ChatTouring’s vision is to create self-guided cultural heritage tours that will help people discover hidden gems. In 2021, founder Lorraine Huddle finally retired her successful heritage advisory business (Heritage Intelligence Pty Ltd) to share her knowledge and passion of Australia’s unique architectural history with a wider audience.

Lorraine is an architectural historian with over forty years experience. After graduating from the University of Melbourne in 1980 with an Honours degree in Architecture, she developed a specialisation in the historical development of Australian architecture. She has lectured at university level in the history of building construction, art and architecture of Australia and of the European Renaissance.

While Lorraine is familiar with the great designers, she has been drawn to the architecture of ordinary people and everyday life, because this is the architecture that tells us the most about our culture, what everyday life was like, and where we came from. As anyone who has traced their family history knows, glimpsing the lives and stories of our own ancestors is compelling, and uncovering the forgotten lives of ordinary people offers a special thrill.

Intrigued by the stories that might otherwise be forgotten, Lorraine has spent forty years travelling all over Victoria, leading major municipal heritage studies that have meticulously documented the history, architecture, landscapes and town infrastructure of everyday Australians.

In a ChatTouring tour, you will discover the trades and intricate skills involved in creating buildings of handmade bricks or roofed with timber shingles – did you know you could work as a ‘splitter’ in local forests in the mid nineteenth century? Other tips and tricks will illustrate how to decode the age and architectural style of historical buildings.

ChatTouring tours invite you to share a more intimate, lesser known history, and enriches your stay or visit to country Victoria.