- 20 hours ago
Restoration Australia Season 8 Episode 2
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00:04We're blessed with glorious waterside havens all around the country.
00:09Many of us have our favourites from childhood,
00:12filled to overflowing with wonderful holiday memories.
00:15But is it possible to recreate that experience for your own children
00:19and have them live it and love it like you did?
00:23And can you do it in a holiday house that technically isn't even a house at all?
00:28It has no guarantees that it ever will be.
00:36I'm Anthony Burke, a professor of architecture.
00:39Brilliant.
00:39Passionate about buildings of the past.
00:41This is incredibly impressive.
00:44And what they can tell us about better ways to live in the future.
00:48This is very confronting. It's a ruin.
00:50It is.
00:50Join me as I travel the country,
00:52meeting homeowners embarking on the challenge of a lifetime.
00:55It's in there!
00:57Restoring homes from the 1800s to the swinging 60s.
01:01Looking to balance our rich cultural heritage with life in modern Australia.
01:20How have you been feeling?
01:22Yeah, I'm definitely starting to feel a lot better.
01:25Hannah Chapman has a sharp eye for detail.
01:28For most women, the benefits far outweigh the risks.
01:33It's an asset at her general practice where she specialises in women's health,
01:38diagnosing and treating the array of ailments and issues besetting her patients.
01:43It draws her deeply into the beauty of her Hobart garden.
01:48Is that the one that I always did the eyebrows on before for you?
01:51Yeah.
01:51That's awesome, mate.
01:52And it's useful for watching over the two energetic boys, Rupert and Charles,
01:58she's raising with her partner, Stuart.
02:00It's just, you know, just trying to keep on top of things.
02:03It's a team effort most of the time, so it's all good.
02:07But Hannah's precise eye for detail, her appreciation of light and colour,
02:12really comes into its own when she picks up her camera.
02:16I really love photography.
02:17I find it quite relaxing.
02:19For me, it's almost like an immersive, meditative experience.
02:23In Tasmania, we're blessed with beauty around every corner and I love to capture it.
02:28It's hard to go wrong, really.
02:30I even managed to turn photography into a side hustle for the last few years
02:35and I've enjoyed every minute.
02:37So, a side hustle capturing perfect days, stunning portraits and magical family moments.
02:45So, I first picked up a camera when I was pregnant with my second child
02:49and from that moment on, I just wanted to romanticise motherhood
02:55and celebrate the mums and put them in the photos and make them feel special.
03:02And when she's out and about on her own time, she fills her frame and her social media feed
03:08with wildlife and flowers and landscapes, her own growing family.
03:15Oh, and an early 19th century regional post office, barely holding itself together
03:20on a bend of the riverfront 45 minutes east of Hobart.
03:25I remember the first moment I saw this listing.
03:28Absolutely, ideally quarter-front location, just this romantic little cottage.
03:33I just thought it was a dream.
03:36Long before DMs and Hannah's Insta-digital posts, here was this analogue colonial platform
03:43where careful pen and paper posts in envelopes were received and dispatched on horseback.
03:50Like, that is so charming.
03:52You know, just a suburb from where I spent my childhood summers.
03:55Every summer, you know, I was at the shack, the fine Tasmanian tradition.
04:00Yeah, that's all I can remember from my childhood was summers down the beach.
04:04We sort of had these very nostalgic connections to being near the water
04:07and I was like, look at this, wouldn't this just be the dream shack?
04:13A dream shack, if your ideal, is a more than 180-year-old stone, timber, plaster and lathe utility
04:21building turned chook shed turned squat, patched and propped up by well-meaning local amateurs,
04:27fearful the whole thing was about to fall over.
04:31We knew there was issues, but we just sort of...
04:34Naive optimism again?
04:36Yeah, we just, we were in love.
04:38We figured we'd work it out.
04:40There was plenty of local and interstate interest in the Carlton River Post Office
04:45and its 2,500 square metres of waterfront land when it came on the market.
04:51But its indeterminate zoning and layers of heritage protection
04:55thinned out the buyers pretty quickly.
04:58It was a little bit of a controversial kind of situation about the building's status,
05:05whether or not it was a dwelling because it was once a post office.
05:09It didn't have a certificate of occupancy and that's been very complicated.
05:16The weather's turned? Nice.
05:18It's actually turned into a nice day.
05:21The sun's shining first time today.
05:23So, another layer of complexity, but Hannah and Stu were undeterred.
05:28Carlton River is a stone's throw from Hannah's retired parents, John and Carol,
05:33in the town of Dodgers Ferry.
05:35You would love it.
05:36There was too much to love about the location.
05:39The proximity to Hannah's own holiday memories
05:42and just the gnarly character of the old post office.
05:45So, they bought it in 2022 for $628,000.
05:50The building has just such a rich history.
05:54You fell in love with that part?
05:55Oh, yeah.
05:56For me, that really has deepened the whole journey.
05:59There's some incredible human stories and characters
06:02that have really kind of reeled me in, I suppose.
06:06For Hannah and Stu, this is a chance to shape a comfortable, character-filled weekender
06:11and, longer term, a retirement nook out of this uneven and neglected arrangement
06:16of wobbly walls and floors under a leaky, rusty roof.
06:21We're reasonably confident that we're not going to hit anything too bad structurally.
06:24Sometimes you don't really know what your biggest problem is going to be
06:26until you uncover it.
06:27And there might be some interesting discoveries that we make.
06:30Hopefully nothing too shocking.
06:35I remember not too far from here in a little town called Denali,
06:38we were following an extended family who were looking to transform
06:42an old church and war memorial into a holiday home.
06:47And the approvals processes nearly defeated them.
06:51Tasmanian councils and heritage authorities,
06:53they take their history seriously.
06:56Now, we've got a pokey old post office,
06:59smothered in protections and regulations,
07:02and a family looking to turn it into a weekender.
07:05What is it with Tassie and these unorthodox restorations?
07:10Fact is, often the only chance for these old places is a brave makeover,
07:16transforming them into usable and viable spaces.
07:20Otherwise, they just disappear.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Hannah!
07:31Anthony!
07:32Stuart, hi!
07:34Lovely to meet you.
07:35So good to meet you.
07:36You too.
07:36How are you going?
07:37Yeah, we're well, thanks.
07:38I'll tell you what, this is just so pretty.
