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Restoration Australia Season 8 Episode 3
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00:04For those chasing a bush getaway, the idealised image of country life is of a laid back simpler
00:11existence, communing with nature and dialling back the stress. It might work out that way for
00:17some, but not if your plan is to take on a very stern and cavernous old building, a beloved icon
00:24at the heart of a tight-knit country town, and transform it from a place of worship and
00:30refuge into a cosy family home and fashionable function centre. It's sure to be life-changing,
00:37but in unexpected ways.
00:47I'm Anthony Burke, a professor of architecture, passionate about buildings of the past.
00:52This is incredibly impressive.
00:55And what they can tell us about better ways to live in the future.
00:59This is very confronting. It's a ruin.
01:01It is.
01:02Join me as I travel the country, meeting homeowners embarking on the challenge of a lifetime.
01:07What's in there?
01:08Restoring homes from the 1800s to the swinging 60s.
01:12Looking to balance our rich cultural heritage with life in modern Australia.
01:29Surrey Hills, on the southern edge of Sydney's CBD, is a busy network of narrow streets and
01:35laneways. Cool cafes, snazzy bars and compact urban living. It can be gritty in parts and elegant
01:43in others. It is, after all, Sydney's fashion heartland. The rag trade has been buzzing here
01:50for more than a century, and Rachel Hunt is right in the thick of it.
01:55We were leaning towards the greens, but the pinks, obviously hot pinks, been selling really well.
02:00Yeah, I feel like this is nice.
02:02Rachel is the fabric manager for a major Australian fashion brand.
02:06We've got these options.
02:08Pouring over swatches and bolts of high-end material, helping to put together standout seasonal
02:15style.
02:16It is a fun job. I get to travel, so we go to Europe to visit the mills and source
02:20fabrics.
02:21So, I've been to Italy and Paris and London and all over, so I'm pretty lucky to be able
02:27to travel as part of my job.
02:30And I always use a lot of buttercream.
02:32When she's not shopping for a living, she's baking for a cause.
02:36There's some lovely charities that make cakes for sick kids, so I've started doing that,
02:41which is really fun.
02:44Rachel's a small-scale cake maker, often popping out cupcakes and delectable goodies for fundraisers
02:50and charitable events.
02:52Making anything look pretty at the end is, I think, the fun part.
02:57But inside this pocket-sized, relentlessly creative urban stylista is a country girl, dreaming
03:05of horses and farmyard creatures on a simple slice of rural peace and quiet.
03:10My vision was maybe 100 acres, just me out in the country with a cottage. I thought, I'll
03:17get a pony, maybe eventually some highland cows because they look really cute. Some chickens,
03:23you know, have my own eggs, have a little country life. And now I've got a convent.
03:30She's got a what? Yep, you heard it right. A convent.
03:37The whole time it just felt totally normal to be buying a convent. Nothing about it felt
03:43odd. It just felt like, alright, this is just happening, that's it.
03:48Sorry, how did someone who buys very purposefully and particularly for a living set off to buy
03:54a farm with chook runs and horseback trails and end up buying an enormous nunnery in the
03:59middle of a town called Boorowa, 90 minutes north of Canberra.
04:04One day at work, one of my friends came up and said, I've found the convent in Boorowa's
04:11for sale. And I said, what? What convent? What is that? And I brought Mum and Dad down
04:17and we had a look. We came down to Boorowa for the day. And they loved it. And eventually
04:23everyone else did too. It was very different to what I wanted, but I fell in love with more
04:29the history of it and what it can be. So yeah, I bought it in the end for $625,000.
04:37Now everyone's
04:38talked me into buying it. They have to actually be here and help me fix it.
04:43The can-do squad, family and friends has already been pressed into service, ripping up old carpets
04:50and paving the way for the changes she has in mind. Rachel wants to turn the old convent
04:56into a hybrid country home and function centre. Weddings, parties, anything. Not sure the nuns
05:03would approve, but the convent might. The adaptive reuse of old buildings is often the only way
05:09they can be rescued from a deteriorating spiral. Everyone that's been helping, they're all
05:15pretty handy. Like all my friends are creatives, so art directors, photographers, graphic designers,
05:21things like that. So they're helping with the pretty side of everything. But in terms of practical
05:26size, I've got a lot of uncles that are all handymen that are just, you know, good at general
05:31jobs. And for the big tasks, so electricity, plumbing, I've got actual trades. I'm really
05:37lucky. It's a gorgeous building and it's going to be amazing when I'm finished with it.
05:47Hi, Rachel.
05:48Hi, Anthony.
05:49How are you?
05:50Good. Welcome.
05:51Thank you very much. This is so impressive.
05:54It's big. Yeah, especially compared to me.
05:57It's giant for you. It's big for anybody. This is brilliant. So we're actually in the
06:02Catholic triangle, really, aren't we?
06:04Yes.
06:04The convent, the school and St Patrick's over there, which is beautiful.
06:08Yes, it's a lovely church. We have the same fence, so I'm thinking we were done around
06:11the same time. First stone laid in 1884 and then opened in 1885. So this was the Sisters
06:19of Mercy convent for St Joseph's School. So the nuns lived here and taught at the school.
06:25So it's a really important building in the town.
06:27I think so. Yeah, hopefully I can do it justice.
06:29Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure.
06:31I think everyone's just excited that someone's finally taken it on and is going to look after
06:35it and bring it back to life.
06:37Brilliant. There's so many different styles going on in here, too.
06:40It looks like it's had a, well, maybe a bit of a confused architectural history.
06:45Bits and pieces. It's a bit Victorian, a bit Gothic, and there's lots of faux finishes
06:50that sort of relate to the arts and crafts era. And the veranda that you see, the big brick
06:57veranda, was added in 1938. I'd love to knock the veranda down and put the old Victorian one
07:03back on, but that's not going to happen.
07:05Right.
07:05Budget-wise and heritage listing constraints.
07:08OK.
07:10So we're not even in the front door and budget constraints are already dramatically shaping
07:16what's doable and undoable. This enormous building looks like it could gobble up a huge bundle
07:22of money without even trying.
07:25It's massive.
07:26I know. Welcome.
07:27Ring-a-ding.
07:31Fantastic.
07:33The whole place feels so over-scaled, of course.
