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Restoration Australia Season 8 Episode 6
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00:06Many of Australia's oldest homes have been altered and augmented over their
00:11long histories as new owners have added rooms and closed-in spaces for growing
00:16families and other practical needs. But often those changes and additions have
00:21been unsympathetic or downright ugly and sometimes those changes hide a hell of a
00:27lot of what's wrong with the original structure. So what happens when you buy a
00:32200-year-old farmhouse and unwrap a series of unsightly layers to reveal a
00:37historic heart that's a precarious, small and relatively plain structure that seems
00:44intent on falling down? Is a restoration even going to be worth it?
00:54I'm Anthony Burke, a professor of architecture, passionate about buildings of the past, this
01:00is incredibly impressive, and what they can tell us about better ways to live in the future.
01:06This is very confronting. It's a ruin. It is. Join me as I travel the country, meeting homeowners
01:11embarking on the challenge of a lifetime. Restoring homes from the 1800s to the
01:17swinging 60s. Looking to balance our rich cultural heritage with life in modern
01:39Australia. In a whisper-quiet saddling yard, in a whisper-quiet pocket of the New South Wales
01:45south coast, Kelly Dunn and her very good friend Archie are having a quiet conversation.
01:53Good boy. It's quite amazing to have such a big animal, you know, and you build up such
02:04a trust with them. Good boy. To be fair, Kelly does most of the talking, but Archie's replies
02:11are unmistakable. Fluent, faithful compliance. They adore each other, and it shows.
02:20Horses have pretty much always been my favourite thing, really, for as long as I can remember.
02:26They're big, huge, strong animals, but I find them very peaceful. And it doesn't really matter
02:33how much of a bad day I've had. I always feel better if I go and spend some time with
02:36the
02:36horses. It's no exaggeration to say, Kelly has made horses her life. She turned her affinity
02:44with them and affection for them into a number of careers. As a jockey, I was riding in the
02:50Sydney tracks, had some winners at Randwick, Warwick Farm, quite a number of winners. I knew
02:56it was never going to be a long-term career, but I loved it while I did it. Kelly then
03:03joined
03:03the police force and became a mounted officer as Sydney hosted the world at the 2000 Olympics.
03:10There were so many highlights from anything from working under the New Year's Eve fireworks
03:14to doing all the football events and you get to go to a lot of sporting games. So it was
03:20a good job. I enjoyed it. Horses might just be the best thing to happen to Kelly, but one
03:26fateful day, they became the worst. It changed the course of everything really. I ended up
03:32having a really bad fall. It was a trial police horse. It wasn't actually a police horse. It
03:38was a new one that had come in for trial. I actually fractured my top four ribs, my collarbone,
03:45my left shoulder, completely shattered my shoulder blade and had several fractures through my thoracic
03:51spine. I've had years and years of ongoing surgeries from my spinal injuries and shoulder
03:59injuries. The injuries are lifelong. I have to manage it on a daily basis. Rebuilding her body
04:08and her confidence has been an arduous process. But incredibly, it hasn't deterred her from another
04:14confronting and complicated and potentially painful rebuilding project. Bringing this 200-year-old
04:23teetering farmhouse on eight or so rolling hectares back from the brink. What I was looking for was
04:31land, land for the horses, land for me. I just love being the open space. When I came out here
04:38for the
04:38first time, I walked away and thought, there's no way I can take on this. But then I started looking
04:43into the history and yeah, I couldn't let it go. It's just peaceful. It's calm. You can feel the
04:49history in the place, I think. Even though sort of everything's falling down, it has a weird charm
04:56about it. Kelly bought the property known as Shannon View in 2024 for $810,000. It's just outside the
05:05coastal riverside town of Morooya, a four-hour drive south of Sydney. But importantly, there's
05:12accommodation and some willing helpers nearby. Mum, Lindy and Dad Peter are 20 minutes away
05:18at Churros Head. I think it's a very clear, hierarchical relationship.
05:22Yeah, she's the boss. She's the top, she's the boss and we'll do what we're told. I can't
05:28keep up with either one of them. They're fit, they go at it, they get things done, so I think
05:34it'll be great having them on board to help things. She'll need all the help she can muster.
05:41Kelly wants to be hands-on with this restoration, but her injuries will define what she can and
05:46can't do. I'm normally at work by around about 8 o'clock. Plus, she works full-time as a primary
05:54school teacher and she's studying to complete her Masters in Psychology. Often by the time I'm home
06:01it might be sort of 6, 6.30, half shower, have some dinner and then get into it and I
06:06really need
06:07like as many hours as I can just sitting and knuckle down until I just literally can't
06:12keep my eyes open and get a bit of sleep and get up and go again the next day.
06:16So finding enough time for this daunting project is going to be a challenge and Shannon's view
06:22is going to need loads of time and love and attention. It was built by the first European
06:28settler in the Moroia area. It stood for two centuries, but now it's barely standing.
06:35It's pretty decrepit. I love the house, but it's pretty disgusting in the state that it
06:40is. Some of the ceilings are peeling off. It has huge cracks. You can't walk anywhere
06:48without being very careful of where you're putting your feet. I don't even know what's
06:52under the carpet. So it's pretty bad. It's pretty modest. Certainly no grand country
07:00pile. But this homestead is a beloved landmark here and the local community will be watching
07:06Kelly's efforts very closely. I feel like as much as I've done in my life, taking on the
07:13project of Shannon View is probably going to be the biggest thing I've ever tried to do.
07:26Oh boy. Heritage hiding amongst the ruins, I think. Hi Kelly. Hello, how are we? Oh, very
07:35well. How are you doing? Good, thank you. Welcome. Great. Thank you very much. Lovely
07:38to meet you and lovely to meet your dream. It absolutely is. Yeah. What did you fall
07:44in love with? If I'm... The cobwebs. I was going to say, it looks like a bit of a mongrel
07:50at the moment. I know it's very old, like 18, 20... 18, 29. 29. That's very old for us.
07:56So I can see that kind of part of it lurking behind this awful built-in veranda space. Yep.
