Australian comedian and one half of Hamish and Andy, Andy Lee has been undergoing one of his biggest ventures for the past four years alongside his fiancé Rebecca Harding.
The pair are converting a 150-year-old mansion into their dream home.
Situated in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, the historic Ravenswood home was bought by Andy and Rebecca in 2021 for a whopping $8.5 million.
“Mum saw a story about the house on the news – she filmed it off the TV and sent it to me with the message, ‘I think I’ve found your new home’ as a joke,” Andy told The Australian Women’s Weekly in May 2024.
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“We were out looking at another house, and sort of joked with one another, ‘Let’s drive past that weird place your mum showed us,’ and by chance it was open,” Rebecca added.
“We stepped inside and looked at one another like, ‘Whoa … ’ We both had the same feeling – that feeling people tell you about when they find the perfect property. Something just felt so right and we’d never had that feeling before.”
THE HISTORY OF RAVENSWOOD
The manor was built in 1876 for a ship’s chandler named Alexander Tough, and was protected in 2018 as part of the ‘Rookery’ heritage precinct.
Spanning over a 950 square metre block, the old residence is home to eight rooms, height ceilings and incredible arched hallways.
The original veranda was removed in 2017 by a previous home owner and the lower floor windows have been converted into beautiful doors.
Much of the home will be preserved due to its heritage, but the couple will be putting an incredible touch on the home.
Andy and Rebecca with their team from Flack Studio. (Credit: Instagram)
RAVENSWOOD RENO PROGRESS
Purchasing the property back in 2021, Andy shared to their Ravenswood Instagram, “It had no electricity, no running water and grass growing through it. We had no idea what we were in for and what it would become… we still don’t.”
Since starting their renovations the couple has begun documenting the progress on Instagram, having now clocked 191,000 followers, coming along for an incredible journey.
Sharing on the initial progress, they shared an image of Andy with a photo of the ceiling falling in.
“Due to the chimney’s being removed and never replaced, rain water has poured in causing the ceiling to collapse. One upside is the joy Henri 🐶 gets when she jumps rubble…”
A few weeks later, they shared a similar image of the ceiling caving in in another room.
“I guess we’ll save some costs on demolition if the house continues to demolish itself. Just arrived to see more of the ceiling caved in.”
ANDY LEE AND REBECCA HARDING’S RENOVATIONS
Sharing to their Instagram in October 2024, Andy and Rebecca wrote, “We have two years to go on the build but the trees have to go in now so they can grow while the house is being built and also because we will block off access to the back garden soon 🌳”
In recent days there has been a whole lot of digging, driveways being built and a lot of demolition!
Earlier this year in January, the second floor was rebuilt with the original walls and floors having to be removed from water damage.
With the majority of the trees and bushes overgrown and dying, the couple planted most of the garden from scratch.
The planting of their new trees meant a 50m crane was needed to lift them over construction, a huge task in itself but rewarding the couple with Jacarandas, Oaks and Yellow Gums.
Each day at Ravenswood uncovers a new mystery or marvel about the home so stay tuned to see what Andy and Rebecca plan next!
