LOCAL LIFE
Fairfield House is a
labour of love
The outside of historic Fairfield House is near completion . Owners , Sharon and Craig Nancarrow and their team of tradies will then start restoring the interior . Photo : Kathryn Johnston .
by Greg Martin
It truly has been a labour of love for husband and wife , Sharon and Craig Nancarrow , in restoring historic Fairfield House to its magnificent glory .
Fairfield House , overlooking Windsor Golf Club and with an awe-inspiring view to the Blue Mountains , was built in 1832 by explorer and roadbuilder , William Cox . The mansion passed through the ownership hands on numerous occasions since , and for close to the past 20 or so years , stood unoccupied until the Nancarrow ’ s purchased the property in July , last year .
Oh yes , unoccupied bar the presence of hundreds of pigeons – but more on that later .
So , who is this couple who have undertaken this massive task in the restoration of Fairfield House ?
The Nancarrows own Dubbo ’ s premier accommodation venue , Golden West Motor Inn , which , since the couple began their hands-on restoration of Fairfield House in September last year , is being operated by two of their children , Blake and Hayley .
Prior to that Craig had a plumbing business and Sharon earned her living as a personal trainer .
Subsequently , both are as fit as Mallee bulls , which has stood them in good stead , because they are well-and-truly hands-on in helping the army of “ first-class ” tradies bringing Fairfield House back to her grandeur .
“ We have been blessed on two fronts - a good relationship with Hawkesbury City Council in ensuring the renovations are done to the book , and with all our tradies ,” Sharon said .
Sharon asked if I could give special mention to a couple of those experts , but I told her I couldn ’ t write about the outstanding skills provided by skilled carpenters Wes ( WJB Services ), Ray ( RecCycled . com ) and the folk at Millars Doors & Timbers .
“ Sharon and I set up a small sitebuilding on the property and have lived there for the past year- and believe you me , we don ’ t sit and watch the tradies do all the work ,” Craig laughed .
“ We work between 12 and 14 hours , seven days a week just to keep up with what our wonderful tradies are achieving .” “ Sure , we go to bed tired , but happy with what we have achieved that day , and then wake up next morning , excited about getting back into it ,” Sharon added . Yep , a labour of love ! The exterior of Fairfield House should be completed by the time you , dear reader , is perusing this page .
“ There ’ s a tremendous amount of work to be done inside the building , but first off we ’ ll be working on the three bedrooms and modernising the huge kitchen ,” Sharon said .
I posed the question to the couple as to why they decided to bring Fairfield House back to life .
“ I grew up in in Glenmore Park and as a keen skier , I ’ ve always had a love of the Hawkesbury River and the historic Windsor precinct ,” Craig explained .
“ Once we learned that Fairfield House was up for sale , Sharon and I did our sums and put in a successful bid despite knowing that we would have to outlay many more dollars in bringing her back to life .”
I asked the couple would they then relocate from the site-building once the bedrooms and kitchen are completed .
“ No ,” they both chorused . “ We have agreed that we won ’ t make Fairfield House our home until it is fully completed .”
“ We will sell the Golden West Motor Inn and Hayley and Blake will come down from Dubbo and hopefully our older son , Luke , now living in Port Macquarie , will also join us ,” said Sharon . The pigeons ? “ I estimate that around 500 pigeons had made the numerous roof cavities their home … and toilet ,” Craig smiled .
“ Thankfully , Hayley came down from Dubbo and our dear girl and I spent several days filling and carrying buckets of guano down to fill three 20-cubic metre bins with the bloody stuff !”
THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 173 // OCTOBER 2024 9