07:41With the river and this beautiful environment here,
07:44the whole thing is just so gorgeous.
07:47I can understand why you'd fall in love with this place.
07:49Yeah, it's ideal.
07:49And is that what happened?
07:50You kind of just saw it and fell in love?
07:52Yeah, pretty much.
07:53Yeah, when you walked through it the first time,
07:54I think it just sort of hit us both at the same time.
07:57Post office for 100 years,
07:58and usually the post office, the pub and the bank,
08:00those kinds of things are what establishes a town.
08:03So everyone in town would have come here at some point.
08:06Absolutely.
08:06Yeah.
08:07So is it habitable?
08:08I mean, are you living here right now?
08:10No.
08:11Right.
08:12Technically, it's illegal at the moment.
08:14What do you mean?
08:16It doesn't have a certificate of occupancy,
08:20so we're not really allowed to live here at the moment.
08:23Right.
08:24We can be here for short stays.
08:25We can be here for short stays.
08:26Yeah.
08:26So you can camp out over the weekend,
08:28but no-one's moving here full-time.
08:30Wow.
08:31Almost two and a half years on,
08:34Hannah and Stu still haven't resolved the status issue with council.
08:38We have all of our approvals and permissions,
08:40and we have our certificate of likely substantive compliance.
08:44All right.
08:45So it's looking better than it ever has,
08:49but I'm a little circumspect these days.
08:51Yeah.
08:52I'm picking that up too.
08:53So this pretty little postcard actually has a kind of
08:55a much more complex backstory to it.
08:58Oh, 100%.
08:59Absolutely.
08:59I want to get inside and have a look and see exactly what condition it's in.
09:03Yep.
09:03Can we have a look?
09:04Absolutely.
09:04Love to.
09:04Let's do it.
09:05Take me.
09:11So, Anthony, this is the living room.
09:14Ah, right.
09:15Okay.
09:15It's not as pretty inside as it is outside.
09:18No.
09:19That is true.
09:20You're calling it your living room,
09:21but actually this is the post office, right?
09:23Well, yes.
09:23It would have been where the business kind of operated.
09:26Do you have any sense of how the room actually worked?
09:30Ah, we think that there was just a small corner really used for sorting the mail.
09:34Yep.
09:35I guess the thing about these old buildings, these colonial period buildings,
09:38is so much went on in these rooms.
09:39And so much has gone on more recently.
09:43Unsympathetic cover-ups and dodgy bolstering.
09:46Boy, and all this stuff.
09:48Um, bit of a hack job going on through there.
09:51Well, it's just a bit rough and ready.
09:52Yeah.
09:53Yeah?
09:53But that was necessary to keep the building standing, yeah?
09:55Practical, I guess, versus...
09:57Practical.
09:57Looking nice.
09:58Means to an end.
09:59I mean, the stonework there is very beautiful.
10:01Again, very picturesque.
10:03Yeah.
10:03Absolutely.
10:04But I can see holes in the wall there.
10:06Yeah.
10:06Yeah, it's not airtight, that's for sure.
10:08Over there, so...
10:08There's quite a few, actually.
10:10If you just keep changing your angle, you'll find a new one.
10:12You'll find a new one.
10:13Yeah, yeah.
10:14And it's not watertight.
10:16The rusted roof, capping the crusty old shingle original,
10:20leaks like a sieve.
10:21The roof, that sounds structural, it sounds expensive,
10:24which sounds like some pretty major surgery.
10:26So I'm hoping that if we replace the roof,
10:29which we have allowed for in the budget,
10:31that we can put the old one back on top.
10:33OK.
10:34Alright.
10:35So a waterproof layer,
10:36and then the old thing goes back on to keep the look
10:38that we're seeing now.
10:40Yeah.
10:41The room adjacent completed the original two-room cottage.
10:45It's in better shape, as is the latter room beyond that.
10:48But, again, the tacky overlay will have to go,
10:52and hopefully some striking underlying features
10:55will have room to shine.
10:57Yeah.
10:58So those sorts of slabs,
10:59we're thinking about big slabs of timber.
11:01I haven't seen them before like that.
11:03Usually they're just, like, split from a single tree,
11:05put horizontally between two posts
11:07and go up in a shed that's put up,
11:09or a house is put up very quickly.
11:10To mount these ones vertically,
11:12and then to split them on their length
11:14and get that really rough texture on there,
11:16I can see why it's sort of,
11:18it's a bit precious, actually.
11:19It is.
11:20Yeah.
11:20So they are quite a special feature of the property, actually.
11:24All our heritage consultants get very excited.
11:27It's a primitive kind of split slab construction technique,
11:31which really is just not done anymore
11:34and hasn't been done for a long time.
11:36There's not many examples standing.
11:41But it's down the steps.
11:43Oh, this is very tricksy, isn't it?
11:45It's a bit special.
11:47You've got a split level post office.
11:49Into a very rustic rear addition
11:52that a remarkable, very idiosyncratic feature
11:55of the old post office clings perilously to life.
11:58These are actually spectacular.
12:01Yeah.
12:01They're very well done.
12:02Who's the artist?
12:04The final postmaster.
12:06Oh, really?
12:06Yeah, old Nick.
12:07Yeah, he was here until, what, 1949,
12:10and, yeah, he drew these himself.
12:12Old Nick is quite talented, yeah?
12:14This is something that you're presumably then going to keep?
12:18Yes.
12:19Yes, we try to preserve those.
12:20The previous stabilisation works
12:22haven't held up that well, unfortunately.
12:25We have got a plan for these
12:27and we're hoping that it works.
12:32So a specialist art conservator
12:34will figure among the specialist tradies
12:37necessarily drawn into this project.
12:40Hannah and Stu have received a heritage grant
12:42of close to $100,000
12:44to help with specific aspects of this restoration,
12:48but the art project is on their own coin.
12:51The big structural item will be the roof work,
12:54an array of new supporting timbers,
12:57a fresh layer of new tin,
12:59and ideally, if the budget allows,
13:00all capped with the rusty patinaed original.
13:04Beyond that, the old post office itself
13:06is not going to undergo any major internal
13:09or external reconfiguration.
13:11The living room, the current kitchen area,
13:13and the bedroom will retain their places in the footprint,
13:16but footings will be strengthened,
13:18walls will be set right
13:19and resurfaced in traditional lime plaster,
13:22and that feature stone wall
13:24will be straightened and repointed.
