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Jesse Dick and Tahlia Stewart bought Trim Cottage for $250,000 three-and-a-half years ago.
"We've always had a passion for old houses and couldn't resist purchasing the property for its incredible potential," Mr Dick said.
The couple sold their Port Macquarie home to finance the renovations of the single-storey, Victorian Italianate dwelling in O'Dell Street.
It had been built in 1883 by John Gordon. Alexia Trim, who was the wife of John Joseph Trim, son of the first mayor, John Trim, owned the house from 1908 till 1922 and added the rear two rooms.
Mr Dick and Ms Stewart were delighted with their purchase.
But every builder Mr Dick tried to enlist to help him renovate the derelict property took one look, then never returned his calls.
"So I had to do the renovation myself, with a great carpenter, Mick Ross," Mr Dick said.
With little architectural or drafting experience, Mr Dick set about drawing the plans for Mr Ross to work with.
He then set about ripping up and replacing floorboards and joists, ripping off cladding covering the intricate ceilings, rendering walls and carrying out excavation work, all while living in the home.
"We just had our first child, Sienna so in the first year or so Tahlia was still living in Port Macquarie," Mr Dick said.
Holding down a full-time job, Mr Dick would work on Trim Cottage on the weekends and sometimes after work.
He camped in the home, which at the time had no kitchen and bathroom, until in the winter he was forced to find rented accommodation.
And all through COVID lockdowns and flooding.
But the couple's hard work paid off.
They have just been shortlisted as finalists in the prestigious National Trust awards.
Theirs is one of 11 shortlisted projects of the 'Built Conservation' category of this year's awards. In total, more than 50 rich and diverse heritage projects from across the state feature in the awards shortlist.
"We're absolutely thrilled," Ms Stewart said.
"Sometimes it did feel as if we were in an episode of Grand Designs, complete with the delays and cost over-runs, but it's all been worth it."
Mr Dick gave a presentation of the restoration and history of Trim Cottage to the Armidale and District Historical Society.
For his talk, Mr Dick unearthed more history about the dwelling. In 1874, the lot was bought by surveyor and New Zealander William Edmund Bennett. He paid 10 pounds, 17 shillings and three pence for the parcel of land.
In 1881, the land was transferred to John Gordon and again to William Miller, a wealthy goldminer from Hillgrove.
About 100 metres to the south of the cottage is Trim's Store at 1-3 Claverie Street, Armidale.
With an Instagram account (@trim_cottage) hosted by Mr Dick to document the restoration project, their home is now unofficially on the Armidale Heritage Bus tour, which follows a route that historically travelled past the house between the Armidale Railway Station and Trim Store without stopping. It now stops in front of the house as an extra site of interest for the tour groups.
This year's heritage award winners will be announced at the awards' ceremony event on Friday, May 17 May at Doltone House in Pyrmont.
