Progress Report #1

​We’ve had our property in Dunoon for a few months now, and I’m sure some of you are wondering what we’ve actually been doing. We’ve decided to start writing intermittent progress reports to update everyone on our developments. 


Progress Report #1: Nov-Dec 2018
 
When Cal first visited Jameswood with our good friends Barry and Dexter, they had a difficult time reaching the front door of the building. The grounds were overgrown with a wide variety of bushes, trees and weeds and some ferns had even managed to take root inside the building. Nature had truly taken over.  

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Our first order of business was clearing the land, so that we could access the property with ease, and so that, later on down the line, we can safely install scaffolding, and bring machinery and vehicles onto the property.

On dry days… or days when it wasn’t completely bucketing down, we’ve spent most of our time attempting to clear the land.

​We were especially lucky to have an extra helping paw on site, with Dexter clearing the property, stick by stick. Our wood burner, which warms our site office, has had a constant fuel source from all the bushes we’ve fought back over the weeks, and we did not struggle to find firewood for Bonfire Night this year. 

Dexter struggling with the difference between clearing the garden and playing fetch.

Remember remember!

Before

After

We can now walk around the house!

At some point in time, the drainage system on our property has failed, and our land has become completely water logged. Once we had cleared the property sufficiently, addressing the drainage issues became a priority during better-weather days.

​We’ll write a separate blog post that discusses our water management issues and plans in detail, but for this report, let’s just say there was A LOT of digging involved in the last few weeks of the Dunoon project. 

Happy to be done after two days of digging a trench.

​On days where it was bucketing down, we had plenty to do inside the house – where our holey roof provided us with a little protection from the rain.
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The apartments had been left fully furnished… with soggy, mouldy couches and mattresses, broken furniture and decades-old appliances. After more than five runs to the dump, with our Ford Transit filled to the brim, we are getting to know the friendly staff at Dunoon’s local tip and gradually clearing the trash that has been left on the property. 

Click photos to view full size.

Before we can start fixing the house, we also have to clear out the crumbling wet plaster that lines Jameswood’s walls. Property development tv shows make this job look easy. Their montages of knocking down walls with sledge hammers and bringing a house back to its bones look fun and exciting!

I’ve now found out that plaster is dustier and heavier than I could ever have imagined! And getting rid of the mouldy, wet insulation sitting behind the walls and ceilings can be a very itchy endeavour!
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Bucket by bucket, and with plenty of help from our friends, we’ve managed to bring our apartments back to the studs, and in the process, we’ve also collected a lifetime supply of kindling produced by the lath!  
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Barry and Ryan helping out with clearing the upstairs.

​Clearing the land and the house has been A LOT of hard work, but we’ve managed to have a lot of fun in the process. Cal and I are really enjoying having nature right here on our doorstep, and have managed to take a few days off to explore and hike in the area. 

We’ve loved having friends up to blow off some steam with, and they’ve been such an immense help on the project so far.

We’re overwhelmed by the moral support we’ve received both in the local community, and from our friends all over the world.

Little by little, the property is starting to look less like a haunted house in a spooky, overgrown forest, and more like a proper building site. Now that we’ve prepped Jameswood Villa, we’re excited to start actual restoration work in the coming weeks! 

​Thank you for joining us, as we take on Jameswood Villa!