07:36Yes, it's huge in here. Very tall ceilings.
07:3916 foot, I think.
07:40We're already looking up to God.
07:42We are, yes.
07:43Yeah.
07:43When you imagine the tiny little nuns running around, it feels even bigger.
07:48It does, right?
07:49And when we took down all the wallpaper in here, we realised that was where the original
07:53font was for Holy Water.
07:55Every house needs a font.
07:56It does, yes.
07:57Yes, praise be.
08:00As you might suspect, the scale and volume inside is dramatic from the get-go.
08:06This is amazing.
08:07Yeah.
08:07And when you've got well over a dozen rooms to account for, you can either number them
08:13or name them.
08:14This is what I'm calling my waratah room.
08:16Oh, nice.
08:18I'm lucky enough to have this gorgeous pattern still all intact in my ceiling.
08:22This is beautiful.
08:23Yeah, it is.
08:25Are you sure this is the original ceiling?
08:27It looks it a bit.
08:29It looks it, but I mean, those waratahs up there, it's very early, this is 1885.
08:34Yes.
08:34To have Australian flora, you know, in the plaster work to that level of detail and commitment.
08:39That sort of came in a bit more like Federation about 20 years later.
08:43Right.
08:43Yeah, yeah.
08:44But it's really beautiful.
08:45Yeah.
08:46So well done.
08:47Yeah.
08:47I'm just glad it's not falling down.
08:51The timber work is extensive and so is what's known as faux bois.
08:57It's a paint finish imitating wood and its grain and it's everywhere.
09:02I feel like if they had it from the beginning, it would have been done in a much more careful
09:08way.
09:08Yeah.
09:08I'm so happy to get rid of it.
09:10It was obviously done for a reason.
09:12Yeah.
09:12Maybe to cover up all those disparate types of timbers and things that looked a bit hodgepodge.
09:17Yes.
09:17So it was a uniting type of finish.
09:20Yeah.
09:20So by getting rid of it, well, let's see.
09:22A quick beeline upstairs takes us through an array of eras.
09:28Bit of arts and crafts.
09:30Yep.
09:30Bit of everything.
09:32Something for everyone, that's for sure.
09:35To an array of what were originally large bedrooms cleaved into smaller sleeping spaces.
09:42So this is where the nuns slept, their quarters.
09:45Each room had a tiny little wardrobe built into the corner for just their few possessions.
09:50Yes.
09:51But they got ripped out straight away.
09:52Right.
09:53Gone?
09:53Gone.
09:54Uh-huh.
09:55What was once an open veranda with sweeping district views was closed and commandeered for
10:00yet more nun space.
10:02At the moment it's that mottled glass but I would like it to be clear because behind
10:07here it looks over across Borua River and out onto farmland.
10:13So it's quite a nice little view.
10:14So ideally we want to be able to look out there.
10:17But the most striking view from up here on the second floor is available from the convent's
10:23quirkiest room.
10:24That's a magic view right there isn't it?
10:27It's amazing.
10:28Beautiful.
10:28You know the weirdest room in the house has the best view.
10:31Yes it does.
10:32That's beautiful.
10:33From on high, the remarkable little chapel.
10:37And from back down on the ground floor...
10:40Here's the party chapel.
10:43Wow.
10:44Oh my lord.
10:47It's all about the glorious ceiling and the space it crowns.
10:51This is incredible.
10:53Yeah.
10:53Hallelujah.
10:56No really this is so spectacular.
10:59What an amazing space to have and it's your chapel.
11:02It's all mine.
11:03My chapel.
11:03Yep.
11:04With all this dizzying headroom here, the challenge for Rachel will be to keep her head out of the
11:10clouds and her feet planted firmly on the ground.
11:13What's the most practical, possible and affordable way to turn this enormous building into a comfy,
11:21stylish home?
11:23Well, a big, unavoidable chore lies down below.
11:27The convent has subsidence in a key corner of its lunking footprint and that will mean
11:32excavation, lifting and underpinning.
11:35Sounds expensive.
11:37Inside, on the ground floor, Rachel's planning a kitchen makeover that will include a butler's
11:42pantry.
11:42There will be some repurposing of spaces with a sitting room and a dining room out front
11:47and some internal wall reconfigurations that will help with flow, particularly through
11:52to the chapel, which will await its fate until stage 2, somewhere down the track along with
11:58some other rooms down here.
12:00Upstairs, the warren of bedrooms created to accommodate Buruwa's one-time nun boom will
12:06be decluttered into more substantial bedroom spaces.
12:10There will be a study and a major revamp of the ablution areas into a modern bathroom,
12:15powder room and separate toilet.
12:17New windows will take advantage of the view from the sunroom.
12:21So, relatively modest ambitions for this grand structure, but who knows what tricks and
12:27tripwires lurk in its deepest, darkest spaces.
12:32This is quite an undertaking.
12:34Yeah.
12:36Two floors, eight rooms, two reception rooms, a kitchen, diner and one chapel.
12:42And one Rachel.
12:44And one Rachel.
12:46Okay.
12:46I'm pretty solid though.
12:47Yeah.
12:48I love getting in here and doing everything.
12:50It's great.
12:51Yeah.
12:52The other thing I guess is that you're relying a lot on the team.
12:56Yes, yes.
12:56And how confident are we about your father, your brother-in-law, your brother-in-law, your
13:01friends, your mum?
13:03Everyone's loved being here so far.
13:05We've camped out.
13:06We've ripped out carpets.
13:08We've started, you know, filling and chipping off plaster and it's fun for everyone.
13:13And everyone's been excited to be a part of it so far.
13:16I think you're setting yourself up for a really interesting challenge.
13:19Yes.
13:19Because A, it's your home to a degree.
13:22Yeah.
13:22But it's also a venue.
13:24Yes.
13:24Which brings with it all sorts of different kind of issues and constraints and, you know,
13:29requirements, et cetera.
13:31Yeah.
13:31Have you thought much about that?
13:32Things like, you know, universal access, for example.
13:36Have you thought about things like fire code?
13:37At the moment, we're focusing on it just being a residence and with making sure that
13:45we allow time and space for those things once it potentially becomes a commercial property.
13:50Okay.
13:51So we have to think of this really in a few stages, don't we?
13:53Yes.
13:54And how long is it going to take for you to finish in your terms?