13:26A layer of 21st century comfort will roll in
13:29with new electrics and modern appliances,
13:32while down in the lower annex,
13:34comfort of comforts, a new bathroom.
13:36Outside, those tiny bedroom windows will be lengthened
13:40to make more of the outlook across the retained deck
13:43to the river and natural beauty beyond.
13:45It looks like a relatively small-scale project,
13:48but the drama is in the detail.
13:53How much money, then, are you going to spend on all of this?
13:55Of our own money, 300.
13:58OK.
13:59Including the grant, that's close to 400.
14:01Plus the heritage.
14:01Close to 400 total.
14:03OK.
14:03Yeah, that's probably not so bad,
14:05depending upon the level of the finishes.
14:07There are these obligations of the grant
14:09to allow the house to be open to the public in some way
14:13or to share it in some kind of way.
14:16Yeah.
14:16How do you feel about that kind of public side
14:18of your private home?
14:20Yeah, I think it's like anything.
14:22If you fall in love with something,
14:23then you just make it work.
14:24And one of the goals of the grant
14:27was about increasing visitation to the state
14:29and taking these underutilised
14:32but heritage-protected spaces
14:35and turning them into, you know, usable spaces
14:39that can be used to increase visitation.
14:41So for us what that effectively means is that
14:44it won't just be a holiday home
14:47and a one-day retirement space
14:49but a space that we will need to share with others.
14:53It's all part of the story.
14:54It'll be a nice part of sharing it with other people as well.
14:56Yeah.
14:57What's your timeline like?
14:58So building starts in two weeks
15:00and we'd like to wrap it up by December.
15:03It's been two and a half years in the making
15:04so hopefully, yeah,
15:05with about four months we're looking at.
15:07Four months?
15:08Yeah.
15:08Okay, so four months.
15:10Wow, that is super speed.
15:12We'd like to be in it in summer
15:13to be able to use it over that school holiday period
15:15with the kids and get down here
15:16and really make the most of it.
15:18Look, if it was just internal finishes
15:19I'd probably say fine.
15:21I mean, it's a relatively modest house size-wise
15:23so there's not a lot of fabric to do
15:25but my concern is there's a lot of complex
15:27and tricky stuff to do.
15:29I think four months is very optimistic.
15:32Okay.
15:32See?
15:33Yeah?
15:34I think that could be the heat.
15:35Yeah.
15:36I'm bringing it for you.
15:37Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:39I think there's some marvellous dimensions
15:41to what's going on here.
15:43I'm most excited by actually the material fabric of your place.
15:47You know, some really great textural things
15:49you're going to have to consider
15:50and that drawing, having a conservator come in
15:53and do that work in your own place is really magic.
15:55Yeah.
15:56So there's a lot to look forward to here.
15:57Yeah.
15:58I'm getting excited for you.
15:59Yeah.
16:00Yeah, we're getting excited as well.
16:01Yeah.
16:02To finally get it underway.
16:03Yeah.
16:03I mean, it's been, you know, so long.
16:05It's felt like such a long journey to get to this point
16:07where we're finally poised to begin work.
16:10Yeah.
16:10So, yeah, we're excited.
16:12Yeah.
16:15You can understand the appeal of the location,
16:17the waterways and the wildlife and the peace and quiet.
16:21You can understand the appeal of the old post office
16:23with its charming idiosyncrasies and layers of history.
16:27It has taken Hannah and Stu years
16:30just to get an acknowledgement
16:32that it might be recognised as a dwelling.
16:36And it's still languishing in some procedural twilight zone.
16:41And there are no guarantees.
16:43All that.
16:44And they're about to throw everything at a restoration
16:46that also requires them to faithfully observe heritage edicts.
16:51Like the old mail run from here.
16:53This is going to be quite a ride.
17:05Day one, and while the all-important council occupancy approval
17:09still hasn't arrived...
17:10Demo day?
17:11Demo.
17:12Yeah, yeah.
17:13We've had a walk through and ready to get into it.
17:17Builder Nick and his team are ready and raring to go.
17:21Carefully dismantling and removing the dodgy add-ons
17:24and pairing the old post office back to its authentic origins.
17:29There we go.
17:30And after a very expectant two and a half years to get to this point,
17:35Hannah and Stu are not going to miss out on the fun.
17:39Hey!
17:40Here we go.
17:41Honestly, I really didn't think this day would come
17:45that we would finally see work begin.
17:47Yeah, it's a fantastic feeling to see things coming down
17:53and see the original shell of the building being exposed
17:57is quite amazing.
17:59It's incredible to see it begin.
18:04It's very cool seeing this come down.
18:07Oh, look at that.
18:09To lift that ceiling out and see that beautiful A-frame roof
18:14and the original timbers.
18:17Look at that.
18:18They're really well-preserved.
18:20Actually, in here is where they're the nicest.
18:22It's just amazing.
18:23So much character and history and it's just sitting there.
18:26It's been sitting there this whole time, but now we can see it.
18:29The beautiful hand-cut shingles
18:31and it's incredible what it does to the space.
18:36As stuff comes down and out,
18:38it's clear Hannah and Stu aren't working to a fixed plan.
18:44It's just so lovely, the exposed roof.
18:47It almost makes me want to run it into the next room as well
18:50because we've got such an unusual kind of non-heritage
18:55existing ceiling that everyone that comes into that room
18:58looks at it and goes,
18:59oh, what are you going to do with this?
19:02Making decisions on the fly in the demo phase
19:04can be a slippery slope, but they're not daunted.
19:09I think doing things on the fly is just part of the exciting bit about it.
19:15Like me ripping it out of there, for example.
19:18Yeah, doing things, creating, making decisions as you go.
19:21I think it's all part of the project.
19:22Just, uh, yeah, part of what makes it fun, I guess.
19:34But there is one critical aspect of this project
19:37that cannot be done ad hoc.
19:40Need to be a bit ready about Plan A and Plan B and Plan C.
19:47Art conservator Stefano has one of the most delicate
19:50and challenging assignments on site.
19:53Once we remove the plexiglass, we have maybe 20, 30% of losses,
20:03but maybe just the background and not the drawing, so it would be good.
20:09Normally, Stefano might expect to be working his restorative magic
20:14in pristine studio conditions.
