House Rules heads to Gundaroo and Canberra to renovate a crumbling 1800's cottage

Katie, Alex and baby Hallie in front of their crumbling 1800s cottage which is badly in need of a makeover. Photo: Channel Seven.

Channel Seven’s hit program House Rules heads to Gundaroo and Canberra tonight as competition frontrunners Katie and Alex Middlemiss hand over the keys to their crumbling historic cottage to fellow contestants for a makeover.

Screening at 7:30 pm, tonight’s episode will see Katie and Alex taking a break while the five other teams discover the delights of renovating their home in tiny Gundaroo, aided by shopping trips to the large stores in Canberra.

The nation’s capital promises to earn some solid screen time as the teams make the 40-minute drive to Canberra to go shopping in stores such as Beaumont Tiles, Early Settler, Highgrove Bathrooms and Fantastic Furniture.

Last year House Rules’ teams also made the trip to Canberra to buy furniture for the makeover of Toad and Mandy’s home in Candelo, near Bega. Photo: House Rules.

Katie and Alex are looking forward to having their home transformed, saying that it is small, has zero storage and is falling down.

Despite their obvious affection for the 1800s cottage they bought in 2016, the couple know it is desperately in need of work – saying the kitchen isn’t functional and their master bedroom is a water chamber.

Alex, an AFP officer, and Katie, a stay-at-home mum with a flair for design, moved from Canberra to Gundaroo three years ago and share the cottage with their one-year-old daughter, Hallie.

Having both grown up in the country they were looking for more of an ‘off-the-grid lifestyle’ and will let the other teams know that they would like an ‘eco-sustainable’ home.

Competition frontrunners Katie and Alex are hoping to give our region another win in House Rules. Photo: Instagram @KatieAlexAU.

Tonight, Alex will tell the teams to renovate the cottage in harmony with each other, while Katie hopes they will be in tune with the peace and quiet of the area.

“I grew up here… so to come back to this kind of area it makes you slow down, your priorities change. You learn to know your neighbours – it’s just this beautiful old school community,” Katie will tell the teams.

Katie and Alex are the region’s newest hopes for a win on House Rules and hope to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winners, down-to-earth dairy farmers, Toad and Mandy, who also hailed from the local region (Candelo, near Bega).

The two couples met up for lunch late last week and instantly hit it off – with Toad and Mandy sure to be watching closely tonight.

Alex, Katie and baby Hallie met up with Mandy and Toad for lunch late last week. Photo: Instagram @toadandmandy.

“Had the pleasure of meeting these three today,” Toad and Mandy wrote in an Instagram post last Saturday.

“Lucky we weren’t on the same season because as teams, we’re just too alike!!! It was good to have a chat about our adventures over lunch and a drink. This won’t be the last of us four in one pic.”

To see what Katie and Alex’s cottage looks like before the renovation take a look at the video below sourced from Facebook (Channel Seven).