Mr Carnegie, who runs Clarelle Furniture Restoration in Wodonga, just finished restoring one of the rarest pieces he’s come across in his 36-year-long career.

A nine-foot-high Japanese fireplace surround came across his desk a week ago.

“It came from a local customer who brought it from Sydney,” he said.

“He found it on eBay and got it for a decent prize and he’s very excited to have it restored.”

Mr Carnegie doubted he would come across another fireplace surround like it.

“I’ve worked on features like that before and all the hardwares tell me it’s Japanese-built,” he said.

“I can’t pick the date of it, but I can tell it’s from somewhere between the 1920s and 1970s.

“I haven’t seen anything like that and I’ve grown up my whole life in the antique trade.”

Mr Carnegie believed the piece to be rare and worth thousands of dollars, atleast.

“It’s ironic I haven’t had Japanese pieces in 20 years, and I’ve three in about two months,” he said.

“Most of the woods were lacquered with a thick, red gel – very typical of the era.

“A lot of people brought them back to Australia in the era of the old cruise ships.

“In the time around the Titanic there was quite a revival of the Japanese orient.

“They would fill whole rooms with the furniture they’d brought back.”

A restoration project undertaken by Mr Carnegie and his wife, Narelle, was the focus of ABC’s Restoration Australia this time last year.

The 136-year-old Keith Hall just outside Beechworth was reborn out of rubble thanks to the couple’s efforts.

Mr Carnegie said the final touches were being made and they now lived part-time in the building, now a four-bedroom home.

“It’s a beautiful feeling to be in that house and there’s a lot of history to it,” he said.

“It was built by a master stone mason and apparently the shearers and workers used to go out of their way to stay long there.

“It was house of music and laughter, is how it was worded by the last governess in 1964.

“My wife sings and I play the piano.

“The feeling inside is just exquisite.”