20:18No tradies thumping around in the roof space above
20:21or firing up power tools in the room next door.
20:25Still, he deftly and delicately applies adhesives and fillers
20:29to stabilise the fragile plaster canvas.
20:32If this doesn't work, these sketches, so prized by Hannah in particular,
20:38will dissolve into dust.
20:41Stefano's been injecting an acrylic resin
20:44and a combination of resin and glue.
20:47It's going to be an intricate, fiddly process,
20:49but I think, you know, we've committed to salvaging them.
20:53And to me, the drawings are really going to be an important finishing piece.
20:59So I hope that we can get it done.
21:04These sketches are the work of wartime postmaster Kenmore Nicholls.
21:09Among the characters and scenes here, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin
21:13and a dove depicting peace.
21:17I'd love to know why Lieutenant Nicholls chose the plaster walls
21:21of his post office to render his work,
21:23but the fact that they're still here all these years later,
21:27clinging to their desperately fragile surface,
21:30comes down to a pretty hasty volunteer rescue effort.
21:34So we've got lots happening, Moya.
21:36Oh my goodness, look at it.
21:38So many people here working.
21:40Everyone's here.
21:41Fantastic.
21:41Local school teacher Moya got here in the nick of time,
21:46about 20 years ago,
21:47and hatched a canny preservation and education mission.
21:50I happened to be at a neighbour's place over here,
21:54at a party,
21:55and I saw a couple of people walking around the building,
21:59and I thought, oh.
22:00So I jumped the fence and came over and asked them
22:02if they would consider a group of students being involved in it.
22:07They looked at me and thought, why not?
22:11So we brought the children down here,
22:13and it was through their efforts, really,
22:17that the building was initially preserved or saved.
22:23Saved.
22:24Moya and her crack team of year fives arrived on site and got to work.
22:30Oh, it was absolutely ridiculously messy.
22:34It was filled with dust.
22:36It had been empty for 10 years,
22:38so you can imagine people had been in and out vandalising it.
22:42The kids wrote letters, lobbied authorities,
22:45held fundraisers and pressed mums and dads
22:48and local volunteers into action,
22:50all as they dug deep into the history of the place,
22:54its artefacts and its occupants.
22:57There were little archaeologists working around here in the garden.
23:00There was so much excitement when they found a piece of pottery
23:03or a penny that one person found and an old fork
23:07and see the excitement.
23:10Locals came forward with post office memorabilia and ephemera,
23:14including this pencil and paper self-portrait
23:17of mailman Michelangelo, Ken Nicholls,
23:20that long before he was doodling the walls of the post office
23:23way back in the early 19th century,
23:26a bloke named Ralph Dodgers arrived from Norfolk Island,
23:29of all places, took up a grant of land here
23:31and eventually set up a mail service.
23:34The original two-room post office was built in around 1840.
23:39The kids built a sturdier profile of postman Ralph
23:43while they assembled specialist help to prop up the crumbling building.
23:48When we first came here, this was just a pile of rubble.
23:51Wow.
23:51It's thanks to Moya and her Kandu crew
23:54that this magnificent stone wall and chimney
23:56were resurrected from the rubble and rebuilt,
23:59and that the Nicholls frieze was preserved behind plexiglass.
24:04It's certainly come a long way since we first got here
24:07because that whole section down there was gone, basically,
24:11and to see it being stripped back to the original is fantastic.
24:15We're very grateful to you, Moya, for your curiosity
24:19and all the processes that were sparked by you all those years ago
24:23that led to her still standing here today
24:27so that we can kind of be the next custodians
24:31and take her into the next phase,
24:34hopefully make her more beautiful than she's ever been.
24:37Wow. It's fantastic. It really is.
24:40And why wouldn't you fall in love with it?
24:42Oh, I don't know.
24:45The position here on the river, just absolutely gorgeous.
24:53The plexiglass protection is a blessing and a curse for Stefano.
25:00It's held the plaster artwork together,
25:03but if he's to restore the fragile canvas,
25:05the cover has to be removed.
25:07And despite all the stabilising glue and resin,
25:10it might all crumble to the ground.
25:20So he's cutting the cover into small pieces.
25:27Removing each one ever so carefully.
25:39And then making sure any fallen fragments are set back into the mosaic.
25:44The commitment here is extraordinary.
25:47Yeah, it's really exciting to finally see the acrylic coming down.
25:53And the drawing's still on the wall.
25:56Which is amazing. It's still clinging.
25:58Big win. Yeah.
26:00Feeling hopeful.
26:07Stonemason Warwick has an altogether different crumbling jigsaw puzzle to solve.
26:12He's rebuilding parts of the imposing stone side of the post office
26:16that subsided and crumbled over the life of the building.
26:19But he reckons if it wasn't for the school kids' rescue effort,
26:23there'd be nothing standing.
26:26They did some dismantling and then from all around the site
26:29retrieved some sandstone and building elements.
26:33And thankfully what they've done has basically kept the end of that wall
26:39from falling down.
26:40But I'd hate to think what state the building would be in
26:43if that project hadn't have gone on in the 90s.
26:46Warwick's aiming to hold on to any and all of the original stonework
26:50and trying to make his repair work as seamless as possible.
26:54He also wants to make the fireplace fit and ready for a wood-burning heater,
26:59safely fluid up the original chimney.
27:02An open fire in here would be a massive risk to the rest of the structure.
27:09All being ancient split timber, it's a tinderbox should an ember get out.
27:29Two months on, it's mid-spring and work continues on the project's big-ticket item,
27:35the roof.
27:38New timbers inside the roof have strengthened the structure,
27:42an internal skin of marine ply is taking shape
27:44and all is being readied for a waterproof cap of fresh new tin.
27:56The year is 2024.
27:57Our family is currently restoring the old Carlton Post Office.
28:07The old post office might be loaded with history and stories, but there's always room for more.
28:13I'm so excited for high school but also very nervous.
28:16I will be so sad to leave primary school.
28:20Right now we are renovating Carlton.
28:22I hope you have a great day from Charles.
28:25Hannah, Stu, Charles and Rupert are putting together a snapshot of the period around their restoration as part of a
28:32posterity project.
28:34Hi, my name is Rupert.
28:37If you found this note, you have found my time capsule.
28:42The family is compiling personal accounts and flotsam facts of the times.
