It was a day the Cooper family will never forget.
Driving home during 2018 to their property in Tanamera, north-west of Longreach, they found their 60-year-old homestead burnt to the ground.
The outback Queensland family had lost everything except what they had on them when they left the house that day, and had to completely rebuild from the ground up.
But it was not a typical rebuild. Rather than build a new home, or buy a kit home, Sally and her husband Wally decided to move a homestead more than a century old from another property north of Winton, more than 100 kilometres away.
"We went and had a look," Sally said.
"But we drove up the back and just went, 'Oh my goodness' … and we did fall in love with it.
"The house was in amazing condition for its age … it just had the most beautiful high ceilings, and it was so solid."
After beginning their search in 2019, and living in dongas (temporary, transportable accommodation) in the meantime, it was not until April 2020 that the main structure of the house, minus the verandahs and the roof, was loaded onto a truck and moved to Tanamera.
"I've never seen such a process in my life," Sally said.
"They just pick this thing up, put it on a truck, and here it is."
Bringing the 'old lady' back to life
During the process of moving and restoring the home, Sally found the original plans of the home, which was built in the late 1800s.
She discovered the house's first location was at Charters Towers before it was moved to Aldingham Station, north of Winton.
Sally said the home had come to "her final resting place" at Tanamera.
"We've kept some of the nails and things that came out," she said.
"They were all hand forged … I just couldn't get over how amazing it was."
It was a love of old homes that made them want to restore the "grand old lady", honouring its history while also making a home suitable for a modern family on the land.
"It's nice to recycle things and these beautiful old homes are so solid," Sally said.
"We wanted to keep the integrity of the house [and] we didn't want to chance anything.
"[But] we did want to modernise it and future-proof it, I suppose.
"It's just a really easy house to live in … it's just got that beautiful feel to it."
Where the heart is
Having lived through almost a decade of drought on the cattle and goat station, the importance of a home is not lost on Sally.
While it was not the main focus, or the priority, on a station, it was an important part of life on the land.
"There was such a beautiful garden around the house," Sally said.
"It does make such a difference
"Sometimes some of the things you're doing out in the paddock are horrible.
"It's nice to come back [to this]."
Looking at photos of the house when they first saw it, Sally said she could not quite believe how much it had transformed.
"Building a house is no small undertaking and I can tell you, I don't want to do it again, for a long time."
The house was still a work in progress, but Sally said they were happy to take their time to make it right.