08:04So how did you just kind of get past that and say, yes, this is the one for me?
08:10I don't really know. I actually tried to talk myself out of it many times, just thinking
08:14I'm crazy. It's too big a project. Don't do it. And then I kept on coming back. You just
08:20kept coming back. So here I am. I don't know. I just, I love it. I want to keep it.
08:24I want
08:25to try and retain as much of the original as I can. The whole core will stay. The outside
08:29will come off and then it will be rebuilt. Pretty much the same footprint. So it'll be
08:34a mission. It'll be hard. But yeah, that's the goal. Okay. Well, I can see the beautiful
08:39old pan tiles here. I can see the chimney falling over. A few things out here. That looks
08:43very precarious. Yeah. So I guess underneath all of this, there's some structural stuff to
08:47be done. That's my assumption already. What's it like inside? It gets worse as we go.
08:52Come and have a look. I'd love to see what's going on. You'd expect over 200 years, respective
09:00owners might add, augment or restyle for extra space or out of personal taste. Hopefully,
09:07sympathetically, not in outright hostility. So this is the veranda area. Oh, this is nasty.
09:16Kelly. It's not great, is it? Not great. No, I mean, all of this then gone. Yep. And it
09:21will come back to an old open style Georgian veranda. Nice. Okay. So all gone. Some heritage
09:26reinstatement to be done. That's this beautiful space out here. Yes. What about the disaster
09:32that's waiting in here? I can tell already. All right. So this is the main living area.
09:38Doesn't get much better in here, does it? Not really, no. Probably worse. It's a pretty modest
09:43footprint, really. You can really tell there's been a lot of lives through this space. Absolutely.
09:49This is the room. Like it all pretty much happened here. Yep. You came in, took your boots
09:53off and you ended up here. The fire was on. This over here though, this, this is what's
09:59got me a bit worried. A bit concerning. Yeah. This has fallen off already. Ooh. And the
10:04more I, ooh, the more I point, the more dangerous it gets. It's very damp. It feels damp. Yeah.
10:10Yeah. Ouch. So have you done an inspection all around the walls then? Um, no. I'm very scared.
10:18And I'm standing on a very spongy floor here, which makes me think, oh, there's a lot of demo
10:24to probably be done now. Have you taken up the carpets? Uh, we've only taken them up in
10:30the corners. Um, and really you can just see dirt and there's a lot of plywood under it.
10:36Right. So it hasn't been taken up in the middle here. So it's going to be a little bit of
10:40an
10:40experiment when that all starts to come up. Can I ask the question another way? Do you
10:44know what you're in for? No. Do you have a sense? It's a little scary. It's a little scary.
10:50I get it. I get it. It's a pocket-sized space, but it holds a multitude of dramas. And speaking
10:56of scary... These are the steepest stairs I think I've
10:59probably ever seen in my life. Look at that. And the most dangerous I'd suggest.
11:02Yeah, right. Absolutely. Yeah. Like, it's a two to one, the riser to the going.
11:07It's more of a ladder than a staircase. And here's another challenge for Kelly. How to introduce
11:13a compliant staircase, a more graduated climb from the postage stamp of a living room.
11:19You need climbing gear to get up here. And hold on. Hold on. Yeah, good advice.
11:25Up to the second floor of the original house. So because the ceilings are so low here, they
11:32can't be classified as bedrooms. So it'll be sort of storage attic spaces up here.
11:37OK. Yeah. Yeah. So like, I mean, it's usable, isn't it? But it's just not to code.
11:43That's right. One of the things I do really like is the view from out here.
11:48Yeah, the view's beautiful. It's part of what I fell in love with, I think.
11:50Absolutely. Looking out, it's breathtaking. Looking within, it's nerve-wracking. Rising damp,
11:59crumbling bricks, spongy floors, an unlivable room above a cramped one, and a bunch of scary,
12:04ugly additions. So where to begin? Well, the add-ons get subtracted for a start, leaving
12:12that central, very simple, original 1820 stack. Kelly's solving her spongy floor issue with
12:18concrete, which, she's told, will also help stabilise the structure once crumbling bricks
12:24are replaced and rising damp conquered. A new, compliant staircase will fit once a little
12:31of the upstairs floor is sacrificed for safer ascent. The attic storage area will get fresh
12:37paint and a new floor. Then it's Kelly creature comfort time. Into the former footprint goes
12:44a bedroom with walk-in robe and ensuite bathroom. There's a mudroom. The original bathroom and entry
12:51will get a workover. A new kitchen goes in behind a repurposed living dining room. Then another bedroom
12:58with a little bathroom wedged in for good measure. Out the front, a wide and welcoming open veranda.
13:05And on top, a sparkling new, galvanised roof. So a colonial cubbyhole becomes something of
13:11a 21st century TARDIS. Amazing amenity for the space. How are you going to treat the old
13:19and the new? It's one of those classic questions I talk about a lot. Yeah. But in this instance,
13:24you don't want that kind of faux, you know, restoration or faux Georgian. You want something
13:30authentic. Which I feel like it's going to be really hard to get that balance. But hopefully
13:38with keeping as much of the original timbers, as much of the original doors, hopefully I'll
13:45be able to reuse some of those wooden windows. Bringing the front veranda, opening it back up
13:49to what it used to be. There'll be as much of the old stuff in there as I can possibly
13:53use. Yeah, okay. So I know that you bought the property for 810,000.
13:59Yep. How much are you going to spend on this?
14:02500,000 is the goal. Half a million? Yep.
14:05Half a million, but we're not quite sure what the project really is yet. Good luck.
14:10Don't make me nervous. Good luck. You're kind of taking a bit of a, well, we'll see.
14:16I do have a lot of ideas, but it's, I don't want to make any final decisions until the house
14:21is gutted. Because I feel like if I make all the decisions now, there's going to be too
14:26many compromises. Whereas if I just hold off, do one step at a time, might be a bit of an
14:31easier process. Okay. So not exactly knowing what you're going to be doing. Yep.