13:57Phase one.
13:58Definitely by April next year.
14:00That's my birthday.
14:00And that's when ideally I'd like to have the first big party down here.
14:04Okay.
14:05So we're sort of 10 months away.
14:06Yeah.
14:06Yeah.
14:07What's your budget like?
14:08I've got about 200,000 to renovate it and fix it up.
14:13So 200,000, that's it.
14:15Phase one, done.
14:17Phase one, done.
14:18Then we'll regroup and see what needs to be done after that.
14:22Right.
14:23Well, I'm incredibly impressed with the, you know, the aspiration for the place and also
14:27the way that you've involved your family as the team.
14:30Yes.
14:30You know, I do think you want to get those commitments on paper.
14:33Get it signed.
14:34Yeah.
14:35Because it is enormous.
14:36That's my one real concern is, you know, it's just a lot of acreage.
14:40Yeah.
14:40You know?
14:41Yeah.
14:42I can't wait to see what you're going to do with it though.
14:44I can't wait to show you.
14:45Brilliant.
14:50There's no doubting Rachel's eye for style and detail.
14:53A successful career in the rag trade is testament to that.
14:57But helping to develop fashion ranges and stay ahead of trends and capture the latest
15:02look is one thing.
15:04Remodelling a giant 19th century country convent is another.
15:09You're not going to see this dour face on the cover of a glossy fashion mag.
15:13The budget is tiny.
15:15The country city divide is vast.
15:17This is a huge test and it's going to be fascinating to watch.
15:29It's the biggest time of the year, bar none.
15:32When the little town of Boorawa goes boom.
15:42What started out a couple of decades ago as a week-long festival of fleece is now jam-packed
15:48into a weekend Woolapalooza.
15:50A celebration of sheep called Woolfest.
15:53Irish Woolfest, actually, in a nod to Boorawa's foundational links.
15:58First Woolfest here in Boorawa.
16:01It was so much fun.
16:01It's such a good vibe.
16:03Everyone's so happy.
16:04There's music.
16:05Everyone's having a great time.
16:06It's like lots of country people out for the day just enjoying the town.
16:12It's so nice.
16:13The population just about doubles for the music and dancing and the country tucker.
16:21And when the parades of tractors and locals finally pass by, it's time for the headline
16:29act.
16:31Hey, here they come.
16:33Boorawa's ovine answer to the running of the bulls.
16:37Who's going to win?
16:38The running of the sheep.
16:40The sheep are so fast.
16:42It's like blinking you with it.
16:43But it's been such a great day.
16:45There's so many great people from the community out.
16:48It's just lovely to meet everyone.
16:49Everyone's so happy to have a yarn and tell you their stories.
16:53It's great.
16:54I love it.
16:56And among the crowds jamming the little town, plenty of locals keen to know what's going
17:01on with the other big show in town, the restoration of the convent.
17:06I will have it as a venue eventually, but I'm going to fix it up, make it all nice.
17:10So, yeah.
17:11How many rooms?
17:12Oh, it'll be about five when I finish because there's sort of seven or eight now, but they're
17:18all tiny little rooms because the nuns just had little...
17:22Would have been very cold in there.
17:24Cold and miserable, I reckon.
17:32Hey, Rach.
17:34Have tools.
17:35We'll travel.
17:36It's not just Woolfest that can pull a crown.
17:39Hello.
17:39Hi, sweetheart.
17:40Thanks for coming.
17:43Good-bye, darling.
17:44Rachel's mustered a bunch of family and friends to crack on with some of the knockabout jobs
17:49at the convent in what she hopes is a regular series of working bees.
17:53Hello.
17:54How are you going?
18:00For a bunch of relative amateurs, the bee gets buzzing pretty effectively.
18:05Good thing I'm not scared of heights.
18:07It's probably my first time up the ladder.
18:10Rachel's mum, Robyn, is designated wall sander.
18:13I love sanding and painting anything.
18:16It's not in any of us to waste time with a long-term project.
18:21We're keen to get it finished.
18:24Family friend Alison is chief door stripper.
18:27It's actually fun.
18:29It's interesting.
18:30And Rachel is very switched on with what she wants.
18:35And I trust every decision she makes.
18:38But as long as she needs us, we will come down.
18:43Rachel just lets us know.
18:44And we come down.
18:46There?
18:47All the way.
18:48All the way, sweetie.
18:50Alison's husband, Malcolm, Rachel's dad, Ian, and her tradie brother-in-law, Darren, are
18:56team staircase.
18:58Darren is very meticulous in his work.
19:01And he also enjoys it.
19:03It's hard to keep him away from being down here.
19:07They're carefully dismantling the balusters so they can be re-engineered and reinstalled.
19:12What we're going to do is retain the original cut through the centre here.
19:18These top and bottom sections, cutting off here and here, will be increased in length and
19:25chamfered to match the new height to be compliant with current standards.
19:31This crew looks pretty dedicated.
19:34It's such an asset to have helpful, reliable volunteers on what is such a daunting project,
19:40especially with that comparatively tiny budget.
19:44Rachel today is very much like Rachel as a five-year-old.
19:50When she was little, she wouldn't keep still.
19:54And now it's fully bloomed into this girl that does a lot of great stuff.
20:00She'll start something and finish it perfectly.
20:04I love her to bits.
20:06She's a beautiful girl.
20:08I'm just going to hurry right in.
20:14It might be a grand building from the outside, but inside, over time, this nunnery became a
20:20maze of cluttered, modest accommodation, quiet, contemplative corners and inexplicable cul-de-sacs.
20:27Rachel wants to get some flow going.
20:30This part of the stairwell isn't original and the landing is actually not up to height code.
20:37So when you walk up the stairs, you feel like you're going to hit your head, even for me, who's
20:41quite short.
20:42So I've decided to take it out.
20:45So we'll basically cut from here.
20:47So this will all be open space and we'll come back to here and this will be angled back this
20:55way.
20:55So it'll create a nice little alcove here.
20:59So the idea is it'll let lots of light out onto the stairwell.
21:03And through this room, we're going to knock through a window to create a walkway through to the bathroom.
21:12So yeah, it should look nice.
21:20Wow.
21:24This was the original back wall of the house.
21:28We've now uncovered the original brick archway that would have been the original window before this was done.
