Restoration Australia Season 2 Episode 5 - Tatachilla Stables

"Johnny and Ann want to transform a 19th Century stables and pickers cottages, in the wine region of McLaren Vale, into their new home. With a Christmas deadline, the pressure is on to restore the derelict buildings."

John and Ann Baker are retired mathematicians. There might have been one "they crunched the numbers" in the show, but the lost punning opportunities make it clear they need some new writers.  Stuart Harrison sounds like he writes his own lines as well, or makes them up on the spot, but he is nothing like Kevin McLeod's erudite mix of aesthetic prose and pop psychology. He sounds like he is trying, but apart from a strained attempt to instill drama by raising the usual specters of time, money, weather and council heritage regulators, he doesn't add much to the story. Mind, he does take credit for the discovering a view and the black-painted beams.


The restoration is a stables and cottage, opposite the Tatachilla Winery, which was established by a prominent local entrepreneur John George Kelly, who was the son of Dr. Alexander Charles Kelly, "renowned pioneer of viticulture in Australia".  The original property took up one of the standard square mile sections in the Tatachilla distract of McLaren Vale South Australia. Later subdivision and collapse of a former winery company has left the stables and cottage on a smallish block.

Mathematician John claims the cottage was built in 1855 and the stables dates from 1865 or 70. The 1997 heritage study by McDougall and Vines (no relation), is clear that it was established in 1887, although in one place it says 1867. It provides details of the cottages and stables under ID No: 348:

"The English exporting firm Stephen Smith and Company purchased the winery in 1911 and built the cellar block which was completed by 1913. The number of horses needed to work such a large area of vineyard necessitated the large stable and shed complex which included a stallion house for isolating individual horses." 

Elsewhere we discover it was only in 1903 that Kelly constructed a galvanised iron winery on the property. There are scattered remnants of the once extensive complex - with the stables and cottages possibly visible on the right of these photos. although the stables might be missing.


Without being specific about construction date there are references to the large number of horses in the early 20th century and the vet who treated them, the families occupying the cottages in the 1920s and 30s, and the "up to twenty-five men [who] could be accommodated in bunk-house conditions".

The wider context is quite interesting, with the managers house also surviing along with a bunch of 20th century production buildings.

So, from what information is available, and looking at the buildings, (and in particular the light weight timber roof framing that gets Harrison all in a tiz), they look early 20th century, so the 1855 etc. dates are probably just imagination. This view suggests the stables might even be 1920s.

The heritage listing says the "external form, materials and detailing...should be retained and conserved as required.  Any adaptation which is undertaken of the buildings to adapt them to new uses should ensure to retain as much original fabric as possible"

The Bakers say they wanted to preserve their historic integrity, and they will try to keep as much as they can. So far so good. When we come to site, in what seems never ending scenic vineyard introduction and establishment shots, the cottages have already been de-roofed, gutted and lean-tos stripped away. The stables are mostly intact, although the stalls are long gone. It looks like someone has already had a go at doing something, but didn't get very far.

So the works commence. The next time Harrison arrives, he has missed most of the restoration part at the cottages worksite. The cottages have new concrete floors, new framing is up. Steel roof is on, and the chimneys look like they have been repointed. From here on it is going to be fit-out and selecting lighting and bathroom fittings. Someone decided the new external walls would be corrugated iron, but we never learn who or why, or if the missing bits were cgi originally or not. The Heritage Study shows what it was like, so it might have been nice to give some acknowledgement both to the recording of heritage values, and the benefit of following research and conservation principles to come up with a meaningful restoration.

The reddish brown trim starts to appear, looks nice, but was this based on some existing fragment, or a personal taste? We are not told.

There is a proud announcement that the stable bricks might be sandblasted, but Stuart the architect, who should know better, keeps mum. The brick floor that they loved so much is ripped up and concrete poured around all the new drains and pipes. This appears to be about damp and cost, but it is not explained very well. A new floating timber floor is put on top, so why did the bricks need ripping up?

A nice National Trust lady takes them to a quarry to show how to use water and soda to clean slate, and the slate floor in the cottage appears restored sometime later, but no idea if it was lifted and relaid to deal with the same damp problems the bricks were sacrificed for.

They all head off to the nearby Shingleback Winery to get inspiration. This one has brick and slate floors, rusty roofing iron exposed inside, and a rustic shed aesthetic, but still made into liveable spaces.

So by the end, what are we left with? The cottages are reclad, painted and fitted out with mod-cons (Harrison hates the string of colour-change LED's that are really one of the few personal touches). At least the trusses are one surviving shabby chic element. The stables has a new roof, although the trusses again stay in view. The rest is art gallery white plasterboard and floating polished timber floors with 'mini orb' ceiling lining . All very up-to-date minimalist, but with some rustic recycled industrial objet d'art light fittings made out of bits form the farm to give it a heritagey feel. The big sliding doors are gone, they copied the trick of pulling out every second louver to let some more light in, and there is a raised recycled brick thing in the middle to reference the sacrificed stable floor. One 'feature wall' has been left rustic. I spied a scarf joint in the trusses that Chris from Episode 4 would have loved.