14:35How long is it going to take you? Look, I'll go with 12 months. That would be an ultimate goal.
14:41If it's not saved now, it will be on the ground within six months. Yeah. I mean...
14:45I feel that. It is literally falling apart as we speak. Yeah.
14:50You've got to act. Yeah. Yeah. If it's not done now, we'll literally be lost.
14:54Yeah, you've got to move. Kelly, it's a beautiful project. Actually, it's not a beautiful project.
14:58It's going to be a beautiful project. I'm sure you're going to save it.
15:03I just hope it matches up to that vision that's in your head of the thing you fell in love
15:08with.
15:08Look, definitely going to try. Hopefully I can do it some justice. Um...
15:13Yeah. Yeah. Fingers crossed.
15:20While Kelly's heart is certainly in the right place, there's always a precarious balancing act with restoration.
15:26Take too much away and replace with shiny new materials and you lose the heritage charm that attracted you to
15:34the building in the first place.
15:36And finding that sweet spot can be hard.
15:39In this case, the ugly additions have fortunately protected the almost 200-year-old Georgian-era core.
15:45But getting the new elements of the restoration balanced with the old will be critical for the design and building
15:53team.
15:54Blending recycled materials with new takes real skill, but also a commitment to the original feel of the property.
16:02Otherwise, you could just end up with another shiny Georgian-themed mass production.
16:08And I don't think anybody, especially Kelly, wants that.
16:22For Shannon View's shaky, shoddy additions, it was going to be a case of what brought them tumbling down first.
16:29The very imminent, very pressing weight of time and the elements.
16:36Or a team of deaf deconstructors who will take special care to peel away these ugly extensions
16:42and ensure the original core is upright at the end.
16:47Thankfully, they're here in the nick of time.
16:51Gravity plays a part in keeping things together.
16:53So there's a lot of beams resting on beams.
16:55So you've just got to be careful that something doesn't come down and go the wrong direction, I guess.
17:01For head deconstructive surgeon Mark, it's softly, softly, steady as she goes.
17:08Basically, we've got to suck it in the sea, really.
17:11You never know how they're constructed.
17:13So we'll just play it by ear and just take our time and, yeah, just be very careful.
17:21With all of Kelly's work and study obligations, it's impossible for her to be on site for each and every
17:27critical phase of this project.
17:29We're the much-loved, unpaid farm labourers.
17:33That's when Dad, Peter, steps in.
17:35It's being able to be here and Kelly go to work and she's not worried that things are going to
17:40get out of control
17:41because she's explained exactly what she wants done today, for example.
17:45Anything comes up, I can have those conversations.
17:47Quick text, then the story.
17:57It's funny, I thought that today I'll be standing here really shaking every time they started to do something.
18:05But they're being really careful.
18:13The original building is built on stout and substantial granite footings.
18:18Still, the team proceeds cautiously, using the heavy equipment like a scalpel.
18:28Peter's ex-military, very senior.
18:31He's seen plenty of well-drilled, well-oiled operations.
18:34So praise from him is praise indeed.
18:41Certainly, it's going better than I expected.
18:46When you get big machinery around 200-year-old stuff, you never know what's going to happen.
18:53Mark's doing a phenomenally delicate job here with that machinery and I'm really impressed with that.
18:59So, he's taking all the care he can, but so far, so good.
19:14Hi darling. Hello, how are you going?
19:16We're going.
19:17We're going, okay.
19:18It's gone really well so far.
19:19I'll show you.
19:20It's gone.
19:21It's gone.
19:22That's right.
19:23It's gone around.
19:23The house is still standing.
19:25Woo!
19:27Oh, wow.
19:28How exciting.
19:29It's been pretty amazing, isn't it?
19:43Looks amazing, Dean.
19:44What are we going to do with it?
19:46Can we keep it?
19:49Well, it's just floating in the breeze now and we've got some serious rot in this joist.
19:57In this one here?
19:58Yeah, so it's got to be replaced.
20:00With the dust cleared, the demo has uncovered hidden layers, walls behind walls.
20:07I'm just amazed that this wall was under the previous wall.
20:12I feel like we just have to keep it.
20:14Are we going to be able to?
20:15I think there may be some cracking, but we've got enough to work with.
20:20And as Kelly and builder Dean figure out how to save the delicate, degraded timber,
20:26there's an added reason she's keen to make the most of what's here.
20:29Because this to me is beautiful.
20:32Yet another layer.
20:34Under old wallpaper, backing that plays directly to Kelly's own passions.
20:39Horses and racing.
20:40A hidden collage of turf reporting and racing forms from the early 20th century.
20:46This is the one with a date on it.
20:49This is a cool one.
20:511915 racing.
20:54Is it Wyong?
20:56One race, is it Wyong?
20:57Wyong.
20:58So that's pretty special to me.
20:59Yeah, nice.
21:00This one's actually from the 1915 Melbourne Cup, which I just think is amazing.
21:05I'd really like to keep this piece.
21:07And if I can't, if it won't go on the wall, I might frame that one because I think it'd
21:12be pretty cool to keep a couple in a frame.
21:15I just can't go over the fact that most of it is the sports section with a lot of the
21:20racing history, which being an ex-jockey is right up my alley.
21:25Yeah, it's actually too far gone.
21:27You can see how much rot is in here.
21:30This is kind of all the unexpected that I was expecting.
21:34All the rot and the what can't be saved.
21:36I wasn't expecting to find anything beautiful that we can save under it.
21:40Exactly, yeah.
21:42Dean will attempt to preserve as much of the timber and the sports memorabilia as possible,
21:47as he dismantles this wall, then builds a new, sympathetic but solid weight-bearing one
21:52to underpin the sagging upstairs floor.
21:55Kelly will try to incorporate the salvage materials elsewhere in the restoration.
22:06Two months on, it's winter.
22:08The icy grass is crunching underfoot.
22:16The horses are rugged against the chill.
22:19These south coast mornings are freezing.
22:22So the concrete pour goes in today.
