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The old cottage was constructed  in 1862 in the time of our founding abbot Rosendo Salvado OSB, typical of the construction of the era, using fieldstones rendered and unrendered and plastered inside using a mud and horsehair mix.

The building is part of the same building phase as the two three-storey monastery buildings and the abbey church, both in 1861.

The cottage was rented by the Governor and occupied by the police.

Later, near the turn of the century, it was the New Norcia Post and Telegraph Office and, at a later date, was occupied by a Mrs Kelly who purportedly ran a guesthouse from the cottage. In recent years it has housed New Norcia employees until sitting vacant for some years now.

There was a vision to refurbish this old jewel of the New Norcia architecture and add it into our accommodation offering, particularly targeting families.

The first restoration works were undertaken in February 2022 replacing the ceiling in the kitchen area.

Other priorities interrupted continuing work until mid 2024 when our Grounds and Maintenance team got to the serious work of the renovation, both inside and outside of the building, aided by contractors doing wall works, plumbing and electrical works.

As that work began to take shape, Abbot John, Carmel and Joyce were making decisions related to the décor and presentation of each and every room. In places, that restoration work required gentle and careful cleaning of, for instance, the sitting room walls, to remove years of smoke and grime without removing the delicate old lime washed decorations.

The work was completed this year just before the last Abbot’s Table and, fittingly the Abbot’s brother and niece were the first occupants.

The restoration and decoration of the building is a triumph and a credit to all involved. The easiest way to depict its former state and current glory is through the photographic record… The images speak for themselves.

A huge part of the renovation was in the installation of the kitchen and the bathroom.

Kitchen renovation stages:  The design team of Abbot John, Carmel and Joyce chose the colours and styled and selected all the hardware. Our Grounds and Maintenance team then undertook all the installation work from fitting cupboards to all the tiling works.

Bathroom: As with the kitchen, the design team and installation team, plus Matt from Northern Valley Plumbing produced a gorgeous transformation.

And finally, the completed dining room and laundry transformations.

We acknowledge the expertise of the contractors involved in the restoration works:

• Matt from Northern Valley Plumbing.
• Mick from Little Mick’s Electrics.
• Pauly and Co electrical.
• Bruno working for John Brassington.
• Darren from DNA Decorators.