Among all the interior decoration shots though, the main view of the building that the heritage people said they had to preserve is hardly noticed.

I see ABC iview has the program listed under 'lifestyle' now - sure it was a 'documentary' a couple of weeks ago. The restoration label is again barely earned on this project.

The cottages are now 'luxury accommodation', which opened in 2017 with a bit of heritage PR: "Gone are the chaff or straw mattresses replaced with luxurious king-size beds, but we do provide the makings for a hearty breakfast together with a local wine and cheese platter on arrival"

 

    

The last unanswered question is who is going to fix up the Tatachilla winery across the road.

Restoration Australia Season 2 Episode 4 - Rosenthal

"Snapping up a piece of local history and preserving it appealed to Jan and her daughter Annie. Joined by Annie's carpenter partner, Chris, they tackle the daunting task of making the 1840s homestead a new family home."

At last, real restoration on Restoration Australia - see it here on iview. 

Chris is doing up the old Rosenthal Homestead for his mother-in-law. She is the publican at the Killarney hotel (30k out of Warwick) and is looking forward to retirement. Out the back is the 'Squatters cottage' that Chris will fix up for himself and Annie.

The property was put up for sale by the Mulcahy family, who had held it since 1919. "Jim and Diane Mulcahy said they wanted new tenants to take care of the heritage-listed homestead...and the Moirs said they would do just that." Its just outside the town of Warwick in southeast Queensland. Host, Stuart Harrison, has worked out the homestead was probably built between 1845 and 1849 by Frederick John Henry Bracker (c1798-1870), wool-grower, born at Mecklenburg, Germany, arrived New South Wales 1829 with Prince Esterhazy's Silesian flock for the Aberdeen Co. for whom he managed the Rosenthal Run. I suspect this was in the book Jan was holding. Harrison also refers to the house as a 'Queenslander' but I don't think it fits the category since it is siting on the ground without the elevation that characterises this style of bungalow. Perhaps if it were elevated, it might not have suffered the supposed flood damage, or such extensive termite attack.

He is supposed to have brought the first stud merino ram to the Darling Downs. The place was known as 'Fred the German's Creek'. After Bracker, John Deuchar (1822-1872) from Aberdeen, ran Rosenthal as well as the nearby Glengallan. He is also credited with having the first two thoroughbred merino rams on the Darling Downs as well as Lord Raglan, the first imported Shorthorn bull to reach the Downs.

Rosenthal was to be split up into 20 hectare lots, but the Moirs wanted a bigger property: "We were scared we might lose out on the homestead if they moved to auction it off in the different parcels so we bought it all together," So they got the homestead block and surrounding paddocks along with town water, underground power, 70,000 litres rainwater, 55,000 litres creek water storage, outbuildings, car and tractor accommodation, meat house, poultry pens, stable, brick bails, cattle yards and more - for $845,000.

The real-estate  agent reckoned the property would "...suit a wide range of buyers, including historians, developers, and lifestyle buyers." Perhaps they had a premonition that it would attract a potential heritage restoration reality TV show participant.

The new owners' approach to restoration sounded promising:

"We have a lot of experience doing up old properties," "We don't want to change the look of the place we'd just be looking after it and doing what needs to be done."

This sounds like it could be a paraphrase of the Burra Charter's "do as little as possible and as much as necessary" as well as demonstrating the methods outlined in James Semple Kerr’s The Conservation Plan. - ensure that the skills and knowledge necessary for the job are available - Chris seems to have these in abundance, second understand all aspects of the property - Mrs Moir seems to know the history well (and is polite enough not to show up the host), understand the significance, and the risks - Chris starts by stabilising the foundations and securing the roof to make it weather proof. All excellent conservation actions.

There is an element of drama - Chris carefully pulls the frames back into square and jacks up the floors. Dramatic music suggests something will go bad. Will he be able to manage or will he crumble under pressure - but he doesn't crack - there is lots of cracking and groaning but its lots of good noises as everything shifts back into place. The floors are leveled up "fairly close". Chris is cool about it. The white and damage is worse than he thought, but the challenge just encourages him.

Early wall paper exposed in the fix up, gives a date or around 1844-5. Chris hunts out the sandstone used for mortar in the chimney brickwork and experiments with mixes. He is using traditional skills and materials. We don't learn if it was lime putty or Portland cement he used, but the signs are the correct historical mix was used. He joins timbers with complex scarf joints - maybe it wasn't essential, but I get the impression he did it that way because he could.

