- 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. - Have you got your arse on the seat? We're rolling. - '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 DIY duo with a tiny house go shopping for a shed and end up with a gigantic villa, which sparks the ultimate gesture. - So, we've invited our parents to live with us. - They decide to renovate before their house hits the road. What? Hang on a minute. Are you guys nervous about doing all this extra work and the house getting cut in half? - It should be fine. - Oh, Jeff. Is this what you imagined? - No, actually. - Will they plans to renovate before they relocate end in ruins? - Everything inside is gonna be destroyed. - So come along for the ride. This is Moving Houses. Generally, when you're looking for a new home, you're looking for the complete package ` house and land. What do you do if the house you love and the land you love are in completely different places? (LIGHT MUSIC) On the sunny Kapiti Coast is the small and historic town of Otaki, home to couple Rob and Jeff. - Beautiful day. I'm the local here ` born, bred in Otaki. My heritage, my iwi, my hapu are here. - My whanau's from Paeroa. I've come down here about seven years ago, and Otaki's home now. - Rob and Jeff are all about whanau. They've been together for seven years and have a blended family of five kids - Family is really important. - I love your parents. Actually, I think I get on better with your parents than you do. (BOTH LAUGH) - Business development engineer Rob and retail manager Jeff also share a love of DIY. - If we can do it without having to pay someone, we'll do it. I'll think that's the Kiwi way, really. Yeah. - Kiwi way, yeah. Definitely, yeah. - They have a dream to use their home handyman skills to create a haven for all their whanau, and one day, while out looking to buy a shed, they fell in love with this beautiful, unloved villa in front, also up for sale. Now they hope to transform it into the heart of their papakainga ` home base. So, here it is. It's almost buried behind the earthworks. And this, what, a place you've been driving past for years. - Yeah. We knew the guy was doing a development. In his words, 'We'll just make an offer he can't refuse.' - No, no, no. The story goes this. We were at home. And he says, 'I don't know what he wants.' I said, 'Just say 50 grand for the house and the shed.' And Rob's like, 'That's ridiculous. No one's gonna say yes to that.' So he sent the text, and the guy sent it back saying yes. We were pretty much dancing around in our tiny home. - What was it about this house that you fell in love with? - Oh, we had always driven past it and always admired it for its age and the history of it, but we never knew what we'd find inside. - It's just a beautiful home. - Yeah. - It deserves to be restored and relocated. - I can see why Rob and Jeff fell hard for this century-old villa. The soffits and koru-shaped scrollwork are beautiful. Parts of it are tired, but I reckon these two are up for the challenge. I mean, you've got a tool belt on. This isn't just for show. You're in there, prepping things and getting it` - Yeah, we're trying to do as much as we can. - One thing about us is that when we start a project, Rob just cannot wait. (LAUGHTER) - He calls me Bull Robin. - He was looking at paint stripper and building elements and... - What do you call him? Details guy. - Pedantic Jeff. - Pedantic Jeff. - (LAUGHTER) Can't wait to see inside. Should we have a look? - Yeah, let's do it. - Oh, this is fantastic. I mean, I was expecting a ceiling but not quite on this scale. - Yeah, it's overwhelming, eh? - We just opened the door and went 'Whoa!' - And there's a lot of whoa. This 225-square-metre five-bedroom villa still has a lot of its original features. Its massive hallway opens up to a living room, five spacious bedrooms, and a bathroom, finishing with a more recently added kitchen. I've gotta say, it's a lot of house for two people. - So, the girls come on the weekends. They've all claimed their rooms. This is one bedroom. - Oh, I see. It's all starting to make sense. Cos I'm thinking, big five-bedroom house like this, two of you, gets a bit rattly. - This is our dayroom. This room in particular just stood out to us because of the ceilings and the detail, and we just want to restore it to how may have looked. - He's bought two lounges. - Yeah, the furniture. - Hang on, Jeff. You talked before about Robin being straight online... (LAUGHTER) - ...and in there, looking at paint stripper and everything else. You were also online, buying furniture for the house. - He's a shopper, yeah. - That's correct. - Yes. - And so, have you bought pretty much everything? - Pretty much, but I did talk to him first. (LAUGHS) - Ish. - I'm pretty sure I did. - Jeff may be buying up large, but both he and Robin seem to be already living here in their heads. - This is gonna be the master bedroom. - It's a monster. - Yeah. Beautiful, eh? Beautiful high ceilings. - Yeah and prominent features of what the house once was. - Part of the