28:46Petrol's a $1.70 a litre.
28:49Probably petrol won't be a thing anymore.
28:51I said petrol is what was used in cars.
28:56And Hannah's documenting the post office project and its restoration contributors.
29:01A couple of nice shots of Stefano.
29:05To lock into a time capsule for the far off future to stumble upon.
29:11The idea for a time capsule really came from the tradies actually.
29:16Our stonemason was telling me the things that he's found in old walls over the years
29:23and that he always likes to leave something in the walls as well.
29:27So it's just been a natural progression for me to capture the process a little bit
29:32and capture the characters that are on this journey with us
29:36and plant that somewhere under a stone where it hopefully won't be found for a couple of hundred years
29:42and perhaps it will be a nice treat for someone one day to kind of look through
29:47and see the process of the building changing and being given a new lease on life.
29:54It's kind of like a rebirth really.
29:55I think that would be a really cool thing to discover.
29:58A bit more beard?
30:00Yeah sure.
30:01How about?
30:09The lime mortar mix will benefit from either hair or straw for the added tensile strength.
30:18Yeah.
30:20I like that we're kind of paying respect to the original.
30:25Exactly.
30:26By replicating that element.
30:29Yeah. It's the least we can do.
30:32That's right.
30:33Despite the demands of her city medical practice,
30:36Hannah's still managing to visit Carlton River once or twice a week to get hands-on.
30:42Just aim for that spot there.
30:45Press in.
30:46Keep pressing.
30:50We lost a bit.
30:51That's good.
30:52Keep pressing.
30:55Up. Up.
30:56Yep.
30:58She's helping Plaster and Michael work the interior walls with traditional lime and straw plaster,
31:05learning as she goes.
31:07That's it.
31:08Just do it again.
31:08Yep.
31:10While Hannah relishes every opportunity to immerse herself in traditional processes.
31:16Every time you walk into this room now you can point to that patch.
31:19Yeah that's right.
31:20I did some rendering under there.
31:22Yeah.
31:23You'll have added your own touch too.
31:24Part of the building.
31:25Yeah that's good.
31:26That's good.
31:28Stu's back in Hobart immersing himself in household chores and his recruitment business.
31:33I think Hannah's doing great from the project point of view.
31:37I guess I haven't been able to be on site as much.
31:40I'm still working very much full time or more.
31:43You know work more and work a bit harder.
31:47A lot of my work is highly commission based.
31:49So you know the more I work the more I can earn.
31:52So you know when there's a fair bit of money flying in and out for various you know bills
31:56for tradies and appliances and I've just tried to have my foot on the gas a bit more to ensure
32:02there's more coming in so that we don't run out.
32:04Just trying to support her I guess in any way.
32:06Any way I can.
32:12I'm using the same finish that they used when they built the house.
32:18I'm a bit biased.
32:19I think there's nothing more beautiful than this finish.
32:21Hannah and Stu's respective roles make practical sense.
32:25But the fact is they were hoping to be finished with their restoration in four months.
32:30And that deadline is just around the corner.
32:34Michael's line plastering might be all but complete.
32:38This is pretty much the end of it.
32:41After this is probably just some patching inside.
32:45You ready?
32:46But there's so much more to do.
32:49I think we're going to go garden all down through here.
32:52I'd like to see more garden everywhere.
32:55Better for the birds.
32:59It's possible they could wrap this up quick smart.
33:02Except Christmas and New Year is closing in fast.
33:05That summertime stretch when tradies vanish and supplies and action grind to a halt.
33:12There's Hannah. Hey! How are you going?
33:13Hey Anthony.
33:14It's a busy day on site today.
33:16My goodness so much happening.
33:17Yeah.
33:18We've got quite a lot of mess around us.
33:21So it's frantic.
33:23Things are definitely happening.
33:24I can see the tin on the roof.
33:26Yep.
33:26Brilliant.
33:27Gosh that was hard to get used to actually.
33:29Right.
33:29I was quite attached to our rusty old patinaed roof.
33:33And I didn't really want to see it go but it made sense because it wasn't in a good state.
33:38Yeah.
33:38And this looked so bright to begin with that I literally would drive in and go like,
33:42who are you little cottage?
33:43I don't even know you.
33:45But yeah we're getting acquainted again and working out who she is now.
33:50That new timber against the old timber is looking.
33:53Loving it.
33:54Really lovely.
33:55Yeah.
33:55It's really changed the look for me.
33:56This is a bit of a surprise to me.
33:59Yeah.
33:59This is something I didn't realise you had already made plans around.
34:02Yeah.
34:03But it seems like you're well advanced with your ideas out here.
34:05Yeah.
34:05Actually this is the first time that I've seen the stone path completed.
34:10Yeah nice.
34:10And I really love it.
34:12Yeah.
34:12Yeah I think it looks beautiful the way it just takes you down to that little riverside area.
34:18Yeah I think it's going to be a real highlight.
34:21Anything that finesses the relationship with the river and the environment is indeed going
34:26to be a highlight.
34:27But inside there's a persistent low light.
34:30A problem Hannah can't seem to crack.
34:33This is the problem room isn't it.
34:35It is.
34:36Yeah.
34:37I know you've been thinking hard about what to do in here from the very first time I walked
34:41into this room.
34:42Yeah.
34:43The ceiling is still a complete train wreck.
34:46If we're honest about it.
34:48And this wall is no friendlier really is it.
34:50Look at this big divot here.
34:51I mean you must be staring at this going what am I going to do.
34:55Well now that you've brought me here I am.
34:59I'm sorry.
34:59I was trying to ignore it.
35:01Right.
35:02So why not just sort of start over with the ceiling for example.
35:06Oh that would be amazing if that was within budget.
35:09But I think the rough quote would be 50 grand just on the ceiling.
35:14Yeah.
35:15To do a traditional repair.
35:17Yep.
35:18Yeah that's just extending the budget too far.
35:20Mhmm.
35:21So we hope to do something more economical than that.
35:24Yeah.
35:24And look it's just going to be the last thing we do and I don't know how we're going to
35:28approach
35:29it.
35:29Right.
35:29So you're just sort of putting this in the too hard basket for now?
35:32Yeah.
35:33But we are running out of time because everything else is coming along.
35:36So I do have to focus in on this area and yeah come up with some kind of plan.
