Emma and Andy Ratcliffe live with their two children, 5 greyhounds and sundry chickens in an 1860 schoolhouse. The Ratcliffe's are a resourceful family who prides themselves on spotting bargains in antique houses, reclamation yards, and on the internet. Nick Knowles follows the Ratcliffes as they renovate their kitchen and dining room and reveals the astonishing true history of their house.
When they moved into their Georgian townhouse in Bath, Peter and Liza Saunders discovered an old pair of shoes hidden in a wall with a note saying that they must not be removed from the house. Meanwhile, Nick Knowles unearths the history of the house and tells the story of one of the earliest owners, Benjamin Barker, landscape artist. He also tries to solve the mystery of the ancient shoes!
Mike Peace and Tracy Daly have bought Knapp Farm, a whitewashed farmhouse sitting just outside Taunton. Tracy is determined to prove that part of the house is medieval. Key suspects are an ancient cob wall on the ground floor and a mysteriously carved door upstairs. Nick Knowles goes in search of the truth and uncovers a disturbing fact about the odd door and disappointing news for Tracy.
A young IT worker tackles the renovation of his mid-terraced ex-miner's cottage near Manchester. As this DIY novice attempts to transform the drab decor, Nick helps out with some great design ideas. But the real story is the area's past dependence on coal, which is the intriguing connection between the house's history and our budding DIYer's own ancestry that makes this project truly personal.
Ian and Trisha Harrison are renovating an early Victorian house in the center of Exeter. In this episode, an interior designer helps the Harrisons work within the awkward attic space and we take them on a historical journey that uncovers a tale of 19th-century bankruptcy and the horrors of the blitz.
Colin and Emma Bannon bought a beautiful regency villa in Leamington Spa. They moved in when baby Elliot was only 4 weeks old and the race is on to get the house warm and safe before he starts crawling! Presenter Nick Knowles takes the Bannon's on an inspiring trip to another British Spa city to uncover an extraordinary connection between their house and Canada, Colin's birthplace.
This week, two young sisters from Bristol transform a humble upstairs space into a glamorous Victorian feature bathroom on a shoestring budget. Nick sends the girls on a trip of a lifetime to get to grips with Art Nouveau interior design. It's the history that Nick digs up that proves that even the humblest of period properties can have interesting stories to tell.
Divorcee Emma House moved into her odd three-story home in a Warwickshire village 2 years ago. Emma is a museum designer and wants to use her skills to transform her bedroom into a truly stylish space. With no deeds, dating the house has proven difficult. Nick Knowles explores its history, going back 500 years, investigates the rumor that it was once a pub and even brings in William Shakespeare!
Former Army Captain Mark Mathews and wife Maria, actress and style journalist, have moved with their 2 children into a Georgian millhouse in sleepy Somerset. Nick finds some unusual artifacts that cast light on the millhouse's past. As the team reveals the truth of its origins, the lives of the Georgian owners and their unusual influence on the architecture of the house itself also emerge.
Nicola and Stuart Wilkes have moved with their 2 children into a classic 1960's suburban house in Llantwit Major. They have decided to spend $70,000 building an ambitious extension. Interior design expert Nicky gives the house a 60's makeover while Stuart nervously watches the finances. Meanwhile, Nick explores classic 60's design and finds that it never really went out of fashion!
Simon Mallett and Lesley Whittle bought their Georgian style home in 1999 and have already carried out major building work over the last decade. But with Simon's multitude of other projects and a health scare in 2010, it's only now that they're ready to make the most of the original features in their main living areas.
Nick Knowles follows Emma and Charles Williams from Newport, South Wales as they restore their Victorian pile, returning its original features and bringing back its former grandeur. When they bought the property it was practically derelict, vandals had been in and water was pouring through the roof.
Nick Knowles follows Esther and Phil Mason from Wallingford as they restore an unloved and neglected period property, whose last incarnation was bedsits stripped of all original features and charm. Along the way, they gather inspiration from the stunning Georgian house, Aynhoe Park. Will all go according to plan and will this house turn out to be the home of their dreams?
Julian and Sophie Cook reside in a magnificent Edwardian Arts & Crafts home in a leafy Bristol suburb, but as Nick Knowles discovers, they face a dilemma in renovating their partitioned and dated kitchen.
Nichola and James Farthing moved into Church Cottage in Portishead 4 years ago and have been struggling to find the time to make their mark on the property. Nick visits the Farthing's and inspires them with some traditional glass crafts to help get their renovation underway. He finds out that the house is older than they thought and introduces them to some of the previous residents of the house.