remake in this room is gonna put a fire, so we've got an antique fire. - Actual fact, Robin just celebrated a birthday, and I sent him a photo of` Cos, you know, you don't know what to get your partner, so I sent him a photo of some really nice shoes, and he sent me a photo of an antique fire on TradeMe back. - (LAUGHS) - 'Can you buy me this, please?' - 'Can I have this instead?' - It's a beautiful fire. - In the next room, I started to realise that their original restoration is only original to a point. Obviously we're in the servery. - Yeah, so, we're thinking of a mezzanine floor for the wardrobe. - Like, what, a split level? - Mm-hm. - We've got the stairwell for it. We sort of did it backwards, yeah. - We designed it, bought the staircase, and are hoping it'll fit. It'll fit. - It'll fit. So it's a walk-up wardrobe, not a walk-in. It's different. So, what have they done to the kitchen? - So this is... - Wow. I mean, this is a big space. And you painted out all these cupboards? - We wanted to` Yeah, a bit dated. - Can I ask, are you are you guys nervous about doing all this work and then, you know, all the extra work with the house getting cut in half and cracks and whatnot happening from there? - Should be fine. - Just go for it? - Yeah. - Doing all this work before the move feels counterintuitive, but they are reusing and recycling every piece of this house that they can. And so, are we able to talk through some of the costs you imagine that it's all gonna take? - So, cost-wise, our budget's about $330,000 to $350,000. - And then the site itself? - $335,000. - So $665,000 all up, done. - Yeah. - All up. - Yep. - And the barn. - And the barn. Very important. Of course. The barn is where the DIY dreams began. - Kiwi dream is to have a big shed. - For you, Rob, you must feel kinda proud that you're gonna set up a workshop here for your dad. - Yeah, yeah. Yup. - The potential for having the odd party in here as well. - It's a good space for it. - Yeah, well, you know. - Festoon lights and hay bales and a pig on a spit outside. - It won't take much to get the barn ready to party, but the rest of the house is really showing its age, not to mention it's been part of its life as an office for a market garden. It's gonna be gorgeous. It's gonna be romantic. It's gonna be a heck of a lot of work. In fact, I think moving will be the easy bit. They're not moving it far. Otaki isn't a big place, and they're not even taking it across town. It's going just down the road to the property where they've been living in their tiny house since they first thought of building here. - Our concept plan's done. COVID sort of put that off. And then obviously we stumbled across the house. - Talk me through it. Where's this beautiful big house gonna be? - So, the corner of the dayroom is this peak here. In terms of the location, we've maximised the sun. We've got big trees over this side, so this is the perfect place to get daylight sun all day. - There's a few quirks to this area. I noticed that there's a stream over there and some low-lying water. It's a bit of a flood risk around here? - Yeah. - In fact, the property is on a floodplain, so to get consent to put the villa here, it has to be 1.8m above ground. Why choose a place where a boat could be needed in heavy rain? Well, it turns out Rob has a personal connection with this land. - My auntie was raised on the section. They had a homestead here. We think that part of it is sort of take care of the land and be stewards of it. - What do you think it's gonna look like when it's all in place? - Seeing this old villa restored, it's just the feeling of not only a home but almost like an elegant place to be. - (CHUCKLES) But the thing for me, I guess, is all the hard work you're doing now on site, whether that will remain intact all the way down here. - Time will tell. - Time will tell. * With three months to the move, Robin and Jeff have ambitiously and perhaps ill-advisedly, already started their restoration. Now, I only say that because I'm worried that when the house gets put on to the trailers, all their hard work will come undone. But I've heard that today they're pulling off an old rotten extension, so I thought it's a good chance to go and lend them a hand. (ROCK MUSIC) - This is rotten, this side. - This one-room extension would have been added in the '60s or '70s. - You hold that. I'll go take it off in the front. The fact it's rotten goes to show how well the original house was built all those years before. - Goes all right. - Down she goes. Robin has plans to recycle the window, but the rest of this timber is shot. (MUSIC CONTINUES) - All done. That's probably better right there, eh? - We're not recycling these, are we? - Not now. Good workout. - Yeah, good workout. - Go home and have a beer afterwards. - After getting stuck in here, I'll be holding them to that, so later in the day, I head round to theirs to check out their very blue tiny house. It's got a lovely bachy feel, doesn't it? You've got the beach right there, of course. - It's got everything