From jigsaw to masterpiece home in Victoria
IT has 20 sets of french doors from an old Rockhampton hospital and a timber staircase from a bank in Melbourne.
IT has 20 sets of french doors from an old Rockhampton hospital and a timber staircase from a bank in Collins St in Melbourne.
The roof came from beams in Melbourne's old Rosella and Dunlop factories and some of the stained glass windows were imported from England in the late 1800s.
Buyers can snap up a slice of property history at "Summerlea" in Macclesfield.
The four-bedroom, mud brick house sits on about 8ha and took original owner-builder John Rushton 11 years to finish.
The antiques dealer collected each piece for the house and stored them in two sheds on the property before he was ready to build.
"The staircase I had bought that some time before the house concept had come along. I actually didn't buy it from the bank, I bought it off an advert in the Trading Post,'' Mr Rushton said.
"It was stored under somebody's house. I only paid $300 for it."
Mr Rushton and his family first lived in a caravan on the site and then in the upstairs main suite while the rest of the house was completed around them by 1986.
"It wasn't all easy. There were times when we were standing on dirt rather than proper floors,'' he said.
The family sold the property about 12 years ago, leaving behind a neatly laminated catalogue of the antique features for future owners to enjoy.
Bricks in the house were recycled from an eastern suburbs primary school and the mud bricks were made on site.
Other historic pieces include bifold doors with cedar-etched glass from England and an array of antique light fittings, vanities, cedar doors and benches.
"The crazy paved floor, that's all South Australian natural paved stone and it was my idea to divide it up with the timber,'' Mr Rushton said.
Current owner Jeff Hedger said his family "fell in love'' with Summerlea when looking to move back to Melbourne from Sydney.
"Anyone who has come through with a trade background has just been amazed at the work," Mr Hedger said.
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