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| Donovan's Cottage |
| A dilapidated cottage is restored to its former glory. |
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Just over a year ago the local council in this small coastal town was thinking of demolishing this dilapidated cottage to make way for a parking lot. Then Murray Pollock came along.
Murray had his reasons for wanting to buy the derelict cottage. The price was good, it had a great location overlooking farmland, he was looking for a lifestyle change and he thought it would be the ideal building challenge - and that it was! Murray approached the council to say he was interested in buying and restoring the cottage back to its original state on the grounds that they would let him use the building commercially even though it is in a residential area. It took 18 months for the idea to be approved and Murray has only owned the cottage for 12 months.
When Murray first saw the cottage, it was a mess — it hadn't been lived in for over twenty years, except of course for all the animals including cats and rats that took refuge in the deserted place. There was no back door, all the windows had been smashed, it was filthy and stank of animal droppings, basically all that remained was the shell of the cottage.
It has been a busy year for Murray who has worked building other people's homes to help pay the bills for his own. For the past three months he has worked seven days a week and apart from the electrical and plumbing work, he has done everything himself — with a little help from his friends and family of course.
The first thing Murray had to do was level the floor as the difference in levels was a staggering 310mm. The house was lifted with car jacks while the foundations were re-built and the floor was re-leveled. Murray then discovered that the fireplace had to be re-built from the ground up. His father handcrafted all the new mantelpieces.
Murray demolished everything that could not be restored, including the verandah and the addition between the cookhouse and main house. Most of the original fixtures are still standing, although all have been repaired and cleaned. People helped him out along the way, one friend supplied a fridge they thought would go well in the place and Murray also acquired a sink from a nearby demolition.
Murray plans for Donovan's Cottage to become a coffeehouse and gallery selling local artwork, his own range of bush furniture and more contemporary wooden designs. In the future he would also like to build a two storey home on the property so he can live and work on site — however for the meantime he has earned himself a bit of a break.
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More Info
Contact Murray Pollock at
'Donovan's Cottage'
42 Wason St, Milton, NSW 2538
Ph: 02 4454 4225 or 0418 639 702
Website: www.shoalhaven.net.au/~donovans/
E-mail: donovans@shoalhaven.net.au
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Disclaimer
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