we need. - Blue beauty. - Talk me through how the colour choice came about. - When we went into lockdown and we'd bought that, we couldn't take it back or change it, so before we knew it, it was this sky blue. - Sky baby blue it is. - Sky baby blue. - I'm amazed how many people actually don't like the colour. It's, like, insulting. - (GASPS) - (LAUGHTER) - Yeah, I'm team Jeff on the colour. But the rest of the tiny house is genius. - The flushing toilet. - (LAUGHS) - It's not a compost. - Not a compost. - No, no, no. - There's this mezzanine bedroom for Rob's daughters and a secret roof deck. And here you are with an outlook. - Yeah, and there's Kapiti Island. - It's perfect for two, but with Rob's three kids and Jeff's two, the big villa down the road is a much better fit. And who better to move a big family home than Paul Britton's big family moving company. - I've been doing it 34 years now. It's nice to see an old house done up. I look at them and think, 'Wow, that's real cool. That's neat.' - Now, the first thing that strikes me is obviously the height of the roof. - Yeah. That there stands at about 7m tall from the underside of the floor to the apex of the roof. Loaded on our trailer ` our trailer's a little less than a metre ` it's gonna be close to 8m high. It's too high to travel down the road. - So what are we gonna do? - We're gonna dismantle it. You can dismantle it into pieces and crane it all apart, or you can dismantle it into even smaller pieces and fold it all down, which is what we're gonna do here. - OK. So from sort of the gutter line in, and then it collapses in on itself? - Folds like a Meccano set. - I find this interesting, that you're so full of confidence, Paul, and I do admire that, but I have heard that you don't have the best relationship with moving villas. - (CHUCKLES) They're always a damn headache. - What is it about a villa that creates headaches? - This house here is going on driven piles, so getting all those piles in the correct place before delivery of the house, and there's different heights to the floors in places, so there's just a little bit of shuffling, for want of a better word. - Mucking around. - Mucking around to make it right. All right. So, should we go and have a look at where we're gonna cut it? - Why not? So, generally, with these villas, we have a hallway that goes straight down the centre, and the ceiling joist generally will join on one side of the hallway. This house, it's on this side. - OK. - So we'll follow a tongue-and-groove line through there so when the house is pulled back tight, hopefully you shouldn't even see where that cut was through the floor. - That's the idea. - Yup. - Paul, the other unique thing for me is that the boys are still renovating the house before it's even moved. Is that wise? - It's possibly not... the smartest thing to do. - You know, they've fallen in love with this place and are very passionate about it. - They are Otaki people, though, and so they've got a bit of a love of it because of the history that goes with the house. - Turns out it's a prominent Otaki house and features in the local museum, so I'm meeting with members of the original owner's family to find out some of its hidden secrets. - Michael, you've got wonderful memories of this home, don't you? - Yes. We used to go there every Sunday to catch up with the family. - Michael, did you have a name for the home or anything? - It was called Te Moana, wasn't it? - Mm. - Do you think that that speaks to where they wanted the homes, which was closer to the beach? - Well, it's not that far from the sea. - No. - So, how do you feel about this home leaving its site? - I'm delighted that it's not going far and it's going to get back to its old glory. - I can't wait to share the stories about Te Moana, 'the ocean', with Rob and Jeff, who are taking on the monumental task of stripping back almost a century of paint. It's six weeks to the move, and the house is off its piles and ready for the moving trailers. Hey, guys. Wow. Am I coming back to the same house? This looks totally different. - Yeah, looks all different, eh? - It's amazing. what a huge volume of work you guys have done. Whipped off the deck. Veranda's come off. And the paint! - We've got a bit of time before the move, so we thought we'd just do some stripping. - Before and after work. - You're literally scraping back through the house's history. - Yeah, yeah. And now we're right back to the middle, we can bring the house back to how it was. - Of course, no visit to Rob and Jeff would be complete without being put to work. - You ready? - What's your process? - So, I've just sprayed it. Here's your spray. - OK. - It's been on there for a little bit, so it's ready to scrape back. Scraper. - Got my own. - (CHUCKLES) You came prepared. - I came prepared. - Oh, look at that. Professional. - That's nice. Hey, so, what do you what do you call this place? - The Duke. - The Duke. And why do you call it that? - Because it just... When we first saw the house, it was just so... - Grand? - Grand, yeah. - What