A few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine the heritage frontage of 71 Victoria Street standing in quite the same style it does today.
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Back in 2014, it housed the popular Zaragosa Spanish-Mexican restaurant. But in November that year, a fire - most likely sparked by a faulty fridge unit - ripped through the address.
It ruined the restaurant and forced owners of the separate apartment above to put it on sale.
SEE THE TRANSFORMATION FROM 2014 TO 2019 BELOW
Despite being structurally sound, the building had soot-charred walls and a devastated interior - a project too far for most.
Step-in Smythesdale builder Luke Antonio, who says he likes a challenge. Picking up the building for $480,000, he set about restoring its to its old grandeur.
It's been a major-side project - in between paying jobs - for around three years, as he set out to recreate the old style of the 1865 property.
SEE THE TRANSFORMATION FROM 2014 TO 2019 BELOW
"Every weekend and any spare day, any spare weekend [was] here," Mr Antonio told the Courier. "Any chance I could get."
Enlisting the help of his wife Aliesha, daughter Lilly and son Jim, they have transformed the property back to its former glory.
A specialist joiner hand-turned the wooden stairs, while a plasterer recreated many of the classic touches of the building's interior.
Mr Antonio said he had never taken anything of this scale before, but had no regrets. The building's age was just one of the challenges. "Nothing's always square and level like with a new home - you just got to make everything fit," he said. "Every doorway is a different size."
Modern building regulations also proved an obstacle: Mr Antonio had to rip out the stairs as the tread was too small on the existing staircase. The balcony railing, too, had to be raised to comply with new legal guidelines.
SEE PHOTOS FROM THE 2014 FIRE TO NOW
After years of toil, the heritage home - which used to belong to the owner of the Sunshine Biscuit Factory - is back on the market with a guide price of between $1.175m to $1.25m.
"We'd like to keep it, but we live out of town. If it was out of town, you'd have to carry me out in a box," Mr Antonio said.
With four bedrooms, it could suit either a commercial or private buyer, says Chris McAteer, who is managing the sale for Buxton Ballarat.
The family has already re-developed and sold the former stables behind the main residence.
"I just [saw] it as a good challenge," Mr Antonio said. "It's part of Ballarat's history."
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