Holly and David Kemp's lives were turned upside down last November when their home was destroyed by a bushfire at Cooroibah, north of Tewantin.
Ms Kemp was home alone with her two-year-old daughter, Ruby, when a wall of flames forced them to flee with little time to spare.
"When the fires came through it was so close, it was lucky that Ruby and I got out," Ms Kemp said.
"We were in the car and embers were going around us, and it was really terrifying and scary.
"Little Ruby was saying 'Mummy, I don't want it to be dark anymore'."
Hundreds of residents at Cooroibah, Tewantin and Noosa North Shore were evacuated to nearby community centres on November 8 as the fire raced towards homes.
The Kemps had only just finished renovating their "forever" home less than a week before the bushfire.
Ms Kemp said the past seven months had been a "rollercoaster of emotions".
"It's still raw, you see photos of old times, of things we were wearing, or things we had and you get upset that things are still missing and gone," she said.
"We are so thankful we were safe that day."
Help offered from a teenage stranger
Mr Kemp said after seven months of approaching builders in the region to rebuild the property, they had given up hope.
"We were at the point of going 'We're going to have to cut the house in half' to work with the money we had," he said.
Then they received a life-changing message from a teenager who read about their situation, Sophie Clements, who had been holidaying in Noosa when the bushfire broke out.
"I found a story about Holly and Dave and then tracked Dave down on Facebook and sent them a message and basically that's how this whole thing started," Sophie said.
"I couldn't imagine what that would be like for us losing our home. I was just thinking we need to do something to help these people."
The Year 11 student developed the Properties for Promise Foundation, with the help of her father, builder Scott Clements.
"It's really exciting, I love to see the house in action basically and seeing an idea I had at the start of the year all happening now is pretty cool," Sophie said.
Mr Clements put out a call to arms for local tradies to donate their time and reduce the costs of materials, but admitted he was not sure the concept would work at first.
"When you reach out for these things, you've got to make sure you can back it up," Mr Clements said.
"I'm very proud of Sophie."
Construction underway on 'forever' home
Construction started this week with the Kemps planning to move back in in December, after living with Ms Kemp's family since the bushfire.
"It's actually been amazing to be part of this process," Mr Kemp said.
"They're actually willing to give back to the community and to us to help us get back on our feet — it restores your faith in humanity."
He said the Properties for Promise project had saved them around $150,000 in building costs, with the home set to be more fire resistant as well.
"It's all brick this time — not so much timber — we don't have a thatched roof around the pool," he joked.
"A bit more concrete, no more timber decking."