would you say if I said there was another name for it? Te Moana. - You're kidding. - No. - Really? - Yeah. This house is known amongst many generations of families as the Te Moana house. - That's cool. - Yeah. How did that come about? - Back in those days, none of these houses would have been here. - Yeah, that's true, yeah. - It's possible it was the only one around and close to the sea. Amazing the stories these old houses can tell, right? The lady, Rewa, of this house, she was the second wife of the owner, and she was half his age. - Ooh-hoo-hoo. - And the story goes that to court her, he had to bribe her with a trip to London. Apparently paid for separate cabins, the whole works. By the end of it, the cabins were one. - We never saw that one coming. - I imagine they probably wouldn't see you two coming either. - (LAUGHTER) - Homosexuals. (LAUGHS) - How did you guys meet? - Uh... - (LAUGHTER) - Oh, that's funny. - It's not as romantic as that. - No. - With Christmas coming up, this is the last time I'll see Rob, Jeff, and Te Moana before the move. I really had my doubts about the boys starting their reno before the house had been moved, but it is really starting to take shape. Of course, that could all change when a big saw goes down the middle of it and it gets pulled in half, but guess we'll see. - So, Christmas is gone, but there was no summer break for Jeff and Rob, who spent their time working on Te Moana. It's the day before the move. The site is ready. And while it's only a kilometre down the road, we've got four trips to make ` the roof and the two pieces of the house and finally the barn. With a shaky weather forecast, Paul Britton and the team aren't taking any chances. They've been here since dawn getting the house on to the trailers. Now it's all about getting the roof down and cutting the house in half. It's a big couple of days for Paul and his team, and I'm happy he's changed his tune about the villa after Rob and Jeff's paint-stripping marathon. - It's actually in really good nick. They got a good one. Yeah, they got a good one, cos they're not all good, you know. - Paul was going to fold the roof down but instead is craning it off in three sections, which, with the worrying weather forecast, will let them quickly plop it back on at the other end. - I've never seen a roof get taken completely off a house. It's very exciting. - As the roof heads down the road, the team gets stuck into cutting Jeff and Rob's villa in half. Their beautiful wide hallway is about to get even wider. - So that's gonna be a bit scary. - The whole process takes the rest of the day, and it's a bit of a shock for Robin, home from work just in time to see his beautiful villa split in two. - Look at our house. What's left of it. - It's been sliced up. Crazy, eh? - Yeah. - Excited? - Apprehensive. - Yup. - Rob and Jeff take a nervous first look at their chopped-up villa. - Wow. - What do you reckon? - Well, they seem to have taken good care of it. - Yeah, they have. - See what happens when it turns up in one piece. That's when I'll be bloody happy. - The newly restored kitchen has avoided the cut, but it still faces the trauma of tomorrow's move. It'll be a sleepless night for Rob and Jeff. It's moving day. There's ominous clouds out west, but it's a rosy dawn to the east. Looking at the sky, the weather could go either way. You know, as an Otaki landmark sitting here for over 100 years, it feels a bit strange to now see it up on wheels and cut in half. Of course, the roof is gone. And those huge 14-foot walls, well, they look a bit fragile. For Jeff and Robin, today's the culmination of a year's worth of blood, sweat, and tears. Your landscape down the road is about to change significantly from today. - Yeah. No, it's exciting. - Got some dark clouds above us as well. Worried about that? - We're terrified, actually. - Obviously not having a roof on is gonna cause problems. - Yeah. If we don't get it covered up, everything inside is gonna be destroyed. - Whanau and friends are down at the new site for support. - Jeff's Mum. - Jeff's mum. - I'm Rob's mum. - So you're Rob's mum. - Yeah. - All right. You're here for the big day. - Lovely, eh? - Yes. Yes. And that's Rob's daughter. She's a twin. - OK. Yes. So it's kind of a cool moment, really, seeing the home finally coming here on to site. - Yeah. - It's awesome. Watching this, it's just, like, a once-in-a-lifetime. - I've never seen this before. - Yes. So, I mean, you've seen how much work these boys have put into this place already. - Yes, I have. Yup. They're goers, eh? - Yeah. - They're just... - You must be quite proud to see the work get to this point. - Yeah, I am. Yeah. - It's incredible. Yup. - The advantage of the house moving less than 2km is that it can be moved during the day. The disadvantage is we're hitting morning rush hour in suburban Otaki. As soon as we leave the property, there are problems overhead. The biggest obstacle we're gonna face today are those power lines. These runner boards up here are to help with getting under the power lines, and hopefully with this system, the lines will just come up, roll over, and the home will go through. I'm in a pilot vehicle today, and because we're largely at walking speed, some of the guys who'd usually be driving are doing their spotting on foot. - Let's rock. - It's slow and low as the hydraulic suspension goes right down to get us under the power lines. Waiting for them up ahead gives me a real sense of how tight a fit it is. It's incredible. I mean, hearing them.... - (INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER) ...talk about under a foot. We've got two inches. 