Built To Last

Location:	Narromine, New South Wales
Country:	Australia
Client:	Anna and Neville Buch
Builder:	Neil Cale
Products Used:	LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB® LYSAGHT MINI ORB® LYSAGHT MINISCREEN® Fencing LYSAGHT CUSTOM BLUE ORB®

A Narromine homestead dating from the 1920s has been lovingly restored, transformed from a state of neglect into a warm and inviting family home. One of the most surprising things about the house, is that it still contains the original LYSAGHT MINI ORB® interior walls, despite the vagaries of weather and time.

Located about halfway between Dubbo and Narromine, 450 kilometres from Sydney, the homestead, called Kameruka, has had a long history. An article in a 1919 edition of the Dubbo Dispatch describes Kameruka as "one of the prettiest homesteads in the district, there is no convenience or comfort that the most fastidious could wish for that is not provided in this pretty rural home."

When Anna and Neville Buch bought the property more than 70 years later, nothing could have been further from the truth. Kameruka had been derelict for over 30 years, home to numerous bird families, as well as some adventurous cows who had found their way in through the gauzed in verandah.

The Buchs bought the 240 acre property in 1991, just before they moved overseas. "I'm from Narromine, which is where my family is," explains Anna. "The house has actually been in my family for about 30 years. Neville and I bought it because when we first met, I took Neville out to Narromine and he just loved the area, it's just so different to Sydney, so remote, that you can actually relax, he just fell in love with it."

"While we were living overseas, we just left it the way it was, didn't think about it too much," says Anna. "And then when we decided to come back to Sydney in 2000, we thought, well, better get cracking!"

"It was a big job", says Anna. Especially because the Buchs wanted to restore the house to its former glory, preserving its history, rather than destroying it. "The house was derelict before we renovated it," she says. "Cows were living in it. It was all open, animals were just walking through it, there was only half a roof, and there were bird nests everywhere. Most builders we took out there just said, 'knock it down'. The reason we decided to use Neil Cale was that he appreciated the history of the house, and wanted to preserve it."

"I've known the house since I was a child,"says builder, Neil Cale. "My uncle owned the property over the road, and I used to play there as a kid. It was important to everyone concerned that we try and restore as much of the house as possible."

The farmhouse is typical of the houses of that era in this area, consisting of a wide hallway down the centre, and four rooms, two on each side, adjacent to the hallway, as well as a very wide (2.4 metres) bullnose verandah. Each room measures about 25 square metres and has a fireplace.

"The rooms all had the original oak mantelpieces, and mirrors, which we restored, as well as cypress pine floorboards, which we sanded back and repolished,"says Neil. "The French doors in each bedroom were damaged by the resident cows, so we've replaced them in cedar. All the internal walls were made of original LYSAGHT MINI ORB®, which would date from when the house was first built, over 80 years ago. We cleaned them off and painted them, and they are as good as new! We've kept the original 12 foot ceilings as well, which are made from original LYSAGHT® pressed tin, as well as the pressed tin cornices."

Anna loves the original walls and ceilings. "I think it's just amazing that the original LYSAGHT MINI ORB® has survived,"she says. "I just love it."

Externally, the house has been entirely re-clad. "The original exterior wall cladding was LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB®, also dating from early last century," says Neil. "We replaced it with new LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB® in Deep Ocean® COLORBOND® steel, installed vertically, with green batts for insulation, in between the interior and exterior walls."

"We also replaced the wide enclosed verandah that encircles the house. The verandah roof is bullnosed, made from LYSAGHT CUSTOM BLUE ORB®," says Neil. In an innovative twist, the verandah is enclosed by 50 centre metre high panels of a BlueScope Lysaght fencing profile, LYSAGHT MINISCREEN® in Deep Ocean®, and is then gauzed to the top of the verandah roof.

According to Neil, the use of this fencing profile for the verandah enclosure made the job simple and straightforward. "LYSAGHT MINISCREEN® is a profile traditionally used for fencing. I went in and talked to the blokes at BlueScope Lysaght and they suggested using this fencing profile for the verandah."

"The LYSAGHT MINISCREEN® system, with its simple top and bottom rail, was easy to install, and, with the gauze, made a pretty simple system. We just screwed the bottom rail to the floor, and clipped the MINISCREEN® onto it and the top rail. It made a lot of sense to do it that way."

"The good thing about the MINISCREEN® is that it's COLORBOND® steel on both sides, and the mini-corrugated profile tied in well with the rest of the house."

"BlueScope Lysaght was very helpful, particularly with technical support," adds Neil. "Especially when it came to using the LYSAGHT MINISCREEN® fencing product, it just saved us so much work."

In addition to restoring the original house, the Buchs have also added a large extension to the south of the house, which includes a kitchen, television room and large living area for the family, as well as a granny flat for the caretaker, which comprises a bedroom, ensuite, living room, and kitchen.

Featuring cypress pine tongue-and-groove floorboards and LYSAGHT MINI ORB® in Paperbark® COLORBOND® steel as interior wall cladding, the new area has been designed to coordinate with the older part of the house.

"When we did the extension, my brother suggested that we take the MINI ORB® all the way through, which we did," says Anna. "It's just fantastic. It gives the rooms texture and complements the original theme of the house. The colour I chose throughout the interior was Paperbark®, a rich creamy colour, with picture rails and skirting in deeper cream."

All up, Anna says, the restoration of Kameruka has been a complete success. "People walk in and they are amazed by the house, it's got a fantastic feel. The combination of the history and tradition of the original part and the space and light of the extension works really well. We love it, we are so happy with the result."

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