The fabric of the building is respected, both as a source for historical authenticity and a place of cultural significance. The Conservation Plan says we should compile evidence and use this as the basis for conserving and recovering the cultural significance of the place.- Chris finds the mortises from the original wall studs to relocate the internal walls. Jan points out the remnant red paint on the roof and has a handle on the history of the place. Fragments of wall paper reveal the original finishes and sequence of decoration and they plan to leave some on display. The doors, windows and locks are extracted. They reveal their history in the dings and knocks. The original glass is re-puttied in with linseed oil to give it "...the really good proper look to be exactly the same as when it was first done." The metalwork is soaked in molasses for months to get rid of rust. New timbers are treated with a mix of vinegar and steel wool to age them. the straightening and patching is not shown, but the corrugated iron is reused on both roofs, keeping the rusty finish.

The adjacent "squatters cottage" is less intact, but they recognise that they don't want to over-restore so as not to "loose the beautiful patina". "History lives in the timbers." The restoration requires more intervention - the entire building, except the sandstone chimney is dismantled, the parts are numbered, and new components made out of new and recycled timbers. 

Its taken a year, but the results would satisfy the most stringent heritage practitioner. Strangely enough we don't hear anything about the interfering bureaucrats or meddling heritage advisors.

While the more prominent Glengallan Homestead up the road is on the Queensland State Heritage Register, Rosenthal is only on the Southern Downs local heritage register, which records the place as: why isn't it on the state register? The local listing says:

455 Rosenthal Homestead Homestead Street Warwick L19 RP31031 The footprint of the building, including overhangs. The place is significant: - for its association with the local historical theme of land selection - for its historical association with the early settlement of the Darling Downs - for its scarcity value as rare surviving evidence of an 1840s pastoral homestead in Queensland -for its historical association with early Queensland land exploration as the assembly point for Leichardt’s last expedition.

I presume they needed permits from the Council for the works. At least a demolition permit for the squatters cottage since it was completely removed for a while, but I can't find anything on their system. And no conflict with the council heritage expert. This was a mainstay of the first series. Perhaps council's have seen what happens and are keeping low.

There was a 'Queensland Womens' Historical Association' plaque from 1962, commemorating the first licence to depasture on Rosenthall (with two ls) issued to Captain W C Mayne for the Aberdeen Company in 1843. didn't see this in the show - did the former residents take it with them?

Chris makes the obvious, but unfortunately rarely adhered to maxim, that "There is a difference between restoring and replacing". His approach is far removed from the first three episodes of Restoration Australia, where the intrusion of style and commercial contractors compromised the conservation ethos too often. For Chris his life in carpentry gave him an intrinsic appreciation of the material - the fabric of heritage, and he was grateful to have "stumbled across something that's my calling." He was doing something he enjoyed, that made a lasting contribution not just to his own family, but to Australian Heritage, and there were no mother-in-law jokes.

Restoration Australia Season-2 Episode 3 Jack Clarke

"The 1960s introduced us to shag rugs, lava lamps, minimalism and bright, open spaces. Melbourne couple Laura and Reece are leaving inner Melbourne for suburbia, with plans to restore a modernist home to its former glory."

The 1960s house in South Frankston designed by Clarke Hopkins Clarke is subject to Episode 3. But again, restoration is a complete misnomer. It should really be called Demolition Australia. 

The architects claim:

"While the Frankston House is in essence a restoration, it is not a restoration that returns the home to how it was originally built, rather it is a restoration that captures the inspiration that lay behind the first design."

Perhaps their inspiration was Viollet-le-Duc, who said of restoration:

"To restore a building is not to maintain it, repair it or remake it: it is to re-establish it in a complete state which may never have existed at any given moment." 

It is certainly made into something that had never existed.

But even Viollet recognised the primacy of the fabric: The "re-establishment" had to be scientifically documented with plans and photographs and archaeological records, which would guarantee exactness. The restoration had to involve not just the appearance of the monument, or the effect that it produced, but also its structure; it had to use the most efficient means to assure the long life of the building, including using more solid materials, used more wisely. It had to exclude any modification contrary to obvious evidence; but the structure could be adapted to conform to more modern or rational uses and practices, which meant alterations to the original plan; and it should preserve older modifications made to the building, with the exception of those which compromised its stability or its conservation, or those which gravely violated the value of its historical presence.

This could just about be the Burra Charter, with more emphasis put on the reconstruction end of the scale.

Little of the house is left intact. The interior walls are striped of their plaster, several are removed entirely, the ceilings are pulled out, the floor tiles lifted, the built in furniture is stripped, the unfortunate bluestone bar is demolished, the back wall is removed and re-positioned so they can push out the main bedroom to build an en suite, the roof is lifted, the pool is demolished, the garden is cleared out.