500 mils. I mean, these are such small distances when you're dealing with a home that large. - You're right. - So far, so good for Rob and Jeff's kitchen, but there are obstacles everywhere. Otaki is watching Te Moana squeeze down this narrow road, and, of course, no one is more nervous than Rob and Jeff. - It's pretty big. It's amazing, though, seeing it, eh? It's amazing. - Yeah. - Yeah. - We're over halfway, but the power lines are a lot lower here, and we slow to a careful crawl. Those battens are doing the job, but if we rip out phone or power today, it's Rob and Jeff's close neighbours who are in the dark. - RT: Left a bit. It's dragging. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) - As the second half of Jeff and Rob's house slides under the wires,... - Overhead lights. Little one. Yup. Perfect. - ...it feels like we're almost home. With less than 100m to go, all they have to do now is squeeze between the power pole and the pohutukawa tree. - Yup. That's great. - We may be all about moving houses, but with the villa coming around the corner, Jeff is pretty moved too. - I can't even count encountered how many hours we spent. A lot of hard work. - And finally, Te Moana is in its new home. - I'll be probably confident when it's on the piles. - As the second half of the villa arrives, work begins on getting the house up on to its piles to put it back together. Because of the size of the piles needed on the floodplain, they went in before the house arrived, so the house movers have to be even more precise than usual. I'm getting back in the pilot car with Paul to bring the all-important barn down the road. - She's gonna be pretty tight down through here. - With birthdays booked and a lifetime of DIY ahead, this is where the whole thing started, but the barn's immense size immediately causes problems. - He brushed a stump, a cut-off stump with shrub growing around it. The collision with the dead stump leaves the garden unscathed but not the barn, so Paul's not taking any more chances. - Door-knock there. - We've got a bit of a problem with these parked cars on the side of the road. They happen to be right under power lines going across, and, of course, the shed is hanging down the sides of the trailer, so they don't think they're gonna get them over these cars, so Paul's just run off to knock on some doors to see if he can get them moved. You found both drivers? - Yeah, yeah, they're both there. - Beauty. That was lucky. - Further down the road, a string of parked cars is even more of a headache. So just when you think something is gonna be straightforward... This is the nature of this game, isn't it? - The nature of the beast, yeah. - Paul's out of the car once again. Any damage to the barn or parked cars is a headache his insurance doesn't need. This is tight. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) It's looking like we're home free, but I should have known better. One of the trees Jeff planted to line the driveway is right in the firing line. Luckily the sapling doesn't need too much persuasion. There's no better example of just what tight parameters you work with here. Maybe 1cm, 2cm on the corner of the house. The bent barn is holding up the whole move, and it's given Jeff a chance to see the damage. Polish out, mate? - Yeah, course. Course. - Luckily, classic Kiwi corrugated iron is quite forgiving, and after a bit of pruning, we're back on track. - Come on, girl! Pepper, come on! - Out of there. - Exciting, eh? - It is, eh? They're so clever. - Excited? - (BOTH LAUGH) How exciting is this? - But there's one last big stress. Despite the collision, the barn has to fit exactly down over Robin's concrete pad. There's no plan B. This is your moment of truth right now. Here it comes. - Yeah, I know. - All eyes are on you. - Is it gonna look good? Oh, they're squaring it up. Beautiful. - Oh, Robin, you might be on. Whoa, check that out! - Shed down. Now Paul's team are racing to get as much roof on before the end of the day, and they almost get there. There's absolutely no denying the amount of work that's gone on here. It's quite phenomenal to see it all in place. Except for this bit ` the crucial part of the roof. The villa is actually quite vulnerable at the moment. It's all open and exposed, and if it does rain ` and there's some very dark clouds on the horizon ` I'd say that there'll be a couple of boys getting very little sleep tonight. * It's an overcast Otaki morning, and