22:24You can see the underfloor heating, zero degrees outside.
22:28I'm pretty happy to be having some warm flooring in here.
22:32So I think that'll be good.
22:34Stripped to its barest components, the original cottage looks like it could teeter over
22:39in the merest gust of winter wind.
22:42The new concrete floor is a structural imperative.
22:46Originally I really wanted floorboards because obviously that's what they would have had,
22:50but every recommendation from the engineers came back with the heated concrete flooring
22:57will help to dry the bricks out over the years and maintain their structure.
23:02So the concrete decision was actually a structural one.
23:06It's better for the old bricks.
23:11How many hours do you think it'll take to do this?
23:14All day.
23:14Yeah, right.
23:15Wow.
23:16Yeah.
23:24Peter and Kelly's mum, Lindy, are here for what is a key event in this rescue.
23:30I'm going to leave this one to the experts.
23:34It's going well.
23:35It's kind of getting exciting again now, so.
23:38Oh, it is.
23:38Yeah.
23:40Yeah.
23:40I can't sort of believe it actually in lots of ways.
23:44Well, what fascinates me is that here I have something that started in 1829
23:51and here we are with laser levels and all of these mod comms, which we can't do without.
23:59Yet these guys did all of this just a bit of water in a glass and things like that to
24:07level it up.
24:07I find it amazing.
24:09They must have known something because if they build something like that,
24:12it's lasted 200 years.
24:14We've definitely got it easier and I just can't help but be so impressed with the ingenuity,
24:22determination.
24:23It's just beautiful.
24:26Away from sight, Lindy and Peter have been helping Kelly compile a history of the cottage.
24:32They know the original owner, Irishman Francis Flanagan, was up against it, building his colonial
24:39dream home, but he did manage to pull some strings and muster some help.
24:43He had nine convicts assigned to him.
24:46So he had physical help.
24:48Yeah, he had labour.
24:49But, I mean, here he was.
24:50If I had nine convicts, I'd do a lot of things.
24:53Oh, you've only got one.
24:54So there you go.
24:57When do I get my ticket of leave?
24:59It's been 53 years.
25:02What was the sentence?
25:03Life never to be released.
25:17He arrives in Sydney on the 2nd of June in 1827 on the Aurelia.
25:26Yeah, Aurelia.
25:27He wanted to become a farmer.
25:29Lindy and Peter's holiday house in nearby Turos Head has become a busy specialist research centre
25:36on the subject of Francis Flanagan, Irish tailor turned aspiring colonial farmer.
25:41There's a letter here to the land board.
25:44Oh, OK.
25:45What did they say?
25:46Yeah, to the land board.
25:47He's trying to go through the system, but he gets not back.
25:51He's obviously very literate.
25:52The powers that be persistently refused Flanagan's request for a land grant.
25:58Here you go, got it here.
25:59A reoccurring theme in his appeals was the unfair treatment of Irish settlers.
26:06Frustrated by a hostile bureaucracy, Flanagan went straight to the top.
26:10In a barrage of letters, he implored then-Governor Ralph Darling
26:14to grant him a parcel of farmable land.
26:17There is a classic comment in here on a note from the Secretary to Governor Darling
26:24who says that the Governor is of the opinion that Francis Flanagan is a, quote,
26:30pain in the arse, unquote.
26:33Who would have ever thought that they used that expression?
26:35Expression then.
26:37Well, he was persistent.
26:39Yeah, absolutely persistent.
26:40And of course, after several exchanges, he actually gets his land grant.
26:46He's not going to be mucked around by the bureaucracy.
26:49Well done.
26:49Yeah, well done Francis.
26:52But it came at a cost.
26:54Flanagan's ailing wife and mother of his two children died in the long wait for a grant.
27:00And there was a caveat.
27:02If Flanagan wanted land, it had to be beyond what was described as the limits of settlement.
27:09Basically, uncharted territory.
27:10He actually had to go down south to look for this land and to actually choose it.
27:16Because he was told he had to go to the furthest part of the land, the settlement really.
27:22And that was the Maruyu River, north of the Maruyu River.
27:25Well, he thought, right, I'll go that far.
27:28At least I guess he would be thinking it's rich and fertile because he was on the coast
27:33and it actually was a relatively good year apparently that year.
27:36It's a classic example of someone who really sticks to their guns.
27:40It seems to me, with his perseverance, his determination, his downright bloody mindedness,
27:47that it's quite appropriate that Kelly should buy the house.
27:50Yes, I think yes.
27:51I mean, it all fits, doesn't it?
27:52Her personality suits.
27:53It fits perfectly.
27:56Where would she get that from?
27:57Where would she get that from?
27:58I can't imagine.
27:58It must be new.
28:03Kelly's discovered a contemporary connection to Francis Flanagan.
28:07Well, initially he started with 1,200 acres.
28:10Matthew Keating's a local historian whose great-great-grandfather worked at Shannon View
28:16as Flanagan quickly grew his holding.
28:19He built the house where it is on the hill.
28:21Then he added another 1,200, a bit over 1,200 acres to that.
28:26So by the end of the 1830s, he was farming 2,500 acres, which would be a big farm now.
28:32He had 800 cows, 200 pigs and 12 horses.
28:38And, you know, you can imagine to feed 800 cows, you would have had to clear a lot of pasture.
28:42To feed 200 pigs, you couldn't feed them on table scraps.
28:45So you would have been growing corn and barley and products like that.
28:49You know, he would have been working the land with draft horses,
28:52which meant that they had to be fed.
28:53A lot of land, yep.
28:54So it would have been a really significant enterprise.
28:59Morooya would eventually take shape in the mid to late 1800s,
29:03as the farming and fishing communities grew.
29:06Today, it's a lively riverside town and a popular regional holiday destination.
29:11Francis became a magistrate and was really quite a pillar of the community.
29:15Despite his profound influence here,
29:18Francis Flanagan's grave in the local cemetery is relatively modest.
29:22The headstone notes his second wife, Bridget, a convict transported for stealing sheep.
