The restoration of Kilgour House in the Northern Tasmanian Village of Longford has been a labour of love for Ken Richards and Garry Harris.
Buying a house was the last thing on Ken Richard’s mind when he visited Tasmania for a holiday in 2014. But as luck would have it, the airline IT industry consultant was passing through the historic village of Evandale on his way to Launceston airport when he noted an old pub that had recently sold for $600,000.
“It struck me that you couldn’t buy a shoebox in Sydney for that,” he recalls. “Of course, I went home and that would have been that if Kilgour House hadn’t popped up in my feed.” The mid-to-late 1830s cottage in Longford is an exemplar of a colonial Georgian-style bungalow, with its precise symmetry and fretwork-framed flagstone verandah on three sides. Internally, rooms open of the central hallway and there are extensive cellars underground. As well, there’s a service wing which is a cottage built earlier than the main house, now used as guest accommodation.
“The house was in need of some care, but in a way, that’s what attracted me,” Ken says. “Much of the internal redcedar woodwork, for example, was in original condition and had never been painted. It had pretty much not been touched for almost 200 years. I’d recently received a small inheritance, so I put in a cheeky offer and was somewhat shocked when it was accepted.”
Having recovered from the initial ‘oh my lord, I’ve bought a house’, Ken rented the cottage out while he worked out what he was going to do with it. Ken and his partner, Garry Harris, finally moved down to Tasmania in May 2019 to begin the house and garden restoration. They say they were very fortunate to secure the services of heritage experts, carpenter Sam Heyes, who restored the dormer windows, floors and stairs as well as the fretwork, and plasterer Mark Woodley, who was responsible for removing the concrete render on the walls and its replacement with the correct lime renders.
Along the way, they uncovered some surprises including a disused chimney that had been covered during reroofing and an original Georgian fireplace hidden behind a cast iron and brick replacement.
Gradually they were able to piece together the property’s history, which goes back to the early days of European settlement. “We were initially told that the house was built by Thomas Archer as a wedding gift for one of his daughters. Thomas, who along with his brother, William, established Woolmers and Brickendon Estates, two farming properties, which are now part of the 11 Australian Convict World Heritage-listed sites,” Ken explains. “That turned out not to be the case, though the Archers did have a brief connection with the house when Thomas’ daughter Susan, who had married Dr Kilgour in 1847, bought and lived in the house from 1851 to 1854.”
Records show that the first land grant was made in 1814 to William Woodard, who had relocated from Norfolk Island. The present house evolved from a dwelling built on the land in the 1820s and was extended in the late 1840s. The 1842 census recorded that John Gatty Carr lived in the original cottage with one other ‘convict servant girl’. The most significant period of ownership began in 1861, when the Ritchie family took over. It remained in their hands until 1939 when the last Thomas Ritchie died. His housekeeper, Beatrice Scully, then bought it from his estate and kept it until 1969. “It’s thanks to that long period of ownership that so much of the house was preserved,” Ken explains. “We owe them a great debt of gratitude.” Around 1900, Thomas added a billiard room, which required the installation of eight brick and concrete columns to support its weight.
While Kilgour remains a work in progress, it’s a remarkable achievement for Ken and Garry, who works for the Defence Department, and finds their proximity to Launceston airport a big plus for his regular commutes. The garden is where Garry excels and Ken cheerfully admits that he looks after the hedges and roses, while Garry is responsible for the rest.
“We pretty much bulldozed the garden, as it was very overgrown and full of Arum italicum and vinca vine,” Garry explains. “We are very lucky to have a small surviving part of the wall that once surrounded the entire property, and some beautiful established trees, though we had to thin them out a bit to allow more light in. We are also lucky to have an old walnut and apricot tree, both remnants from the original orchard.”
Ken and Garry unearthed the original garden plan, which encouraged them to rearrange some plantings and install a birch grove. This was planted according to celebrated landscape designer Edna Walling’s ‘nine potatoes’ method of throwing potatoes on the ground and planting each birch where they landed. “It makes sure the grove is haphazard enough to look natural,” Garry says. They’ve propagated many other plants themselves or grown them from seeds imported from all over the world. These days the garden is a tribute to countless hours of efort, and finally suficiently established for Ken and Garry to enjoy the odd moment in their G&T courtyard with their rescue dog Luna, a Ridgeback/American Staffy cross. The couple also open their grounds for the annual open-garden weekend called Longford Blooms.
“We were approached soon after we moved down here permanently,” Garry says. “We didn’t think we were anywhere near ready, but the organisers persuaded us that people would like to see it as we progressed. About 3000 people attended last year and it’s a lovely way to learn more about Longford and its history, gardening and engage with the local community.” In many ways, Kilgour House has delivered unexpected benefits, particularly as Ken now has a perfect display space for showcasing his considerable collection of memorabilia belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte. “It started as an interest in history, but it wasn’t until I started using eBay that I became a serious collector,” Ken says. “It turns out Tasmania has a significant connection with Napoleon as he sponsored the expedition conducted by French explorer Nicholas Baudin that visited Tasmania from 1801 to 1803.” Baudin identified more than 1500 botanical and 3900 zoological species on his voyage.
Although he died on the island of Mauritius on his way home, many of the plants and animals he collected ended up in the garden at Malmaison, where the Empress Josephine lived. “She introduced the black swan and eucalypts to the garden,” Ken explains. “She also confiscated other animals from Baudin’s boats, including what is believed to be the last known surviving King Island emu.” In a roundabout way, Kilgour also gave Ken his new role as a property manager for the National Trust of Tasmania. “The job kind of found me,” he says. “We’d documented the progress of the restoration on Instagram and it came to the attention of the recruiters for the job, which includes managing Clarendon and Franklin House and the Old Umbrella Shop in Launceston. It’s a new career direction for me, and one that manages to combine all the things I’m interested in. None of it would have happened if I hadn’t been passing time in Evandale.”