Robin and Jeff's 100-year-old villa sits open and exposed to the elements. Luckily, the rain held off overnight. But it's only 8 o'clock in the morning, and it's forecast to get worse as the day progresses, so there is a real sense of urgency this morning. They need to get this home back together, and, most importantly, they need to get a roof on. Holding things up are the two large holes under the house, and for Robin, it's another headache. - Thought we were doing something really smart by pre-digging the holes before the house went on for the water tanks, and so now they're having to build the driveway for the trailer to go over. That's sort of slowing things down a little bit. - So these guys literally have to build the runway to bring the house in on. Well, it's not raining. - No. Thank goodness. Hopefully it holds out, eh? - Yeah. How'd you sleep last night? - Um... I was up about 3 o'clock. There's a lot of things to happen, like the roof and the house we have to put on and the weather, so a lot of things to come together today before I can have a good sleep tonight. - (LAUGHS) - Morning. How are ya? - Good morning. - Hey. How are ya? How'd you guys sleep last night? - Good. Very good. Thanks. - Good. Yeah. Nice hot bath. Shower, rather. I was just saying there's a man. Rob went to school with his kids. And he's the great-grandson of the joker who built this. - All the history's coming out of the woodwork, eh? - Yeah, I know. - Now, Jeff, Rob was telling me he was up at 3 o'clock this morning. - He was. - Going through some sort of forward planning working out what the next steps were? - He does that. - What were you doing? - Sleeping. (LAUGHTER) - Now, I don't want to alarm you, but it feels like it just got a little bit darker. - Yeah. Yeah, it looks like the rainclouds are coming in. It was a 70% chance of rain. We will hoping on the 30% of sunshine, but... - Fingers crossed. - Fingers crossed. - The good news is the crew have got the trailer ready to bring the two parts of the house together. Weather-wise and stress-wise, it's just in the nick of time. - MAN: Should be away laughing now. (UPBEAT MUSIC) - The larger half of the villa is slowly reversed alongside its smaller partner. All the while, Britton team member Chook inches the two sides of the house closer together. - Stop. - Now we've just got that second part of the house pushing up against the first part. - Yeah. - It's that bit there. See it's sticking out? - Yeah. They've gotta get the wheels around that pile. At the moment, it looks like it's your wall. - Yeah, that's my wall. - The expert manoeuvring soon has Robin and Jeff's cut-up villa starting to resemble the house they fell in love with all those months ago. - Forward. Yo. Yo. Hold it there. - It's a special time for Robin and Jeff ` and for Jeff's mum, who's come down to Otaki to witness this historic moment. - Someone left the front door open. (LAUGHTER) - Who was that? - I don't know. - Probably me. - You? He leaves the fridge door open, so it must be him. - So, after all the work that's gone on ` getting this house prepped, separated, roof off, and brought back together, it has come down to this. The final few centimetres. Look at that! - Whoo. - Amazing, eh? (UPLIFTING MUSIC) - The house is back together. And the team race the weather to put the final sections of roof back on under the watchful gaze of the whanau. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Talk about an unbelievable sense of timing. It is literally starting to rain. That roof can't go on fast enough. Come on! Fantastic. Well, suddenly your little house actually looks little. - (LAUGHTER) - It is a proper tiny house now, isn't it? - Yes. - How are you gonna feel coming out of a tiny little house like that and going into this monster? - Oh, I can't wait. You know, the dining room's actually in a different place than the lounge. - Yeah. - (LAUGHS) So, would you say this experience has brought you closer? - Yes. - Yeah, for sure, yeah. - We've learned how to live with each other's quirks, if that makes sense. But I can't wait to live in a bigger space so I don't have to live with those quirks so closely. - (LAUGHS) - And speaking of living with each other's quirks, you literally have your parents living here now. - Yeah, yeah. We've invited our parents to live with us. Well, not with us, but on the section. - Yeah. - So it's a real community now. - My parents are going to be living in the tiny home, and Jeff's mum, she's gonna be living in the annex and caravan, sort of the east wing of the property. - Yeah. - We're just lucky to be able to bless the parents, you know, and sort of share... part of this journey with them. They've invested so much over the years into all their kids and that, so we just sort of... We had the opportunity. Financially, we could afford it, so it's something that I think is gonna be really special to be able to provide for them. - We're doing a Sunday roast, doing it in reverse. They used to do it for us when we were kids. We're gonna cook them Sunday