29:28He died in 1863 and by that time he was a very well respected pioneer of the area.
29:34He started a very strong Irish Catholic community here in Morooya.
29:41By that time the population of Irish Catholics in the New South Wales colony was only about 25%.
29:48Here in Morooya it was about 50%.
29:50Wow.
29:51And you know, that's all because of him.
30:00They're here, let's do it.
30:03All these years on, Francis Flanagan's simple little building is getting a new iron roof.
30:10I have been worried the whole time about, yes, replacing the old beautiful rusty roof.
30:16But as you can see, it's already gone, so I'm sort of over that phase.
30:20I can't wait to see that roof go on.
30:22I'm so excited.
30:24Not without its challenges though, working on the old timbers that have shifted and skewed over the years.
30:30It could be a nightmare like that, if the actual frames are running out, I've got to keep my sheets
30:36straight in the gutter line.
30:38If the frames are running out, they're going to want to twist and warp and then it doesn't marry up
30:41at the other side and it could be fun.
30:45This is an aspect of the project that will radically change the nature of the place.
30:50But swapping out the rusty old patinaed roof and all the history it represents with shiny new tin is a
30:58must do if Kelly is going to be able to harvest a potable and sustainable supply of fresh water.
31:04No, we're running good now, so we will be able to creep it a little bit.
31:09We've seen how cold it gets down here.
31:12That thick layer of new insulation will be working hard in tandem with the new heated ground floor.
31:20It actually looks pretty cool.
31:22It's not too bright.
31:26This has been one of my biggest fears that it just looks horrible on the old house, but I actually
31:31think it looks alright.
31:32I'm happy with it.
31:33I think we're doing well.
31:36The old rusted sheets will find new purpose, patching out buildings and boxing garden beds.
31:43This is a salvage, reuse and repurpose operation as much as possible.
31:55You want to see some of the characters still don't you?
31:58Yeah, definitely.
31:59Yeah, like all that.
32:00Look at the scratches and stuff.
32:01Yeah, well I mean they're so old.
32:03Yeah, like...
32:04Got to have history.
32:05You can get it.
32:06It's an effort to retain and re-harness the original building's DNA.
32:17I was all about all the bad things that I'd find when we started ripping it apart, but this is
32:21one of the best things that I've found.
32:24Originally I wanted floorboards downstairs because that's what would have been there.
32:29But I chose to have the concrete for the preservation of the walls and a few other reasons.
32:34But to then find these upstairs underneath the carpet, yeah, was an awesome find.
32:42So yeah, it's really important to keep these.
32:46These beautiful old boards will go back where they came from.
32:49And with the new roof providing protection from the weather, some of that internal work can get cracking.
33:01Four months in, spring is in the air, so the perfect time to spring a visit.
33:06Hey Kelly.
33:07But it turns out the surprises are all mine.
33:11Where's it all gone?
33:14My cost saving strategy, knock half the house down.
33:17Oh wow, I mean you really kind of got stuck in, haven't you?
33:20Yes.
33:20I mean the character of it has changed enormously with all of that curtilage gone now.
33:24Nice new roof up there, that's got to feel very satisfying.
33:26The rusty roof was something that I loved about the property.
33:29Yeah, yeah.
33:29I didn't really want to change it.
33:31But now that it's on, I do love it.
33:33Yeah.
33:34It's not too bright I don't think.
33:35It'll settle down pretty quickly though.
33:37Yeah.
33:38The new chimney.
33:40Looks good.
33:40Doesn't it look good?
33:41And actually at this stage of the build I'm a little surprised to see it so well finished.
33:46I thought it'd still be kind of in process or, you know, but that's great to see.
33:50The crumbling bricks and mortar that were collapsing and setting Shannon View's chimney on a precarious lean
33:56have been replaced and now it's as straight and steadfast as the newly supported walls of Francis Flanagan's little house.
34:05So you can see the metal angle braces that have gone in the whole way along.
34:10Yeah.
34:10This beam through here looks pretty serious.
34:12So some good hardware's gone in to stabilise the building is what it's looking like.
34:17The beam actually is sort of like it is now.
34:20It will be exposed but it's got a hardwood piece that goes over the front so that will match.
34:26So the stairs are going to be wood.
34:27Okay, so now we've got steel and concrete.
34:30Yes.
34:30And heritage fabric.
34:32That's right.
34:32Okay, interesting.
34:33So we're actually kind of setting up a really interesting sort of palette of the new being inserted inside the
34:38old.
34:39Yeah.
34:39And how to kind of keep those two things reinforcing each other rather than competing with each other.
34:44That's right.
34:44That must be on your mind.
34:45I'm sure it is.
34:46It's tricky.
34:47Yeah.
34:48It's very tricky.
34:49Such a small space with so many materials.
34:52It's like a mixed media collage crammed into a tiny frame.
34:57It's going to be interesting to see how or even if Kelly can make it all work.
35:02Do you like the stairs?
35:03I like the stairs.
35:04Especially when that new slightly larger staircase she's planning further crams the space.
35:10This is fantastic up here isn't it?
35:11Like it's so much more space now that you've kind of cleaned it out and given it some more elbow
35:15room.
35:16Don't the floorboards look fantastic?
35:18They look beautiful.
35:19So that was what was under those horrendous layers of carpet that was up there before.
35:24This is going to be fantastic this space up here.
35:27Okay.
35:28So now comes yet another challenging phase.
35:30The additions.
35:32How to add comfort and scale to the original house without gobbling up all its historical charm.
35:43In Moroia, a key member of the crack Shannon View Research Unit has uncovered a blockbuster story.
35:51These huge granite blocks.
35:53It places the town and the community, made possible in no small part by Francis Flanagan, at the heart of
36:00one of Australia's greatest engineering feats, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
36:05Moroia certainly had a massive amount of granite.
36:08They'd already been quarrying for probably a hundred years before.
36:12But when they were planning the building of the Harbour Bridge, the engineer and the British contractors called on the
36:18Moroia quarry to do so.
