Eyesore to eye-popping: Inside Brisbane’s biggest home reno

It was notoriously rundown, vandalised and neglected for years. Now, a dedicated team is returning Kangaroo Point’s Lamb House to its glory days as one of our great homes. SEE THE CHANGES

Brisbane’s biggest home reno is well under way atop the Kangaroo Point cliffs, as a team of specialist architects, builders and craftspeople return Lamb House to its former glory.

The 120-year-old house was vandalised, large sections of roof had fallen in and the building was at risk from fires lit by squatters until Council ended a years-long standoff with former owner Joy Lamb.

One of the stately rooms after walls were stripped back.

In May last year Council listed “Home’’ for sale and used the proceeds to recoup unpaid rates.

New owners, prominent Brisbane couple Steve and Jane Wilson, announced in June last year that they would spend $15 million renovating the property.

Inside Lamb House, Kangaroo Point renovation: PHOTO GALLERY

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Leading heritage architects David Gole from Conrad Gargett, and project architect James Davidson JDA Co, were now well advanced on the project.

Large sections of collapsed roof trusses have been replaced, while replacements for the original tiles, imported from Belgium, have been painstakingly installed.

The roof alone needs huge repairs after large sections had fallen in.

The project is now up to the grand, solid cedar staircase and its “laylight'', a stained glass roof window which lets natural light into the stairwell.

Mr Davidson said ABC TV’s Australian Story program was documenting the makeover.

The restoration even had its own Instagram page.

Steve and Jane Wilson outside Lamb House last year. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“We’ve had inquiries from Grand Designs and Restoration Australia as well,’’ he said.

“We’re trying not just to recreate what was there, but to take into account climate change because we would like it to have another 100 years of use.

“We’re future proofing it against things such as storms so the tiles don’t blow off and so it can withstand worsening (weather events), using methods and materials that weren’t available when the house was built.

“It will largely be a brand new house when we’re finished.’’

Mr Davidson said one of the highlights was repurposing the attic to make it into a liveable space.

The verandahs need a lot of work to make them safe.

“There were stairs going up to it, but it was quite unsafe. The new owners have yet to work out what they will use it for,’’ he said.

“Home’’ was built in the Federation ‘Queen Anne’ style, popular among substantial homes in Australia at the turn of the 20th century.

It is considered Brisbane’s most distinguished example of the style and “a rare surviving example of a grand, intact Federation period residence” in Brisbane.

Much of the stained glass and leadlight was lost or damaged while the building was unoccupied.

Specialist leadlight makers Gerry Cummins and Jill Stehn, from Eumundi in the Noosa hinterland, were called in to recreate it.

Restoration of the staircase and a skylight above it has begun.

The project has included the mammoth task of removing all the lead paint, testing brick mortar and timber species and assessing substructure condition.

One surprise was a heavy cast iron ball, found on site long after it had fallen off, which had now been craned back into place above the observatory tower.

Some of the pressed metal ceiling was corroded and damaged by water, but most would be retained and conserved.

Some sections of roof had to be completely replaced.

“This is the most exciting but daunting heritage project we’ve taken on – the home is falling apart before our eyes,” Mr Wilson said last year when it was announced he and his wife were the new owners.

“But when it came on the market, we wanted it go to a Brisbane family, and if not us, then an Australian family.’’

After the restoration was finished, which could take more than two years, the couple planned to open “Home’’ occasionally for fundraising and public events.

Lamb House in its glory days.