roast. - Lovely. - Make it a tradition again. - Oh, that's lovely. But right now, it's all about Rob and Jeff crossing the threshold of their new house in its new home. - Exciting. - Welcome home. - Wow. Thank you. - Wow. - What a remarkable thing to be back together. - Yeah. - You can't even see it on the floor. - I know. They've done an amazing job, eh? - Look at that. That's it there, yeah? - Yeah. That's absolutely flush. But for me, I really want to get down to that kitchen and see what the view is. - I'm dying to see this. - And it looks like the kitchen has survived. Oh, Jeff. Is this what you imagined? - Yeah. - Wow. - No, actually. - No? - No, it's better than I imagined. - Wow. So instant view. Just add house. - Yes. - And that's what we've done. - Yup. That's what we've done. - What are your first thoughts, standing here? - Speechless. Speechless. It's everything we planned. We sat in this paddock... two and a half years ago? - Yeah. And imagined our house being here, and it's just come to life. - Yeah, and it's better, you know. Who would imagine that we'd have this beautiful villa and a beautiful view of the river, eh? It's amazing. Yeah, it's pretty special. - That's cool. That's so cool. And also slightly daunting, cos, you know, looking around, just this kitchen alone ` huge amount of work. You've got a huge line-up of plastering and other jobs to do. - We just wanna get in here and get it started. We've got the barn. We've got the family coming. And it just feels like it's all coming together. I'm really happy about that. - Yeah. - I feel so pleased for Rob and Jeff. They're not just creating a home here. But with both of them moving parents on site, they're actually creating a community. And right at the heart of it is this wonderful old villa. But the invitations to the Sunday whanau roast won't be going out just yet; there's still a phenomenal amount of work to be done. But, now knowing those guys a little bit better, I know that they won't be cutting any corners. * Sometimes the greatest journeys take place over the shortest distances. Rob and Jeff may have only trucked their huge villa just a kilometre down the road, but they've created a home and a story that includes the generations that have come before them and, of course, the generations that will follow. I mean, they've essentially upcycled an entire house and created an Otaki landmark in the process. Of course, I'm yet to see it. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) It's incredible. Six months ago, nothing here at all. To now stand here, it's completely different. - Yeah. You know, even now, we come up the driveway and go, 'Whoa!' - We go, 'Oh my gosh. That's amazing.' - Their grounds are a work in progress, but their months of sanding and scraping have paid off. Is that the pool that's going in out the back? - Yeah, we decided to go crazy, yeah. - Goodness me. I cannot wait to have a look inside. - Yeah, we can't wait for you to. We've worked really hard. - Look at this. The hallway is now a bright, inviting entrance rather than a dimly lit corridor. I feel like I've walked into sort of a boutique motel. That's amazing. The plants and the side dresser, it's just phenomenal. Wow. And with the lighter colours up high, it's just really made this place so light and airy. My eye's already drawn to the rooms around us as well. The old formal lounge is almost unrecognisable. New paint makes it light and airy while Jeff's use of plants gives the room a real freshness. - I've had that for 30 years, that tree. - It's a lovely feature in this room. But this whole room is just so well put together. I mean, you chose and had most of this furniture ready to go. - Yeah, yeah, that's right. I like the way the sun comes through the windows. It's a no-technology room for us, so this is a space where you can come and chill out, play games, you know, like we did when we were kids. - Beautiful. Across the hallway, Robin's teenage daughter's room has been repaired and reimagined. The changes in this. I mean, there was a door here, wasn't it? Then there was the add-on that we kicked off. - A few changes, eh? - What's your daughter? - Yeah, she loves it. - You guys always had the vision of having the space to bring your family. Has it worked out how you'd hoped? - Yeah, it actually has. - The rest of the family's bedrooms are just as spacious ` a total contrast from the tiny house. - Well, imagine having them all in the tiny home. - (LAUGHS) - Yeah. - We could only get one or two. 