36:19The quarries of Moroia, 170 miles away, were specially opened and equipped to supply stone for the approaches and the
36:2820,000 cubic yards of granite required for the piers and the pylons.
36:33A big, purpose-built village was established a few kilometres from Moroia to house the 250 or so stonemasons and
36:43their families involved in the giant quarrying exercise.
36:46It was called Granite Town.
36:48The neighbouring quarry was dedicated to one task, providing perfectly sized, beautifully prepared blocks for the bridge.
36:57The workers actually came from everywhere.
37:0023 different nationalities but predominantly Scots and Italians.
37:05And their precision was absolutely incredible.
37:09They cleaved out these giant pieces of stone and then honed them into exact size
37:14and each and every one of them had to be numbered and off they went to Sydney on their own
37:18ships.
37:20It was a huge bridge-by-numbers construction effort as each block found its designated spot on one of the
37:27bridge's imposing pylons.
37:30Blocks of stone were dressed and effaced before shipment to Sydney, all ready to slip into their positions in the
37:37great structure.
37:39It was an enthralling spectacle for the Depression-era crowds in Sydney as this monumental structure inched across the harbour
37:48from south and north.
37:50It certainly played a crucial role in Moruya's history.
37:54And to think that that sort of granite is the same granite that's on the footings of Kelly's house.
37:59I think it's phenomenal.
38:01I guess I'll never look at the harbour bridge again without thinking about it.
38:04The giant pylons built from the quarries from here.
38:07And the house, of course, is very small compared to the harbour bridge, but it's a huge undertaking by Kelly.
38:14And certainly an important and interesting project, historical project for Moruya.
38:25At Shannon View, the fanning footprint of Kelly's extension has now become readily evident.
38:31A new concrete pad wraps around the original building and plenty of timber framework is up.
38:37But despite all the engineering work, the steel and the stabilising, the original structure is still presenting headaches.
38:45This wall was originally covered up.
38:48These bricks have never been exposed like this.
38:51So, you know, there was always something over them protecting them and now they're just, they're so brittle.
38:59Unstable cladding and plaster was stripped off the bricks in the early demolition phase.
39:04So, these 200-year-old handmade bricks have been exposed to the elements for more than six months.
39:12My biggest fear with the wall is that I lose, well, the whole lot or even a part of it.
39:19Because the 200-year-old bricks is what makes this house.
39:23And it's the whole mission, essentially, is to save them.
39:28So, the longer it's open, the longer it's exposed, the bigger the risk that I'm going to have to replace
39:34bricks or even a portion of it could fall down.
39:38Saving it means getting it solidly rendered, but a specialist tradie has been difficult to find.
39:44They are crumbling before our eyes, so we've had lots of issues trying to find a renderer who will actually
39:51do the job.
39:52We've had a couple, Kelly's found a couple, and then they've pulled out.
39:55So, yes, there is a worry.
39:57And that's a big worry, that these bricks might crumble too far before someone gets to fix them.
40:03We were very worried at the start for Kelly that she wouldn't be able to get the trades that she
40:09needed when she needed them.
40:10So, there's been a nervousness, and Kelly's had to live with this tension all the way through,
40:16that in order to repair the damage of time and neglect, that we had to run the risk of the
40:25house hemorrhaging.
40:25So, it's been nerve-wracking, and we've got to make sure that we move pretty quickly to get them rendered
40:35and stop the weather eating away at them.
40:38If I lose the bricks, essentially that's the 200-year-old house gone.
40:44So, trying to save it.
40:50Meanwhile, the work that can go on, goes on.
40:57Roofing the extension should at least keep some of the weather off the unstable bricks.
41:03I think that should be enough for us.
41:09Just flick it round, turn round.
41:11Just go round that.
41:13And there are other challenges to distract Kelly.
41:16Like, will the new, larger staircase actually fit?
41:20I'm very nervous right now.
41:22I'm going to go up the tread.
41:26Turn over.
41:27And we are on.
41:28Yep.
41:29It's longer and wider than the original, and it's slotting into a very confined space.
41:36Spot on.
41:37Well, let's leave it there.
41:40As you'd expect, the squares and angles of the new timber staircase are machined to precision.
41:46Problem is, the space it's going into is not.
41:52You can push that outside back.
41:55It's a fair bit out of square, isn't it?
41:57So you can see how out of square it is.
42:00That's what you get from an old heritage house.
42:04And the building that side and that side are not the same length either, so it's like this.
42:09It was probably eyed back in the day, done with eye.
42:12Yeah, they're all drunk.
42:13Someone got a walkie eye.
42:14It just disappears.
42:15It is.
42:16That was after half a carton of beer.
42:19Builder Dean has come to know the crooked foibles of Francis Flanagan's house very well.
42:25He's learned to think laterally, and of course vertically and horizontally, to get this restoration to work.
42:33We're thinking of releasing all these, Sam.
42:36Yep.
42:36And releasing the bugles and just kicking that wall over to skew the whole thing over.
42:42Yeah, that could work a bit.
42:49How are we looking on the inside?
42:51It's good.
42:52Inside's good.
43:00Because we've got, what, 10mm in the corner, we go that way.
43:02There's another 10 in.
43:05What are we looking at there, Taryn?
43:06That seemed like it moved heaps.
43:09I wouldn't go any further.
43:12So we've moved it over about 30mm to the wall, but the wall's still not straight, so it's causing some
43:20issues,
43:20but I think they're going to have to be afterwards solutions.
43:24So we'll get the stairs in, get them locked in place, and we'll go from there.
43:30It's the best we can do.
43:36Just somewhere there.
43:37Yep, right there.
43:39Awesome.
43:41Can I walk on it yet?
43:42Go for it.
43:43I'm going to bus him to do this.
43:45Actually, go upstairs.
43:49Ow.
43:51I'm ready to move in now.
43:54Not so fast.
43:56Kelly and her team have made good progress in seven months, but there's still plenty to do within her 12
44:01-month timeframe.
44:03And those precarious bricks remain exposed.
