Possum carcasses and discarded stilettos: inside the wild renovation of this heritage home in Canberra

Oh, what stories the walls of 23 Furneaux Street, Forrest, could tell.

As one of the original 1920s worker’s cottages built by city founders who were trying to lure public servants to the nation’s new capital, it’s seen almost a century of Canberra life.

Indeed, when its current custodian, Christine Shaw, began extensive renovations in 2016, she found a collection of women’s heels that had been caught in a grate.

“There were about 20 to 30 stiletto and little kitten heels at the bottom of this space,” she says. “When you think about it, the collection could have spanned 90 years.”

The house once belonged to prominent public servant Sir Arthur Tange, AC, CBE, who was secretary of the Department of External Affairs (now Foreign Affairs) from 1954 to 1965 and the Department of Defence from 1970 to 1979.

He lived in the three-bedroom cottage in the 1950s and early 1960s and was known as “the last of the great mandarins”.

Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser once called Tange “the best public servant I’ve ever worked with”.

It seems Tange was also a proud home owner. He and his wife Marjorie extended the home in 1957, adding what Shaw warmly calls the “Tange wing”, which included a large main bedroom and roomy en suite.

The home was in a sad state when Shaw took it on in 2014, but in her, it found the perfect custodian.

“I’d have to say it was at its worst when I bought it,” she says.

“The horsehair plastering was dropping, you couldn’t access the dining room courtyard or the backyard through the French doors in the master bedroom because the wisteria and the privet had taken over everything, and the ground was three to four inches of slime.

“And we won’t talk about the possum carcasses in the roof! But I knew the history of this house, I could see its potential, and it took me 30 seconds to confirm my offer.”

Auction

23 Furneaux Street, Forrest ACT 2603

3

2

4

View property

At 21, Shaw renovated her first home, an old Queenslander in her home town of Brisbane. She loves nothing more than acknowledging the heritage of old homes, from the smallest details, such as electrical outlets, architraves and skirting boards, to paint colours and window furnishings.

In this property, she was able to retain the original internal doors, restore the cast iron floor heating vents – which feature the Commonwealth crest – and the original etched glass in the main bathroom.

The latter is copied in other spots throughout the house, including a bifold door leading to a private study used by Tange.

“I wanted to keep this room in pretty much its original state,” Shaw says.

Along with open shelving, it has a repurposed desk with its original public service green top, which must have seen its fair share of sensitive ministerial documents.

While Shaw is now ready for a new project, she will miss relaxing in the private backyard’s landscaped gardens paved with original 1920s Canberra red bricks.

There’s also a swing in front of two original concrete claw-foot planters that were found hidden in all the overgrowth.

“I sit here sometimes and think about the 10 years I’ve had here, and I’m really proud,” she says. “The new owners can move in [with] nothing left to do.

“It’s a special part of Canberra’s history and the modern amenities of Manuka are just around the corner, literally.”

When the backyard was being remodelled, a hardy rose bush planted in former years forced its way through the bare earth, unfurling for the first time in years.

In some ways, it reflects the restoration of the house and the beauty of the original vision that has been able to bloom in another century.

The home, which will go to auction on February 8, comes with a $2.5 million price guide.