21:36So it's just pretty cool to see it.
21:39Yeah.
21:41Yep.
21:42We're going.
21:43Give it a bell.
21:46Rachel's posse of volunteers isn't afraid to crash through or crash.
21:52Bursting through this windowed wall will create a new thoroughfare, redirecting traffic from the suite of enlarged bedrooms through to
21:59the soon to be renovated and expanded bathroom area.
22:02Straight down.
22:04Preserving useful period pieces in demolition is trickier than it looks.
22:12Here we go.
22:13Alrighty.
22:15This working bee has boasted some solid achievements with at least one dramatic breakthrough and a lovely old window emerges
22:23unbroken and available for service somewhere else.
22:31As loyal and committed as they are, there are some tasks here that are well and truly beyond the elbow
22:37grease and best intentions of Rachel's posse of family and mates.
22:43Summoning a sulking corner of the convent up out of its droop and back on a level footing is definitely
22:48one for the pros.
22:50You know, obviously there's been subsidence.
22:53Operations manager Jamie is leading the lift.
22:5715mm.
22:58That corner's down 15mm.
22:59And normally we lift to what the building can take, but we'll be targeting what the structure allows us to
23:08get without doing any more damage.
23:10Now obviously we've got cracks.
23:12We don't really want to sit there and emphasise on the cracks.
23:15The main priority is stabilisation, but again, this is all dependent on how the building reacts to what we're actually
23:20doing.
23:22Jamie and the team will be using a novel technique to correct the convent's posture.
23:26They'll be drilling under the foundations and injecting a self-inflating structural resin to puff up the sagging corner millimetre
23:35by careful millimetre.
23:37It's essentially like putting a balloon in the ground and blowing that balloon up.
23:41The material that we're pumping in expands 30 times its liquid state.
23:45And what we do is we start off very shallow, directly underneath the foundation.
23:49So when we're injecting and we're trying to contain the point of lift, we're just giving it short shots.
23:55Short shots, you know, for the material to expand and do its thing.
24:00As the team readies for lift off, now's the time for the old convent to confess any secrets that might
24:07affect this delicate and potentially dangerous exercise.
24:11And like the good Catholic it is, it does.
24:15Ooh, okay.
24:18It wouldn't be the convent if there wasn't some drama.
24:21We've just found like a bit of a cavity beneath what's going to be the butler's pantry.
24:26So it looks like it was a cellar, maybe a wine cellar or something back in the day.
24:32But it's messing with the area that they need to inject the resin into.
24:37So we're just problem solving now and we'll figure out what to do.
24:42See that wall there? That's the same common foundation.
24:47Hail Mary.
24:50The team runs through some test drills to recalculate the location and depth of the injection sites.
24:56Nice to meet you, baby.
24:59And it's on.
25:01Steve-o, good to go again?
25:02I'm happy. I'll be even happier once we've got this up.
25:07You're good to go.
25:08Injecting.
25:11Laser monitors log the progress of the lift.
25:18Keep it short like that.
25:20But the secret cellar isn't making things easy.
25:24The different components of this key corner of the convent refuse to lift in unison.
25:29You can see what it's doing.
25:31Yeah.
25:31It's pushing and putting pressure on a single course of brick.
25:34But if we carry on pushing, that falls and collapse.
25:36Then, you know, like, you've now got your foundation exposed.
25:39Yeah.
25:40Okay.
25:41We can go down a little bit deeper.
25:43I'll go down two metres.
25:44We'll just sit there and monitor it and see how we go.
25:47Yeah.
25:48Good to go, Steve-o.
25:50Yeah, good to go.
25:51The team carefully perseveres.
25:54We don't want any movement on that wall again.
25:57So that's why we've gone down below the bottom of it.
26:00So that we're hoping that everything comes up evenly.
26:03We don't want any pressure behind that wall.
26:06Injecting, Steve-o.
26:08Yeah.
26:09Copy that.
26:09Already.
26:11Two more mil, well, if we can get without out moving.
26:15The nice short shots.
26:19On 11 and a half.
26:21We're going to give it another two to three mil.
26:23That there will then put that there at plus 13 mil high.
26:28Out of the 15 mil.
26:30That's pretty good.
26:31That's pretty good.
26:35Thirteen and a half.
26:37That'll do you, mate.
26:38Stop there.
26:43All good down there, Steve-o?
26:45Yeah, all good.
26:46No more movement.
26:48We maybe weren't able to do as much as we wanted with the injections,
26:53but they've got it at a really good point.
26:55The back wall's stable, and that was my main aim in this,
26:59was to make sure that the corner didn't fall any further.
27:02So, yeah, really pleased with today.
27:04All steam ahead from here.
27:06It's great.
27:07We're the free wine cellar.
27:19With the superstructure straightened and sturdy,
27:22the way is now clear for another team of specialised tradies
27:26to tap in and get to it.
27:29The guys are busy upstairs.
27:31The carpenter's here, and they're finishing framing out
27:34all of the ceilings and walls, basically,
27:37so that we can have new tip-rock.
27:39We'll have beautiful walls and ceilings when they're finished.
27:42The window frames in the convent's lofted sunroom were well and truly beyond repair.
27:48A suite of new windows have gone in, in double-quick time,
27:52with clear glass to make the most of those sweeping district views.
27:56Rachel's determined to give the old glass new purpose.
28:00It's that lovely mottled cathedral glass, and all original, but hopefully we'll find a place for it.
28:09Reusing as many original fixtures as possible is a policy that's proving very handy.
28:15We had a window that was in the original stairwell, just a quirky little put-together kind of frame,
28:22and we kept the window in case we could use it.
28:24And sure enough, in the laundry where there's been a frame that was rotted,
28:29where we were trying to just replace the glass,
28:31but the window's too rotted to repair,
28:34and the carpenters have just suggested that window will fit,
28:37or they can make it fit, with a bit of creative carpentry.
28:41So they're just installing it now, which is great.
28:51The convent, the school, and St Patrick's Church are an emphatic presence in Boorawa,
28:56and they represent the Irish and Catholic stamp of authority and influence from colonial times.
29:03This is First Nations Wiradjuri country,
29:06but after a couple of freed Irish convicts
29:09successfully applied their farming backgrounds here in the early 19th century,
29:13scores of Irish immigrants followed and Boorawa took shape.