35:41It's dysfunctional and problematic now but this half of the original post office would have
35:48been warm and purposeful when foundation postmaster Ralph Dodge occupied it.
35:54Ralph came to the broader area in the early 1800s to farm a large land grant but he busied
36:00himself with other enterprises as well.
36:03On land further up river Ralph built a home on a 300 acre parcel called Ferry Farm and established
36:11a rowboat ferry service across the wide open bay.
36:15In the 1830s Ralph's ferries likely modelled on the Norfolk Island whaling boats of his birthplace
36:21were the quickest way to Hobart town.
36:24It just launched them off the rocks there.
36:26Yeah.
36:27So no jetty just straight off the rocks.
36:29No there was no jetty.
36:31Judy is Ralph Dodge's great granddaughter.
36:34The amateur historian is giving Hannah a guided tour of his life and times in what's now the
36:40vibrant little town of Dodge's Ferry.
36:42This ferry service may actually have originally been...
36:46For the purpose of the mile.
36:48Yeah.
36:50When entrepreneur Ralph later headquartered his postal service at Culton River his ferries were
36:56a vital link to the outside world.
36:58Especially for the convicts craving news at nearby Port Arthur.
37:03It's amazing to think of the content that would have been in the mail that he was carrying
37:08around.
37:09That's right.
37:09Through to Port Arthur.
37:11And to think for those inmates the letters would have been everything for them.
37:16Yeah.
37:16You know there were no smart phones.
37:18No.
37:18No TVs or radios.
37:20They'd wait for that mail to arrive wouldn't they?
37:25Ralph and wife Charlotte are buried and commemorated at the Culton River Cemetery.
37:30They raised 11 children as Ralph built his enterprises and legacy that left an indelible impact on the
37:37community and the times.
37:38I think he loved life.
37:41Yeah.
37:41Lived life to the full and just loved where he lived on the banks of the Carlton.
37:47Yeah.
37:47There in the old post office.
37:49Yes.
37:50And it's wonderful to think it's still there.
37:53You've done such a wonderful job of recording it.
37:57Of course.
37:58Personally I've been very grateful for your curiosity.
38:02As I've tried to piece together things about post office and who's been associated with
38:08it, who's lived there and what their stories have been.
38:11Well it's really lovely to know that people are interested and it's going to last and be carried forward after
38:20I'm gone.
38:22Everyone knows the story and that's great.
38:25Yeah.
38:33Uh oh.
38:35Stu's shuttled down from Hobart to join Hannah on site.
38:38So something big has gone very, very pear shaped.
38:42That is not what we expected.
38:46Far out.
38:47That doesn't look much like the sample that we went through, does it?
38:50It doesn't even resemble it.
38:52Oh my God.
38:53All these bits of colour, there's so much more colour in it.
38:56It's so busy.
38:58The tiles have been laid in the new internal bathroom and it's a shock.
39:03How can the tiles be so different?
39:06Can we take these down?
39:08Hannah ordered these from a small sample that really didn't display the full riotous pattern.
39:15Really wanted it to be like a kind of calm space and kind of really soothing and this just feels
39:24sort of wild and hectic.
39:27Yeah, far too busy.
39:28But the tiles have been fixed over expensive heating and waterproofing.
39:32That doesn't seem to be an easy solution.
39:35If we pull the tiles off, we have the plastering, waterproofing, everything, everything has to be redone.
39:44Yeah, we're really going to have to weigh up our options.
39:46This is going to throw things out.
39:48Yeah.
39:48It's going to push everything back.
39:51So, they've got a new room disaster, an old room that's proving near impossible to fix.
39:58Look, we've come this far and this is the first, what, the first major headache, like real headache we've had.
40:02You're right.
40:03And still hanging in the balance, the all important occupancy clearance.
40:08I guess that goal, that all important goal of the certificate of substantive compliance, getting everything ticked so that we
40:16can actually legally be staying there was kind of a big deal.
40:20And now I feel like that's in a little bit of jeopardy.
40:24Like I just, I don't know if we will be held up by this.
40:35But the show must go on.
40:38What did you, have you done yellow again?
40:40Already.
40:40I'm going up and across.
40:42Okay.
40:43And so does the paint.
40:45Where's my spray?
40:48A traditional lime wash finish for the interior plaster.
40:52Cracking the right colour falls to expert Christine.
40:56When the lime is wet, it's translucent.
40:59So you can see here like how much pigment there is in that, like it's really dark colour.
41:04And then when it goes on the wall, the lime starts to dry and comes back into play in the
41:10mix of colour.
41:11The application of it falls to designer Claire.
41:14So we're working in the kitchen and we're drawing some inspiration from an original remnant.
41:21We want to pick that tone.
41:23Christine has such an excellent understanding of the natural materials and the chemistry of it all.
41:30And Claire has the most incredible application techniques.
41:35So together they do make a little bit of a paint dream team.
41:39I trust them completely.
41:40I know that whatever they make is going to be really beautiful.
41:43Okay, what am I going with next?
41:45Yellow and brown, but just a bit more yellow than brown.
41:49The Heritage Grant has made specific provision for this colour work.
41:53Christine, Claire and Hannah are utterly focused on getting it right.
41:58So we remixed the colours.
41:59Remixed the colours for this wall.
42:01The same colours, but just blended between them.
42:03So they're all starting to come a little bit closer to each other.
42:06The girls have been experimenting with different pigments and strengths and dilutions.
42:11And now we're just waiting for that to all kind of settle in on the walls so that we can
42:15decide where to go from here.
42:17As the paint team chase the colour they think will best reflect the original,
42:21and Hannah wrestles with the unresolved problems of the renovation,
42:26the rolling momentum of tradies and tasks continues.
42:37And that includes a return performance by Warwick the stonemason.
42:42He's fashioning a signature piece of heft and beauty
42:45that'll leave no doubt about the origins of this remarkable,
42:49much-loved little building by the river.
42:52It is rewarding. It's a patience game.
42:56Anything that's hand-carved is rewarding to do.
43:00So, I mean, I'm grateful for the opportunity to do this
43:04because it's going to be there for a long time.
43:11It will need to be.
43:14History's been made here. The river is.
43:17Look at that.
43:18The stone step will house and protect the time capsule.
43:22This'll be it. You'd better say goodbye now
43:24because it's going in there for who knows how long.