Radio announcer Gemma King and jazz musician Chris Lowe are a young couple with a unique sense of style; they're both fanatical about the 20's and 30's and even dress in period clothes each and every day.
Caroline and Andy Maxwell from Clydach, a small industrial village, near Swansea, love their Edwardian home and are determined to reinstate its period charm. The house was built in 1908 for a manager of the local nickel refinery so Caroline wants her hallway to hark back to that bygone era.
Al Evans and Sarah Brooks are not new to the house restoring business, but this time they have taken on a huge project - their dream home right on the edge of the Severn Estuary. It's a Victorian wreck, and they are going to do it up bit by bit starting with the old servant's quarters.
Anthony and Beata Cosgrove bought a beautiful Victorian house in the heart of Bath with the aim of restoring it to its former glory and turning it into the family home of their dreams. Nick Knowles follows them on a quest to discover more about the history of their home and learn some tricks of the trade and design tips.
Nick Knowles travels to the Somerset Levels where Sue and Bill Sutton are renovating their 17th Century barn at their picturesque cottage Townend. United in their passion for old buildings, they want to keep as many of the original features as possible. When Nick delves into the archives to find out the history of the property, he discovers that this barn has been converted once before.
Nick travels to the Hampshire village of Ragged Appleshaw, as he follows Tim and Melissa Seymour's restoration of James I Cottage. The four-hundred-year-old house is a gloomy and awkward space, but carpenter Tim alters the layout with a new, handcrafted staircase and reinstates the beautiful features of the ancient oak frame.
Tim and Clare Wrathall from Portishead have been steadily transforming their six bedroom semi from an old care home into an elegant Edwardian residence. With two unfinished floors and an abundance of bedrooms, Nick Knowles takes the couple on a journey through Edwardian lifestyle and design to help them decide how to use the space.
Nick Knowles follows a young couple, John and Margaret, as they take on restoring some Georgian splendor to their five-story townhouse in the historic city of Bristol. With some inspiration, John and Margaret strip the building of layers of laminate, utility lighting, and functional office features, in favor of period paneling, and fireplaces, while Nick researches the history of their home.
Academics Amanda and Steve Wood moved from a modern house in Melbourne, Australia to a detached period residence in the suburbs of Birmingham. They wish to restore some original opulence to their Victorian living room and create a luxurious space but have no idea which style to opt for, to stay true to the house's history. Nick pays a visit to help steer the couple in the right direction.
Nick Knowles' journey takes him to the city of Bristol, where DIY novices Chris and Abi are planning to strip the master bedroom of their Victorian flat of layers of laminate flooring and built-in furniture, back to its original elegance. Abi travels the world reviewing boutique hotels, so she's picked up ideas for interior design, the trouble is, can she make these work within a period home?
Shairon Lloyd has been passionate about shaker houses since she visited America as a child. She now lives in her own version, in the heart of the Somerset countryside. Nick Knowles visits Shairon and her daughter Charlie to hear of their plans to restore their early 20th-century cedar house and helps inspire them with a visit to one of Britain's biggest shaker furniture manufacturers.
Graham and Jo Hughes have been restoring their old farmhouse in Staffordshire for six years. Nick Knowles joins them as they begin work on the next project, transforming a compact space into a shower room and an office. He has plenty of digging to go into the history of their house. Graham and Jo seem to have an ancient moat and they think they might even have a priest hole adding to the mystery.
Nick Knowles travels to the Peak District to meet a couple on a serious rescue mission, as Steve and Kath Garrick attempt to restore a crumbling Victorian house with over an acre of formal gardens. The house needs underpinning, but inside there are beautiful unique features that the couple are desperate to save, including ornate plasterwork.
Paul and Andrea Bennett are restoring a centuries-old farmhouse full of clues to its former life as the bakery of the village of Ipsley in Worcestershire. The couple has had problems with their restoration so far and, to date, they have only completed work on a couple of rooms in their house. Nick Knowles meets them as they are in need of advice and inspiration to help them focus.
Lee and Maria Barlow found Church Farm in the village of Church Leigh in Staffordshire. They fell in love with the idea of country living, but the amount of work to be done to restore it to its former glory didn't come to light until the day they moved in. Nick visits as Lee and Maria attempt to renovate the grand hallway and a room that they hope to transform into a rustic family room.