Lifestyle to screen Grand Designs Australia fire

Next week’s season finale of Grand Designs Australia will be a rollercoaster of emotions as home-owners Marc and Felicity Bernstein suffered a fire just weeks before they were due to move in.

Producers Fremantle and host Peter Maddison have been following the build in Coburg for 3 years when when a blow torch flame licked the home’s insulation last September. Eight fire trucks attended the site pumping over 30,000 litres of water into the structure.

Building a house comes with enormous difficulties and architects Marc and Felicity Bernstein had no idea how stressful it would become when they set out to transform a toxic remnant of land in Melbourne into a designer sanctuary. With a small budget but high hopes of creating a passive eco home built to the highest environmental standards they get to work, collecting bricks and budget materials to create their masterpiece. With money tight they decide to move into a campervan with their three kids for the build process. As the months turn to years and the finances run perilously low, what started as a fun adventure quickly sours. Then, with only weeks before they are finally due to move into their remarkable home and reveal for Grand Designs Australia, the unimaginable happens – their house burns down. The family are left devastated with the tragedy potentially destroying their dreams, their spirit, and their finances forever! Will the Bernstein family be able to rise from the ashes…?

Wednesday May 19th at 8.30pm on Lifestyle.