29:19Rachel's travelled an hour and a half south to Canberra
29:22to find out more about the history of her convent and life within it.
29:26This is the gear.
29:29Oh, yes.
29:30Yes, I have a few pictures of the sisters dressed like this outside the convent.
29:36Yes, right.
29:37Oh, wow.
29:37Okay.
29:38So Mary and I both wore that for a very short time before.
29:41Yes.
29:41Thank you to God.
29:43We were liberated.
29:43And then you could have pants.
29:45Yes.
29:47Now retired and resident in the national capital,
29:50Sisters of Mercy nuns Francis and Mary
29:52know the story of the Boorawa convent very well.
29:55So St Joseph's was only over a small school.
30:00Yes, it still is.
30:02Yes, still small.
30:03Oh, here it is.
30:04Here it is.
30:04Here's Boorawa.
30:05We're talking about 1882 they went to Boorawa.
30:081882.
30:08Wow.
30:09Yep.
30:10And your house wasn't ready for them?
30:11No, I didn't read that.
30:12Until 1884.
30:13Yes.
30:14Yes.
30:14Sister Frances is a keen student of Catholic development in the region
30:18and Sister Mary spent two years' service at the Boorawa convent.
30:22Well, Boorawa was a very Catholic town.
30:25Yes.
30:25Very Irish.
30:26Yes.
30:27Families.
30:28Yes.
30:28So they called it Little Island.
30:29Yeah, wow.
30:30Wow.
30:31In 1880, changes to the way government funded education spurred the Catholic Church to build its own schools.
30:38And the Sisters of Mercy fanned out through the countryside to staff them and teach in them.
30:44They came to Boorawa because the Catholic community in Boorawa asked them to come.
30:49Yes.
30:49Okay.
30:50They wanted teachers to teach in the school.
30:52Their school was floundering.
30:54Yes.
30:54Because there was no money.
30:56So I have here an old map of the grounds, sort of the land, but you know a bit more
31:03about this than I do.
31:04Yeah, so the land for the convent was donated to the parish.
31:09Yes.
31:09By John Nagel Ryan.
31:11This John Ryan was prominent among so many other John Ryans at the time that local history records mail calls
31:19at the post office used to erupt in fights amongst John Ryans waiting for news from Ireland.
31:25Unsurprisingly, benefactor John Ryan was among the dignitaries when the Sisters of Mercy convent was blessed and formally opened in
31:331885.
31:34Lots of people ask me if it's cold in the house and what it's like, is it spooky and I
31:40often wonder what it was like living there.
31:43Well, I was there in 1970.
31:45We'd be up early in the morning to pray, then go to mass and then go to breakfast and then
31:52head off to the playground to do playground duty or be ready for school at the normal hour.
31:59You would have had always something to do, like men's clothes or embroidery or some kind of lace making.
32:06I did find lots of needles and buttons in all the floorboards.
32:11Yes, yeah, yeah.
32:12And then Sunday was mass and then what we call visitations.
32:17We went in pairs to visit people in distress, like someone where there had been a bereavement or someone who
32:23was ill.
32:24Yeah.
32:24It was a way of really inserting ourselves into the life of the community.
32:31Taking their ministry out to the people set the Sisters of Mercy apart from cloistered congregations.
32:36They were called the Walking Nuns.
32:39Walking in pairs was a rule established by the Order's founder, Irish sister, Catherine McCauley.
32:46Time rolled on, church priorities changed and the nuns moved out of the Borowa Convent around 1980.
32:52The building was sold in the 90s.
32:55I loved the children that I taught.
32:59Yeah.
32:59And I still am in contact with a few of them.
33:03Yeah.
33:03They were good years.
33:04Yeah.
33:05And I hope to go back and have a little look.
33:07Yes.
33:07Come and have a party.
33:08Yes.
33:09Please.
33:11That'd be lovely.
33:12Best wishes for the next part of the restoration.
33:15Yes.
33:16Fingers crossed we can get it done before winter sets in again.
33:31Back in Borowa, Rachel's mates and Rellies are keeping their pledge to help where and when they can.
33:38We're scraping back all the layers of old paint.
33:41There's a bit of horsehair plaster on there.
33:44Bits of everything.
33:45So getting that back to just the brick and then I'll keep an exposed brick wall which will
33:49make it kind of cool.
33:52Office mate Chris is putting his muscle where his mouth is.
33:56Well, I guess I like have a little bit to do with this problem seeing as I was the one
34:00that showed Rach the convent on the internet.
34:04So I've made this rod for my own back I think by encouraging this in the first place.
34:09Maybe not the best idea in hindsight but I'm looking forward to when it's all done and I can sit
34:15on the veranda and look out over Borowa.
34:18And all share that moment together but it's going to be a bit of hard work before that happens.
34:25If you could bottle the enthusiasm amongst this entourage of amateurs, you could fill the convent's secret cellar to overflowing.
34:33Rachel keeps her convent circle enthused with cheery encouragement.
34:37Just get that green bit and the yellow bit off.
34:40Perfect!
34:42Yay Lise!
34:46And when they return home, far from the action, she keeps them engaged with tantalising social media updates from the
34:53scene.
34:54Here we go, we're going to open the well, see if there's treasure inside, I doubt it but we'll see.
35:11Ready?
35:16Holy smokes!
35:18This is very deep.
35:20It looks pretty clean in there, maybe we can actually use that to water the garden.
35:29So these are the mood boards for the kitchen and dining.
35:33And in those quieter times, alone amidst the dust.
35:37So sticking to the sort of pinky shades and creams and the emerald greens and the softer greens, keeping in
35:44that kind of Victorian colour palette.
35:47Rachel continues to focus her vision for this makeover much as she might at her fashion desk.
35:53As much work as there still is to do, it's nice to have a bit of a vision so that
35:59you can hold on to that through all of the days of sanding and filling and dust and everything.
36:06It's nice just to go, one day it might look like this.
36:17It's been eerily quiet on the Borua front.
36:20I reckon it's been about 12 months since I last visited and since that time reports have been uncustomarily sketchy.
36:30Rachel's always keen for a chat and to report on developments but it's like the convent project has fallen into
36:36radio silence.
