The National Trust visit

Just a short post to say that on the weekend we were privileged that Coutts Sailors' Home was included in the National Trust Tour of Newcastle.

I had been contacted some months ago (before being shortlisted for the Heritage Awards as it happens) about being involved and sharing our home and our story with interested National Trust members.

Always willing to share and encourage we agreed, and it has now happened.

We were not expecting quite as many people as actually attended (hundreds!), but were delighted with the interest and the feedback that we received.

A big thank you to the organisers for their work on the day supervising, directing traffic and ensuring safety..and a big thank you to all those who visited, for their interest, their conversation and their appreciation for the efforts we made to 'take it back to as original as possible'.

They were in general a discerning bunch and noticed the details that we had taken special care over - the cedar skirting boards and architraves, all milled to match originals and secured in place in the traditional way, the staircase balustrading and the verandah iron columns replicating the originals based on photographic evidence, the cornices with embellishments in the entry and hallways, period features like the lighting, mirrors, clock and other furnishings...to name a few.

Perhaps in a few years time we will 'do it all again' and by then we will no longer be saying there's still work to do!



A postscript.

Happy to discuss more details, introduce suitable heritage craft tradespeople and provide a pdf of the 'booklet' about Coutts and its renovation...just comment and I'll get back to you.

Are we there yet?

The answer, well it depends what you think the destination is!

Our home has been the front page feature in the local Domain magazine of the Newcastle Herald, and is on line at: https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5160455/new-life-breathed-into-historic-home/


We have also been featured on the Hunter hunter web site at: https://www.hunterhunter.com.au/newcastle/at-home-coutts-sailors-home


Then

A little while ago, we received this notification:

:

Congratulations!
You have made the National Trust
Heritage Awards Shortlist

(See the shortlist at  https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/heritage-awards-2018-shortlist/)

AND...
The National Trust have a Newcastle destination tour in October and have selected our home to be visited, to share the history and the rollercoaster renovation story.

             So in many respects I suppose you would have to say we have arrived.            


We have a wonderful home of which we are very proud, and passers by continue to admire, congratulate and thank us for saving this magnificent piece of historic architecture and returning it to Newcastle.

The garden is starting to mature and the roses bloom continuously. They are very settled and comfortable in this sunny, sandy, salty environment - as are we when we can be there.

There are a few loose ends that we still need to fix and there are two more stories to tell.

So every now and again pop back to this site, though it will be some while before everything will be resolved and I am able to put pen to paper.

PS
As expected, we did not win the award, being up against Councils with funding to employ teams of architects and other professionals!
We were honoured and pleased that our endeavours to ensure the authenticity and the quality of our renovation were recognised in being shortlisted in what was considered an outstanding year.