44:31It's striking country, but it must have felt like another planet when Francis Flanagan came here, forged his way through
44:39the bush, staked out his holding, and built his basic, boxy, two-storey farmhouse.
44:45It was built to last, but I bet he'd be surprised that it stood for so long.
44:50And he'd be astounded that all these years later, someone's wandered along and said,
44:55I love this little place.
44:56I'm going to save it and give it a whole new life.
44:59I bet he'd be chuffed.
45:01But now that the restoration is finished, I wonder if Kelly is?
45:05.
45:27Kelly.
45:29Hey, Anthony, how are you going?
45:31You must feel like a guardian angel
45:33having sort of resurrected this thing from the ashes.
45:36It's come back from nowhere, hasn't it?
45:38How good does it look?
45:39I mean, I can't believe this is a 200-year-old building.
45:42Yep, fingers crossed it's going to stand for another 200 years now
45:45after all this effort.
45:46I'm pretty happy with it.
45:48I'm very proud of how it's come up.
45:50You know, I think what you've got here
45:51is a beautiful sort of farmhouse country picture.
45:54Yeah.
45:54It speaks to its age in a very lovely kind of way.
45:58I do really like the fact that the front façade there,
46:00now you've opened up the veranda, it feels appropriate.
46:03Yeah, look, that was my vision for it.
46:06Definitely feel like it's home.
46:07Always sort of felt at home on the property,
46:09so now to have the house finished,
46:12yes, definitely feels like I'm home
46:13and starting to enjoy living here.
46:16I can start to relax a little bit now.
46:19The repurposing and recycling effort at Shannon View
46:22begins at the front door
46:24and Frances Flanagan's centuries-old original.
46:28Looks great.
46:29Yeah, but unfortunately it wasn't structurally sound enough
46:31to retain as the actual door.
46:34Yeah.
46:34So, yeah, the decision was made to turn it into the screen door
46:38so I could still retain it.
46:39You've got to keep it though.
46:39Yeah.
46:40Yeah, that's the main thing.
46:41Because we never used this door, we used that door.
46:43No, this was actually permanently closed.
46:46It never actually opened, I think,
46:47because the house was so crooked.
46:48I'm not really sure.
46:49I mean, I love this veranda space.
46:52I think you're going to get heaps of use out of this.
46:54Definitely.
46:55And, you know, sunrise, sunset, cup of coffee, gin and tonic.
46:59You're going to be out here a lot.
47:00Yeah, definitely.
47:02Let's go inside.
47:04All right, welcome to the new lounge room.
47:07Oh, wow.
47:08A complete resurrection, wouldn't you say?
47:11Resurrection probably is a good word for it.
47:16The colonial dirt floor in this pocket-sized space
47:19got a 20th century layer of plywood and carpet
47:23and is now a 21st century pad of polished, heated concrete.
47:28I mean, normally I would not advocate for concrete
47:30in an old building like this one,
47:31but I think here you've solved so many issues
47:33that need to be solved through that one move.
47:36And it does look really good.
47:37It actually gives you a kind of a nice, clean slate, if you like,
47:42to let all the other texture come forward.
47:44And it's level.
47:45God forbid.
47:49The bricks are phenomenal.
47:51It kind of happened because the renderer left a little bit
47:53for the brickie to do, and then when the brickie had finished,
47:56I'm like, just leave it like that.
47:57I'm like, what do you mean?
47:57I'm like, that looks awesome.
47:58And that wall has been specially treated with a...
48:01It's a brick glue.
48:02Yep.
48:03That seals them all together, so...
48:05Are they now stable?
48:06Yes.
48:07And the mantel's from the old stables.
48:10I can see over here, too, you've got the old wallpaper, is it,
48:13that you've put in a frame?
48:14Yeah, I originally wanted to sort of have some of the wallpaper
48:18back on the wall, but it was just too old, too fragile.
48:21Well, that paper's got 1915 and 1912 on it,
48:25so it took a little bit of tricky work to get it together.
48:30Yeah, yeah.
48:30And that's particularly important for you, too,
48:33because of the horses, right?
48:34That's right, because most of it was all the racing section.
48:37There's a few old articles, which are gold.
48:40They're very on-brand.
48:41That's right.
48:41It's perfect.
48:42That's destiny speaking to it.
48:43Through the walls, quite literally.
48:46Yeah.
48:46Again, the original doors are on show,
48:49but in all their raw glory,
48:51hanging from their hand-forged hinges and leather washers.
48:55Their new washers, I had to hand-cut them,
48:58measured from the 200-year-old washers,
49:01which, like, were just so paper-thew.
49:02Was that one of those insane moments where you're like,
49:04what am I doing?
49:05I mean, I'm actually cutting a leather washer.
49:07Yeah, and I actually didn't think it'd work
49:09until we re-hung the doors, and I was like, wow.
49:12Yeah, it worked.
49:13Yeah, beautiful.
49:15All that wriggling, persuading, nudging and pleading
49:19finally paid off
49:20with the spanking new, more climber-friendly staircase.
49:23You fixed this.
49:24The renderer managed to kind of fix that gap that was there.
49:27Yeah, he did a great job working on that.
49:30Oh, this feels almost comfortable.
49:33Safe.
49:34A little bit different than the last set.
49:36Yeah, a little bit.
49:37This is a huge transformation up here, isn't it?
49:40Yeah, looks amazing.
49:45Kelly's worked wonders with the old, cluttered attic space of Flanagan's original cottage.
49:51Because you had, like, a closet over there.
49:53You had, like, one sort of funky room over here, another one over there.
49:56It was all kind of mixed up, wasn't it?
49:58Bunky room, I like that.
50:01Yeah, well, it's been opened up.
50:03Yeah.
50:03With the walls coming down to a mid-wall.
50:06Yep.
50:06It's a generous room, actually, for the kind of house that you've got here.
50:09It feels nice and elbow-y.
50:10This is such a beautiful timber floor.
50:12The original board's been kind of polished and brought back up.
50:15It's such a great colour.