36:37Borua itself has been hit by some recent damaging floods and I suspect that's made progress difficult.
36:45But I suspect something unusual is going on.
36:49I just hope everything's okay.
36:53Turns out, I shouldn't have worried.
36:55Looks like love has blossomed in Borua.
36:59Hi Rachel.
37:00Hi Anthony.
37:01How are you?
37:02I'm great.
37:03I've got news.
37:05You've got some huge news.
37:06I do.
37:07Congratulations.
37:09I've been very busy.
37:11You sure have.
37:12Anthony, this is Tom.
37:13Tom, lovely to meet you.
37:14You too mate.
37:15Congratulations to you too.
37:17Tom and I met doing the project so it's nice that he's a part of it now.
37:22Tom's a local electrician who joined the convent revamped to tackle the extensive wiring upgrade.
37:27What can I say?
37:29Sparks flew and now Rachel's singular vision has become a family affair.
37:34Tom, do you find you're sort of taking over different parts of the project that Rachel's
37:39sort of offloading to you now?
37:40Nah.
37:41I think she's steering the ship still.
37:43Yeah.
37:43We're just finding people together and yeah, that's definitely a team effort.
37:46Yeah, it's nice to have someone to share the load with a bit with the house.
37:52Getting more sets of hands on deck too, that's helping a lot.
37:54Yeah, right.
37:55Yeah.
37:56There's no doubt that a baby on the way will alter priorities and impact timetables.
38:01So the staircase has changed quite a bit since last time you were waking up.
38:06Oh wow.
38:07Yes, absolutely.
38:08What a fantastic space.
38:10Yeah.
38:11We've, you know, before you felt like you were going to hit your head and now we've really
38:14opened it up.
38:16The work and intention around the staircase is evident.
38:19And redefining the flow upstairs has opened up spaces.
38:23I can see that there's some actual, some, not just cosmetic changes going on, there's
38:27some organisational changes.
38:29Yes.
38:29And for me now it's becoming this whole moment of transition from convent to home.
38:33Yeah.
38:34And the rooms are becoming homely.
38:35Yes.
38:36And that's a lovely thing to be thinking through I think.
38:38Yeah.
38:38It's the house now.
38:40A lot of major work, like Tom's total rewiring of the convent, is out of sight.
38:45It's done and dusted.
38:46But I'm still struck by how much still needs to be done.
38:50I'm wondering if it's a two year project which has now become like a ten year project.
38:56I think we joke about that sometimes that we'll never finish.
38:59We hope not.
38:59But yeah.
39:01Yeah.
39:05Rachel, this is a massive change in your life right now.
39:09Yes.
39:09It is, yeah.
39:12So falling in love.
39:13Yes.
39:13Building a house.
39:14Yes.
39:15Yeah.
39:15Having a child.
39:16Yep.
39:17Is this what you imagined?
39:18Not at all, no.
39:20I thought I'd just be down here with my friends at the pub, you know.
39:24Yeah, eventually living down here but still working in the city but that's sort of all changed
39:29at the moment so two weeks left of work, moving down permanently.
39:33That's, again, that's another big change for you.
39:36Yeah.
39:37Yeah.
39:37You seem to be striding through these changes very casually.
39:41Well, yeah, it's all, it's just an adventure.
39:43It all just feels like quite fun and exciting and, you know, just rolling with it and, you
39:50know, Tom and I have a great relationship and, you know, he's been very supportive and,
39:54yeah, it's just fun doing it together and, yeah, doing the house and experiencing life
40:00down here.
40:01It's great.
40:12As you might expect, Rachel's love life is the talk of the convent crew, although Dad
40:17Ian took a while to cotton on.
40:19Rachel turned up one day and she said, oh, the electrician is coming around but not as
40:27an electrician.
40:28And I thought, what other trades does he have?
40:32And, yeah, she gave me that funny look and, of course, then the penny dropped.
40:38And they've been going on like a house on fire ever since.
40:42They're a good little couple.
40:44I think it's lovely.
40:46Mum Robin and her close friend Alison have been the backbone of the support team.
40:51Rachel's new priorities have upped their convent duties and they couldn't be happier.
40:57Cannot wait for this baby.
41:00That news flew around fairly quickly, didn't it?
41:04Yes, it did.
41:06All family members.
41:08Everybody.
41:09Anybody that would listen to us.
41:11And even if you didn't.
41:12And got a phone call.
41:15Rachel's been throwing all her time and energy at the convent.
41:19But now, no matter how much she wants this project done, it's inevitably going to take
41:24a back seat to the bub.
41:27Babies take 99.99% of your attention 110% of the time.
41:32So, whether they think that they're going to get things done in the short term, I think
41:41that they're optimistic if they believe that.
41:45This all started with her wanting a project in the country.
41:49But then here we are.
41:53Here we are.
41:55I guess that's the beauty of life, isn't it?
41:59That you get a surprise along the way.
42:04And so a schedule first framed at 10 months and that rolled on past that flies completely
42:11out of Rachel's freshly reglazed top floor windows.
42:20In fact, a full two years pass before Rachel feels ready to restart in earnest.
42:27And the convent crew reconvenes with its newest member, little Josie.
42:33Yummy salad.
42:35Oh, no.
42:36Don't flick it off.
42:38Yeah, Josie's a live wire.
42:40She knows what she wants and she is quite capable of winding their parent, grandparent,
42:47anyone else who's within Cooey around their little finger.
42:50She needs her hands in everything.
42:52It's part of the dilemma of having her at the house is no power tools are safe.
42:58It's been a long hiatus of sky highs and rock bottom lows.
43:03There is just so many things that go into the equation that have slowed it down.
43:08I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and then not 12 months later diagnosed with bowel cancer.
43:15Since then I've been diagnosed and treated.
43:19We're in remission and going along okay.
43:23Can you hold that for mum?
43:24Yeah.
43:26Cancer of any sort, the word is horrific.
43:29We were very lucky that his treatment went well.
43:33And now I have said to him that's it now for you.
43:37Don't do anything else.
43:39You've done your bit with being ill.
43:41Let's just get on with things.
43:43Getting on with things now means golden time with Josie while mum and dad get back to work.
43:51You're just making the gap bigger.
43:54No, I'm making it easier.
43:57Alright, go for it.
