I think we need to celebrate and acknowledge this moment. Congratulations, guys. The fact that you've recycled something that was potentially not going to survive and now to be transformed into this is... I think you've done a remarkable job. Just before we go, though, I do have a little something for you. - Uh-oh. - Just thought that... Well, I'll let you unwrap that there. - (CHUCKLES) (BOTH LAUGH) Oh, very good. - Oh! Lovely. - Didn't quite get to keep the window, but a little bit of it lives on in that picture. (BOTH LAUGH) - Indeed. - Cheers, guys. - Cheers. - Cheers. Thank you. - To the next steps ahead. - Yeah.