'I'm not staying at yours this weekend.' So it's been really cool. - But it's Robin and Jeff's room where I suspect the biggest change will have taken place. Oh, hello. Oh wow. Now, this is a bedroom. Look at the size of it. Again, just by lifting those colours, it's almost doubled the perception of the volume of the room. And it's probably the same size as your tiny home. - (LAUGHS) - Probably bigger. - The addition of a beautiful chandelier and curtains makes this room feel grand. And the renovated en suite with period tap and sinkware blends in seamlessly. Lovely leadlight. - Yeah. Dad had that from the old homestead he was born in, and then he gave it to us. - But they tell me it's what's around the corner that will be the biggest surprise. What is going on in here? Right. So en suite bathroom through into wardrobe. At first, I can't work it out. But with its spiral staircase and chandelier, they've actually created their two-storey walk-up wardrobe. I've got a flashback to when we were first in here, talking about this space and me trying desperately to envisage what the mezzanine floor would look like and how it all work. But you've done it. By blocking off the hall door to the old laundry and using space in the roof, Rob and Jeff have created something unique and clever. I mean, you've even recycled some of the timber. - And put a skylight in. - This is great! If they've thrown everything at the walk-in wardrobe, I wonder what they've done to the kitchen and lounge. This is like stepping into an entirely different house. It just feels so cosy with the furniture in here. - This part here is more modern, obviously, so it reflects our personalities more, I think. We chill out here, we cook here, we eat, we talk. You know, this is our real family space. And, of course, we've got the view. - Well, that's what I was gonna talk about next. I mean, this was the whole purpose of you guys bringing a home here. - Yeah. - Can I have a look? - Yeah, sure. (SOFT MUSIC) - (SIGHS) Nice to be able to stand here and just take that in. Beautiful day. - Yeah, beautiful, eh? - You can see Kapiti Island in the background. Right there's another local landmark and the distance. - Yes. - The tiny house is in its new location. All it needs is a new deck so Robin's parents can move in. and Jeff's mum is at the other end of the property. They really have achieved a place for whanau. But have they achieved it within their budget? I mean, you guys both have full-time jobs and got all of this happening over the space of six months. - Yeah. - Yeah. - A huge amount of work. But it hasn't broken you. - No. - Yeah, nah. - LAUGHS: No? - No. - Cards on the table, standing here now, what do you think you spent on all of it? - For the house itself, $380,000. That's the purchase of the house, the move, setting it up, and bringing it to where it is today. - As you see it today, yeah. - Wow. And, of course, the enormous parcel of land that this sits on as well. - Yeah, yeah. - There's no doubt Robin and Jeff have saved money compared to the new build they were considering before they found their villa. But have they done enough to this once-tired home to make it a sound investment? I've invited property valuer Avella to give us her two cents. - OK, so, I've had a bit of a look around and can see that you guys have made a really big effort to keep the amazing character features ` those high ceilings, the original timber flooring, the decorative cornices ` but also the benefit of the renovations to the kitchen, the en suite. Got that character feel but with that modern touch to it. Along with a bit of a unique touch that I'm assuming is part of your character and says a little bit about you. - Yeah, exactly, yeah. - The property's on a pretty unique section. The size and the proximity to the beach ` it's kind of that little slice of paradise. So, taking all those features into consideration, I put the value range between $1.25 million and $1.35 million. - Wow, that's impressive. - That was sort of where you were thinking? - Yeah. Well, who knows. - It's not all about money at all. - But it's really nice to know that we've increased our asset by so much, which is amazing. - Robin and Jeff started out looking for a barn to build tiny homes but wound up taking on an enormous villa. Luckily, they had a site big enough to put them both on. And after months and months of hard work, they've created this wonderful home with the barn off to the side, waiting for their next project. To cap the day off, I'm honoured to be invited to join Robin and Jeff's whanau for what will be the first of many Sunday roasts here in Te Moana. Does anyone`? I mean, am I the only one that finds it remarkable that we're sitting here, given that a year ago, this idea didn't even exist? - Yeah. I know. When they were telling us ` 'Oh, please, God. Oh my God. I hope they don't go broke.' (LAUGHTER) - We've got a little something that you might want for your wall. You may or may not. - Oh. - Right, Jeff. - Wow. - Thank you. - OK, thank you. - Well, you haven't seen it yet. - Well. - Is it a framed picture of you? - (ALL LAUGH) - That would detract from all the hard work you've done. - What have we got? - Oh wow. - Oh, that is nice. - (ALL EXCLAIM) - That's so cool, yeah. - So you can stare at that and think, 'Oh, yeah, I've still gotta sand that corner.' (LAUGHTER) - That's beautiful. - Oh, that's nice. - Yeah, that's so cool. - Robin and Jeff still have work to do, both inside and out, but they've achieved their dream, and this is just the beginning. Turns out you can have your cake and eat it too.