44:00A final concerted effort to turn this convent-cum-country house for one and someday possible reception centre into a
44:09more immediate and appropriate place.
44:11A comfortable family home for three.
44:14We decided we're painting the arcs, right?
44:18No.
44:20We're not painting the arcs?
44:22No, we're leaving them.
44:23To leave the whole house distressed.
44:24We can finish it quicker if it's like that.
44:28Alright, we'll go for the distressed look.
44:32It will be a longer term project, but the thing is that Rachel and Tom have a good vision and
44:39they aim to make the whole convent something that the community will have in this area for years to come.
44:48Only 20 more door frames to go.
45:11Earlier on, I teased Rachel and Tom that their project might take them a decade.
45:18Well, here we are, four years on, and they've invited me down to take a look at what they've achieved
45:24so far.
45:30Emphasis on so far.
45:34Look at this.
45:36Beautiful.
45:37It's all buttoning up.
45:38Hello.
45:39Hello.
45:41Welcome.
45:41Thank you very much.
45:42Come here.
45:43Fantastic picture you're painting here.
45:45This beautiful place.
45:46Yep.
45:47It's been a long time coming.
45:48Yeah.
45:49Finally got it tidy and looking welcoming from down the street.
45:53Yeah.
45:53And got the lights on and Mike from the pub said, I saw the lights.
45:57It looks alive.
45:59So it's very nice to have the support of everyone.
46:01I bet you've got people walking past the front gate all the time.
46:04Yeah.
46:04Dying to come in.
46:05They come in.
46:06Yes.
46:06They just come in and want to have a look and don't understand it's a house.
46:10Yeah.
46:11No.
46:11Right.
46:11Because I know everyone's had eyes on this place.
46:13Yeah.
46:14People ask us all the time, how's it going?
46:16You know, when are you going to be finished?
46:18And we're trying.
46:19Yeah.
46:20We're probably-
46:20Slow and steady.
46:21Probably halfway there.
46:22Not finished.
46:23Not quite finished.
46:24Yeah.
46:24I see.
46:25Hey, so why is that?
46:27Just too big?
46:27Big job.
46:28Big job.
46:29Yeah.
46:30A lot of work.
46:30A lot of work.
46:31Yeah, right.
46:32Okay.
46:32Yeah.
46:33But we'd love to show you what we have done.
46:35Absolutely.
46:35Yeah?
46:36Okay.
46:36Well, why don't you come in and have a look?
46:37Let's have a look.
46:38So, four years and halfway done.
46:41Looks like my predicted timeline might not be too wide of the mark.
46:46But halfway there isn't almost done.
46:49Where precisely are Rachel and Tom in this marathon makeover?
46:55Um.
46:55We do have a light though.
46:57A light?
46:58Yeah.
46:58Does it work?
46:58Yeah, absolutely.
46:59It works, Tom?
46:59Yeah, for sure.
47:01Oh, yeah.
47:02There you go.
47:03Well, at least the cavernous entryway is painted.
47:06A pretty little neutral pinky tone.
47:09Yeah.
47:09And it's called Forever Romance.
47:11Oh.
47:11Which Tom hates it when I bring that up.
47:13But I love that we've settled on a colour called Forever Romance.
47:16That works for me.
47:19Just in this pocket alone, stripping the timber work and blitzing the rampant faux bois, that
47:24mock timber painted treatment, has been arduous.
47:28What did it take?
47:28Months?
47:29Weeks?
47:30Yeah.
47:30Just dragged on.
47:32Yeah.
47:33We had the doors out on work tables and I was doing the doors and Tom was here doing
47:38the frames and, yeah, a bit of a team effort.
47:41I've got this vision of you standing in that door and you standing in this door and you're
47:45both sort of swearing at each other.
47:46That's great.
47:46That's exactly how it went, didn't it?
47:51The Waratah Room has found a new purpose.
47:56This is your new dining room.
47:58Yeah.
47:59It was where the nuns, it was their office, wasn't it?
48:01It was their office and they taught music in here as well.
48:06So it's sort of nice to give it a different purpose.
48:11The dining room is looking the part and those enormous windows are a showpiece.
48:16But eliminating or modifying the faux bois here remains a project for another time.
48:21Yeah, let's have a look.
48:24Across the way, there's an example of how Rachel's had to rethink her original plans.
48:31It probably started more as like a fancy sitting room for me, but now that we're a family,
48:36it kind of has to be like a little family lounge room.
48:39Sure.
48:40Accommodate a little two year old.
48:41Yes.
48:41Yeah, accommodate a two year old.
48:43So I can see you've got a beautiful mantelpiece in here.
48:46That's looking very fresh.
48:47Where did that come from?
48:48That's come from upstairs.
48:50Upstairs.
48:50Yeah.
48:51Okay, so you had to replace the original?
48:53The old one was a little bit damaged, so we thought we'd bring the nice one down here.
48:56Yeah, great.
48:57That looks fantastic.
48:58Yeah.
48:59But you don't have to walk far to see what's still to be done.
49:03And it's a mountain to climb.
49:06So just stick to the side.
49:08It will be finished one day soon.
49:12We just haven't quite gotten to the ballast yet.
49:14Okay, that's a bit precarious.
49:16Want to get that fixed ASAP?
49:17Yes.
49:18There's plenty more light flooding this reorganised stairwell.
49:21The bedrooms upstairs remain very much works in progress.
49:27Still, they're big and bright, and you can sense the grandeur in waiting.
49:32The bathroom.
49:34Yes.
49:35Oh, very nice.
49:36That little powder room.
49:37Great.
49:37All finished up.
49:38Lovely.
49:39Very contemporary in here.
49:43The spartan, unwelcoming facilities the nuns endured through the active life of the convent, and through the grim chill of
49:50Boorawa's cold seasons, have been swept away.
49:53Even the most pious of them would have to admit to at least a little envy here.
49:57Now, this was the corner of the whole house that had the subsidence issues, right?
50:02Yes.
50:03Yeah.
50:03Has that all worked?
50:04Yeah.
50:05We haven't had any further damage.
50:07No.
50:08We haven't filled the cellar in yet, but we may need to do a little bit more.
50:11Another job.
50:12Yeah.
50:13Another job.
50:14So it's working though.
50:15It's working.
50:16All those big cracks, that's all taken care of.