43:28Hopefully its discoverer won't dismiss it as an ancient leg
43:32of redundant plastic plumbing and fail to look inside.
43:36So, just walk your end in a little bit.
43:38That's it. Keep going.
43:40In any event, it's a fitting parcel for an old-fashioned post office.
43:44A secret gift sent from today to a long-distant tomorrow.
43:50That's it. Perfect.
43:51Well done, mate. You got it done.
43:53Nice one too.
43:54Nice one. Thanks.
43:54Excellent.
43:55Well done, gang.
43:56That looks super.
43:57Yeah, it looks great.
44:21It's very pretty and a pretty comfortable drive these days to Colton River.
44:27But, back in the day, getting the mail in and out would have been a real saddle sore odyssey
44:34through Tassie's seasonal punishments.
44:37Wind and rain and heat and flies.
44:41Hannah and Stu have weathered their own challenges.
44:44Some of them pretty punishing.
44:47But, they've finally got their little waterside relic into showable shape.
44:51I have to say, it feels a little bit like I'm about to open an old-fashioned letter
44:55from a dear old friend, full of news and details and a few surprises.
45:22Oh, so pretty.
45:33There they are.
45:34Anthony.
45:35Hi, Stu.
45:36Hey, Hannah.
45:36How are you going?
45:37Good to see you.
45:39This looks beautiful.
45:42Yeah?
45:42You both look perfect standing in front of this beautiful home you've created here.
45:46Ah, thanks.
45:47We had to do it justice.
45:48Yeah, well, I think, I mean, standing here, it certainly looks like you have.
45:51The chimney, the pointing, the sandstone was worth the trouble, wasn't it?
45:55Oh, yeah.
45:56Absolutely.
45:56Yeah.
45:56Warwick's done a gorgeous job with all of the stoneware.
45:59Brilliant.
45:59I mean, and then the garden too.
46:01You know, it's just a little picture of heritage Tasmania, isn't it?
46:04That's right.
46:05We've had a couple of garden beds landscaped in and planted out just before Christmas and
46:09they've settled in really well.
46:10Okay.
46:11Did you plan to have so many butterflies here today?
46:13That was a happy coincidence.
46:15Okay, nice.
46:16But I can tell you they're here most days.
46:18They're obviously very happy.
46:19I can see them everywhere.
46:20Yeah.
46:21Yeah.
46:22So you've got the garden, the house, the stone, and then of course the big thing was
46:27sort of the lime render.
46:28Yes.
46:29Which is looking super crisp.
46:30Oh, yeah.
46:31Yeah.
46:31We're really pleased with how that came up.
46:34Yeah.
46:34You'll notice we missed a patch.
46:36I was going to say, you missed a bit.
46:37Yeah.
46:37Which was the original sample.
46:40So that's original render from the 1840s.
46:43Great.
46:43It was under perspex, so we've just stripped that off and that's really all we've done there.
46:47Excellent, excellent.
46:47You really have booked into the history really beautifully here, haven't you?
46:51You've got, you know, the carving in the stone up there, one down by the front there.
46:54So you've got the story here now.
46:56We have.
46:56And actually we just recently got our certificate of occupancy, which is just such a massive relief.
47:02It's been a long time coming and working towards that.
47:04So our illegal ruin is now a liveable home.
47:09Whew.
47:10Yes.
47:11Big sigh relief.
47:11So it's pretty.
47:12It's thoughtful.
47:13It's inviting.
47:14There's a beautiful chimney.
47:15There's a beautifully framed front door.
47:17I want to see inside.
47:18Let's go.
47:19Great.
47:21Let's go.
47:35Wow.
47:36What a resurrection this is, hey?
47:37You think so?
47:38You were very worried the last time we were in this room.
47:41I think you used the word terrible.
47:43I did and I was.
47:44I was worried.
47:45I was worried then.
47:46Yeah?
47:47Okay.
47:47I'm sorry I kind of pumped it up for you.
47:49But I see what you've done here.
47:51Introducing that ceiling plane, hiding all of that yuckiness.
47:55Normally I would hate a flat plasterboard ceiling.
47:58Boring, boring, boring.
47:59Like it just does nothing for a room most of the time in my opinion.
48:03But in here, it kind of sets off all of this texture around it.
48:06So you kind of needed that framing in a way, I think.
48:10Yeah.
48:10So that's very clever.
48:11Yeah.
48:11Well, practical.
48:12The walls continue to wear their years prominently and unapologetically beneath their lime wash
48:19finish.
48:20The crumbling, unstable mortar has been stabilised using a variation of art curator Stefano's glue
48:27and filler recipe.
48:29The resin and the acrylic adhesive have really made it very solid.
48:33Like this was all just falling away before.
48:36Great result.
48:37That pointing on the stone, now the inside version of that, you know, that's a hero.
48:42It's always a beautiful feature in the room, a beautiful hero wall to look at.
48:46All the texture, all the sort of patterning is in there.
48:49Like that's a beautiful story.
48:51Yeah.
48:51Yeah.
48:52Gone are the little dots of light with natural light coming in through the stone.
48:56Yeah, you can no longer see the sky.
48:56You can see the sky and the cobwebs and no, he's tightened it up really well.
49:00Yeah.
49:00I do think getting rid of the holes was a master stroke.
49:02That's really well done.
49:09All right, this is Christine and Claire's masterpiece, isn't it?
49:13Next door, the painting dream team has got the kitchen glowing.
49:17What you were after, of course, wasn't some kind of pristine paint finish.
49:21It was that kind of natural, organic colour, but also with all of that sort of patina and
49:27wear and time embedded in it somehow.
49:29Yeah, that's right.
49:29That appearance of age.
49:30Yeah.
49:31And look, I was a little bit worried it was going to feel a little bit like a, like a
49:35heritage
49:35stage set.
49:36You know, too much, a bit like a movie set or something, you know, you've kind of gone
49:40a bit fine.
49:40But it doesn't feel like that at all.
49:41No, it doesn't.
49:42I think it's kind of settled right back in.
49:45Those rustic split timber walls should be the star attraction in the neighbouring bedroom.
49:50But it's hard not to be distracted by this.
49:54What is going on over there?
49:55The bathtub.
49:57Do you like it?
50:00I don't know what to say, actually.
50:02Look at this thing.
