Main House Extension
Exterior Transformation

1. Finished exterior - appearance from laneway

Table of Contents

Background

There are no major building works planned for the 1988 extensions, just an update to the look.

The schoolhouse was originally a self-contained four-room residence plus classroom within the bluestone building. It has four beautiful chimneys similar to the two that can be seen below, and five fireplaces only one of which is still operational.

A separate kitchen/laundry/bathroom annex was built prior to 1905 connected to the schoolhouse via a short covered breezeway. This annex had a skillion roof. (The kitchen is shown as existing on a 1905 plan of new work.) There appear to have been further extensions to the kitchen which were later subsumed because the floor of the older build is still intact below the current floor.

Based on the date on the plans, in 1988 the then owner, who was a professional builder, completely reconfigured this arrangement to what it is today: the kitchen, bathroom, ensuite, laundry, family and breakfast rooms. All of this was then covered by a pitched roof to match the schoolhouse inside of which are another three rooms.

It's not clear when the open air gap between the schoolhouse and the circa 1905 kitchen extension was enclosed to become a hallway.

Main House Extension

2. October 2012

3. February 2015

4. February 2013

5. March 2016

In image 2 above the schoolhouse is mostly obscured behind the kitchen (centre, circa 1905), but the original 1880 kitchen and parlour chimneys can be seen at left and the extension with attic (circa 1988) at right and above the 1905 kitchen. The stonework on the kitchen and more recent attic wall above is more rustic than the neatly aligned bluestone work on the schoolhouse, and shows several adhoc repairs. Although it is not in any danger of collapse, aesthetically sections of the lower level kitchen wall should be rebuilt/pointed.

The overall plan is to harmonize the colour scheme around the old bluestone/limestone schoolhouse, starting with the annex building exterior now completed (Annex Building Exterior Transformation).

Still To Do

  • Replace gutters.

  • Replace upstairs domed polycarbonate skylight with double glazed