Stuart Harrison remarks that it is "gutsy to not knock down a house that is not heritage listed. He makes it sound like demolishing the old and building a new McMansion is some form of enforced social obligation, rather than a demonstration of competitive status seeking.

Jan 2010 the original rusty roof

2016 new roofing iron and solar panels

Oct 2017 the old bedrooms are demolished

2017 renno underway new framing installed

Feb 2018 new roof, raised and extended, pool demo

Jan 2019 landscaping in

Laura feels sorry for the house - they've demolished half of it. So many of the original modernist features have been removed that Laura and Reece must turn to the interior decoration to recapture the Modernist inspiration - so they use some tiles like ones FLW used on some building in Japan. Sheesh what's wrong with Frank Walker. 

Some change might be justified in order to meet modern standards of construction, services and thermal insulation. Calling it a restoration though is dangerous. We are already in a period of relaxed versions of heritage protection. More buildings are facaded or gutted and only token heritage fabric retained. Developers push the envelope both in what then can remove, and what they can put in its place. So to present this sort of show as restoration gives the green light to all those other historic building owners that would like to turn them into open plan, double their size or make space for a big new development and not have to be bothered with fixing up some old bit of building.

Restoration Australia Season 2 has fallen into the usual home renovation show cliches and stereotypes, where ripping out and replacing demonstrates your success. And it is about DRAMA! A roof beam is rotten! The pool is in the wrong place! Wikipedia lists about 116 home renovation TV series. Add one more.

The show does have a thin layer of architectural history overlain over the home renovation template. We learn a bit about Modernism. It was optimistic apparently. and it is about light, and the outdoors, and clean lines, and honest materials.

The Frankston house was designed by a firm closely involved in the Small Homes Service, a scheme to provide modern designs for houses in the economically constrained post war period of suburban expansion. Houses that addressed the suburban mode of living, improved living conditions with indoor toilets, shared living areas and less formal layouts, that made use of the positive aspects of the Australian environment - sun, air and the bush.

Built for Jack Clarke's friend,  Brian Gregory Gloury, (an engineer in the Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing and one time air force cadet and stalwart of the Frankston Cricket Club),  the Ronald Ave house expresses the break with tradition both in its design, and position, turned as it is at a 45 degree skew on the block.

The original design was apparently introduced as a slightly modified version of service plan V376, for "a split level home with a reduced floor area and only 3 bedrooms."

The do-it-yourselfers from the first season appear to have been replace by cashed up hipsters and wealthy elites in the new one.  While the owners are the main actors in front of the camera, the real work is being done by architects and professional building contractors.  This renno cost around $600,000. Houses in Frankston South sell for $700-900,000. The 'modest' Hunting Ground fixup was over a quarter of a million dollars. Paganin wasn't disclosed.

Why they have changed from the budget conscious hands-on owner, to the well-paid contractors format, is unclear, except that the first season took a lot longer to make. The visits were spread out more, and the delays were more prominent. This might be why the new season seems to lack drama and pathos. If you have plenty of money, the issues and conflicts are more readily resolved. If you employ professionals, you also have their egos taking over, and their solutions tend to be more immediate.  None of this waiting until you have time or money or can find the right materials at the price. And we don't even see the conflict between client and architect and contractor. If we did, it might make the series more entertaining.

The Mid-Century Domestic Architecture facebook group has featured the house, and commenting about the Restoration Australia screening that some might find the extent of alterations and modifications confronting. 

The restoration is described as "Elective heritage work" making it sound like cosmetic surgery or a hip replacement. They want to reuse the bricks because you can't get them any more so the tradies spend ages chipping off mortar. Then they don't have enough then they find a perfect match. So they didn't really have to elect to use the old bricks. 

What we are left with are the renovation fetishes; fussing over what sort of tiles, or whether the bricks will exactly match, how much timber paneling is enough, the smoothness of the glass tiles in the bath, how the team "... re-imagines the home through the lens of Julius Shulman’s iconic images" to suggest Frankston is some sort of Palm Springs on the Bay. There is a focus on appearance rather than substance culminating in shots of ironic Warhol cardboard boxes for the move, an Eames chair artfully placed in a sunlit corner and the show's cast padding along the stepping stones in a Mon Oncle garden.

Shame really. The Small Homes Service and modest mid century modernist homes offer salutary lessons about using simple but effective designs, relatively cheap mass-produced materials in innovative ways, and living in a more sustainable and environmentally healthy manner. Fetishising style becomes a neurosis.

There are fortunately other houses and buildings by Clarke Hopkins Clarke that have remained. - 18 Borrell Street Keilor from the 'V375' - Service Plan, 21 Brewster St, Essendon, 14 Nunga Court Mount Eliza. and Jack Clarke's own home at 18 Hutchison Avenue Beaumaris

18 Borrell Street, Keilor

See them before the restorers restorer the life out of them.