50:04Yeah, it was too big for the bathroom, right?
50:05So it had to go somewhere else.
50:06And this is the illogical, illogical place.
50:08Once you put the new windows in, which we love, the view needs to be enjoyed.
50:12So why not from a bath?
50:13Why not from a bath?
50:14Why not from a gold bath?
50:14It's spectacular.
50:16It is.
50:17It is.
50:17It really is.
50:23Downstairs, in the actual bathroom, those eye-watering tiles that caused a stir late in proceedings
50:29are staying.
50:31After everything else went into the bathroom, we've sort of, I don't know, adjusted to them.
50:36It was just too expensive to tear them out and re-tile, not to mention disruptive.
50:42But once all these luxe bathroom fittings took their place, the tiles relaxed a little.
50:47They're not so confronting, after all.
50:51But in the end, these are the wall treatments that are going to leave the biggest impression.
50:56Wartime Postmaster Ken Nicholl's pencil caricatures, made stable and sharp again by art curator
51:03Stefano, in what's now a snug and comfortable downstairs dining room.
51:08And this is what this room's all about.
51:09Yeah.
51:09And these are just marvellous, aren't they?
51:12They're beautiful.
51:12They are beautiful.
51:14And to see them without that sort of acrylic covering and, you know, now back in the room,
51:18so to speak, rather than behind a frame.
51:20That's right.
51:20And all those screws and bolts and cracks, like he's just tidied it all up so nicely.
51:25Yeah.
51:26And if anything, they are more alive now than I've ever seen them, you know?
51:31Yeah, absolutely.
51:31And sturdier as well.
51:32I mean, they're solid now.
51:33They are rock solid.
51:34They're falling apart every day.
51:35Yeah.
51:36Constantly losing bits of them.
51:37And what Stefano's managed to do is just, yeah, preserve them and, yeah, like you said,
51:41bring them back to life and they're the real star of the room.
51:43Actually, it's a really unique experience to work with a conservator
51:48and someone who spends their time thinking about this sort of detail.
51:53So you're very lucky to have had that as part of this whole project.
51:56Yeah, we are.
51:57Yeah.
51:57Very fortunate.
51:58I think so too.
52:02The faded characters and the faded character of this storied little post office
52:07have been brought back into sharper focus,
52:10as has the connection to its spectacular setting.
52:14This is just beautiful down here, isn't it?
52:17Yeah, it's a great spot to come down and relax.
52:19Yeah.
52:19It's just a calm place for me.
52:22It's actually really exciting just showing it to people.
52:25Really enjoyed showing it to other photographers actually.
52:28Aha.
52:29And seeing their reaction.
52:31It's, you know, it's just, it's like a photographer's dream really.
52:34And you gave yourself four months to do it in.
52:37What are we, five months now?
52:39Yeah.
52:39Yeah, pretty much right on five months.
52:41So you kind of just, you just tipped over, which is pretty good.
52:43Yeah.
52:43Yeah, it's true.
52:44So for everyone sitting at home going, oh, you know, these projects, they always go over.
52:48What's the secret?
52:49What did you do?
52:50Do you think that was different to kind of really bring it in so close to time?
52:53Honestly?
52:54Yeah.
52:54I think the secret is buy an extremely complex property.
52:58You have years of planning so that by the time you press go, you're so ready.
53:05Okay.
53:05Yeah.
53:06To be honest, I thought there was no way you were going to get it in anywhere near four months.
53:10Mainly because a building like that in the state that it was in seemed to be hiding so much.
53:15Yeah, we expected that to be uncovering some disasters, but we sort of didn't really at all, did we?
53:21We didn't really uncover any disasters.
53:22Yeah.
53:23No, which is great.
53:25Well, count that blessing.
53:25Yeah.
53:25Which brings me to money.
53:27Yes.
53:28So?
53:29Yep.
53:31Anthony, you're never going to believe it.
53:33We went over the budget.
53:34I'm shocked.
53:35Yeah.
53:37So you had what?
53:38400,000 as your target budget.
53:40Yeah.
53:40Where did you actually end up?
53:41We ended up just a tick over 500.
53:44Okay.
53:44So let's call it 20%.
53:4520%.
53:46Yeah.
53:46I could have imagined that budget going even further because every little piece has had its own evolution.
53:53The extra cost around that conservancy, that's a special experience, but it's also something
53:58that most people would say, you know, I can't afford that.
54:01Really, when we first looked at the house, I think the moment that we saw those drawings
54:07was the moment I kind of fell in love with the whole thing.
54:10Yeah.
54:10If we decided just to forego the drawings, I don't think we would have forgiven ourselves.
54:14Just so much character.
54:17It's a funny thing, old buildings.
54:19People seem to just fall in love with them.
54:21And if you're one of those people that that happens to, and you feel that passion,
54:25then you should use that energy for good, I think.
54:28Yeah.
54:28And if you can kind of give a building a new life and kind of protect something that has,
54:36is an important part of the community, then that's pretty special.
54:41Yeah.
54:41Well, I want to say congratulations.
54:43It's a very beautiful project, but the way you've done it too, with such a kind of altruism,
54:49yes, but I think kind of the right spirit of a project like this, that shows in every
54:55fibre of that building.
54:56It's brilliant.
54:57Thanks.
54:59It's really lovely.
55:09Hey!
55:11Nearly got the moment over there.
55:16It's fantastic.
55:18It's fantastic that that is all there over the top of this timber.
55:23Thank you all for coming.
55:25I'm so glad that you could all join us.
55:27Every single one of you has had an incredibly special role in this journey that we've been
55:33on.
55:34It's just the perfect moment to celebrate with you all.
55:37To the post house!
55:39Yay!
55:40Yay!
55:44Hannah and Stu set out to save this neglected old functionary building, amplify its heritage,
55:50features and quirks, and somehow transform it into a comfy getaway.
55:55But they also wanted to turn it into a time machine that would transport their boys back
56:01to an idyllic era of carefree outdoor holiday fun.
56:06So the old post offices spun and spiralled in time and landed exactly where they wanted it to be.
56:14At the heart of their family's future and anchored happily in its rich past.
56:19Thanks for joining us.
56:30Yras yet to be found!
56:31Thanks for joining us today.
56:32Thank you!
56:33Thanks for joining us!
56:49We liked coffee, it's
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