50:18Yeah.
50:19Haven't seen anything since.
50:20No.
50:20And there was an earthquake too.
50:22Nothing happened.
50:22When was the earthquake?
50:24That was a few weeks ago.
50:25It was on the news.
50:26It was on the telly.
50:29And so you survived that, okay?
50:30We survived that and she's still standing.
50:32Still standing.
50:33The suite of new clear windows fill the upstairs sunroom with light and now celebrate that once
50:40hidden outlook across the river and countryside.
50:44Oh, I like this.
50:45I like this.
50:46This is feeling...
50:46But arguably the most spectacular view and most spectacular progress is downstairs.
50:52The kitchen.
50:55Really bright room here.
50:56I'm loving the fact that this is sort of a commitment.
50:59You've made the commitment.
51:00Yes.
51:00The room is looking great.
51:01You can hang your head on this one.
51:03Yes.
51:03Yeah, it's come together beautifully and you know, I never thought we'd have all this.
51:07It's amazing.
51:08Yeah.
51:08I sort of bought the place thinking I wouldn't put too much money into this area though.
51:13Do it a bit rustic and I showed Tom one day photos of sort of dream kitchens and he said,
51:19well, we're doing that.
51:20That's what we're doing.
51:21If that's what you want.
51:22And these lights, Tom, this is your handiwork?
51:25They all, um, all the shades come from the bedrooms upstairs.
51:28Right.
51:28Yep.
51:29And we, um, yeah, made it work in here the best we could.
51:32Yeah.
51:32They look great.
51:33They're so pretty.
51:34Mmm.
51:36We shouldn't be surprised that accomplished baker and committed cook Rachel has put her
51:41heart and soul and energy into the engine room of the house.
51:44It's a classy, functional centrepiece.
51:48But the gloss here only goes to highlight the absence of it still in so much of the convent.
51:55Normally at this stage I'm sitting here saying congratulations on finishing a beautiful project.
52:01But that is not the case here.
52:03Not yet.
52:04Not yet.
52:04I mean, what I am super impressed by though is you seem to be leaning into this more rather
52:09than less.
52:10This behemoth of a project has not broken you.
52:13Not yet.
52:14Not yet.
52:15So how long are you going to keep chipping away at it?
52:19We joke a lot.
52:20It'll be Josie's.
52:21She'll have to finish it.
52:23Yeah, we're just going to pass it on.
52:24Or we joke, you know, maybe we'll be done by the time she starts school or is it high
52:29school or, you know.
52:31Hopefully maybe five years.
52:33Yeah.
52:33We sort of want to put a bit of a timeline on it.
52:35Yeah.
52:36We don't want to be doing it forever but we know there's certain stages that have
52:41to get done.
52:42Bathroom and kitchen are done so it's liveable and we've got those like comfortable areas
52:47now as we sort of look at it in stages of things we want to do.
52:52Yeah.
52:52Heating and some carpet and fixing the veranda upstairs.
52:57At what point do you think it will really feel like your home?
53:02Because it still has a sort of a vibe of a convent around it.
53:05Yeah.
53:05You kind of want it to feel soft and homely and cosy.
53:08Yeah.
53:08Yeah.
53:09I think it's starting to feel like a home already.
53:11Yeah.
53:11But you're living at your parents' place right now aren't you?
53:15Yeah.
53:15Yeah.
53:16So how long until you want to move in here?
53:19We could move.
53:20The only thing is winter.
53:21Tom measured it last winter.
53:23Yeah, I think it was five degrees in the house.
53:25Yeah.
53:26Yeah.
53:26It was a punish.
53:27It was warmer outside than it was inside.
53:29Oh no.
53:31You've always been working on a very limited budget.
53:35Yes.
53:35Like I said, $200,000.
53:36Yeah.
53:36So how much have you spent to this point?
53:39We're nearly at $300.
53:41So with what I had and then with what Tom's put into it and what we've just been
53:45slowly putting into it over the last few years.
53:48I think we need about $50,000 to put in carpet and do the floors and make the veranda upstairs
53:55safe and then probably another $50,000 after that to do heating properly.
54:02Yep.
54:03It's just turned into an expensive hobby.
54:05Yeah.
54:06Yeah.
54:06Yeah.
54:07Yes.
54:07We are smart about it and we aren't putting more into it than what it's worth.
54:12Right.
54:13So I'm not hearing any regrets about buying the place and committing in the first place.
54:17I mean, yeah.
54:18If I didn't buy it, I wouldn't have Tom or Josie.
54:20So there's a lot to be grateful for.
54:22Yeah.
54:23Even the days where you're like sanding and scraping and shivering away because there's
54:28no heating and it's cold and everything's expensive.
54:31Yeah.
54:32It's still been such an adventure.
54:34Definitely.
54:34Yeah.
54:34I've come out here for a job and it's been my most expensive one yet, so.
54:40Yeah.
54:41For you both, this is definitely a life less ordinary.
54:44Yeah.
54:44It's a great adventure you're having.
54:46Yeah.
54:47Yeah.
54:47And it seems like you've got a long, you've got a long road ahead of you.
54:50Yeah.
54:51In the best way and the, yeah, the other way as well.
54:54Yeah.
54:54Yeah.
54:55Yeah.
54:56A long road, but a good road.
54:57Yeah.
54:58Hopefully.
54:58Yeah.
55:00Hello.
55:05Welcome.
55:07Oh, thanks, Mama.
55:11Wow.
55:14Wow.
55:19Wow.
55:20Oh, my goodness.
55:21Oh, my goodness.
55:22Yes!
55:23Look at the tiles.
55:24Oh, Rachie.
55:27It's so Rachel.
55:34All of you have helped in some way, whether it was tiling, painting, getting up ladders
55:39and scaffolds, just moral support telling us we could do it.
55:42It's been wonderful.
55:44So, um, enjoy this evening, have a wine and then back on the tools tomorrow.
55:58They say life's what happens when you're busy making other plans.
56:03And sure enough, Rachael arrived here single and singularly determined to create a weekend
56:09getaway-cum-function centre and ended up with a partner, a baby and a gargantuan family home.
56:20For Rachael, Tom and the convent, it has been a wonderful turn of events.
56:25And I reckon even the nuns would be having a wry smile.
56:28T
56:29T
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