50:16Yeah, and there's actually so many colours in them.
50:18I think it's part of what makes it look so good.
50:21Yeah, I love this.
50:22I mean, everything in here is starting to feel like it's plumb, level, more or less.
50:26Relatively.
50:27Relatively.
50:27I suppose you don't want to kind of get it too plumb and too level because that takes all
50:30the character out of the place.
50:32I don't think it was ever going to be too plumb because it was governed by the big brick walls
50:36and the rendering, none of that straight.
50:39Yeah.
50:39You've got to keep the spirit of the house, yeah?
50:41That's right.
50:43Of course, the upstairs-downstairs of the simple 1829 house now forms the core of Kelly's
50:50extended home, all the comforts fanning into the footprint of the demolished veranda and
50:55ad hoc add-ons, now far more comfy and coherent.
51:00A simple but neatly appointed kitchen, a guest bedroom, an ensuite bathroom, a mudroom for
51:07when Kelly's mucked out the stables and is making for the snazzy new bathroom.
51:11Off the main bedroom.
51:14I suppose the most beautiful thing about this particular room is from here you can see the
51:19paddock, where the horses are.
51:20Yeah, that's probably one of my favourite parts of the whole thing, so in the mornings
51:25when I wake up, they're standing right there at the gate waiting for breakfast.
51:30It's a delightful array of new spaces that acknowledge the cornerstone structure, celebrating
51:35the original brick walls and segueing across original timbers.
51:41Kelly's respected and protected the authenticity of Shannon View, but she's made it her own.
51:48You've been through some pretty physically challenging periods in your life.
51:51I mean, does it ever occur to you that it was just a mad thing to do, to go into
51:54a building
51:55project while you were actually in that physical state?
51:58Like, it's a very brave thing to do.
52:01I think anyone that knows me knows that I take on mad things.
52:05Yeah.
52:05All too many at once.
52:07I was still going through rehabilitation and now, fingers crossed, I'm through all of the
52:13surgeries that I need.
52:15I'm held together with a lot of screws and bolts, but I feel like I've got a few things
52:19in common with the house.
52:22Yeah, I can be in the saddle at sunrise and sip some cocktails at sunset.
52:28Who doesn't want that, right?
52:29That's right.
52:30Your mum and dad, they've been a huge part of this project along the ride with you.
52:33Yeah.
52:34How's it been working with your mum and dad so closely?
52:37Look, they've been great.
52:39Honestly, I wouldn't be here now this far along if it wasn't for them.
52:43Oh, look, there were a few moments, but we ironed them out.
52:47Yeah.
52:50You started off with a budget of $500,000.
52:53Yeah.
52:54So where'd you end up?
52:56Pretty close to $600,000.
52:58$600,000.
52:58Okay.
52:59Yeah, so not...
52:59So 20% over.
53:00Too bad.
53:01Yeah, not too bad.
53:02Yeah.
53:02The overage, what'd you put that down to?
53:05I had to put the extra steel in.
53:07Yeah.
53:08The extra beam had to go in.
53:09And so it was just kind of the on-flow effects.
53:13Yeah.
53:14And I remember you saying 12 months, I think, was your initial timeline.
53:18Where have we ended up?
53:19Bang on 12 months.
53:2112 months.
53:22So you actually came in on time?
53:23Yep.
53:25Nearly to the day.
53:26I'm still a bit shocked.
53:28I definitely was very thankful for the amount of local trades that jumped on board.
53:33And when I said to them something crazy like, you need to do that next week,
53:37they turned around and said, sure, we can do that for you.
53:39You think maybe it had something to do with your dad being in the military?
53:43Potentially.
53:43He drives a pretty tough...
53:44Tight ship.
53:45Tight ship, that's right.
53:47So what do you think Francis Flanagan would think about what you've done here?
53:52I think he's pretty happy with things.
53:54Yeah.
53:55That's my feeling.
53:57Funnily enough, one of my friends suggested a seance to see if we could bring him back
54:01to actually get his thoughts on the matter.
54:04Not sure that we're going to pull that one off, but it'll be interesting to hear what
54:08he had to say.
54:09Well, if you do get in touch, let us know, will you?
54:11I'd be curious to know what he had to say as well.
54:15So, I mean, with all this, again, you know, congratulations.
54:18It feels like you've given yourself a beautiful place to kind of finally have a rest.
54:22Yes.
54:23Finally take all this in, this beautiful place that you've got for yourself.
54:26Yes.
54:26Surrounding yourself with the landscape, your horses, the lifestyle that you imagined.
54:31And you've saved a beautiful little piece of Australian history, which is a total bonus.
54:35So good on you for doing that.
54:38It's pretty relaxing being here, I must say.
54:40It's pretty good.
54:41Yeah.
54:49Here comes an old car.
54:52Hello.
54:54Congratulations.
54:56Oh, it's an apple trusset for the horses.
54:58I thought the horses can benefit too.
55:00Are they the original bricks or not?
55:02Yep.
55:03200 years old.
55:04Yes.
55:04Convict bricks.
55:05Convict bricks.
55:06Yes.
55:09It's amazing that I get a beautiful sunset and sunrises.
55:12Yeah, because the colours, the light changes.
55:15Yeah.
55:16That is just a picture.
55:20To everyone that's here tonight, I'd like to say a big thank you.
55:23It has been amazing to have so much support within the community.
55:27And to mum and dad, a very big thank you for all the help, because I couldn't have done it
55:31without you guys.
55:32So a big cheers to the house.
55:34Cheers.
55:34Cheers!
55:36Cheers!
55:37Cheers!
55:37Cheers to you.
55:38Welcome.
55:39Cheers!
55:47Kelly's never been able to pin down precisely what it was about this tumble-down building that first got her
55:54in.
55:54There was just something about it that intuition is
55:58Inexplicable but can also be powerful and goes a long way perhaps to explaining her beautiful relationship with her horses
56:06But also her deep conviction that this place should never crumble into oblivion
56:11Shannon view needed a champion and it found one in Kelly
56:33You
56:54You
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