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National Trust media release

Additional Information (pdf link)

ADAPTIVE RE-USE
THE POST OFFICE, CARCOAR, NSW
‘FIVE FROGS’

Carcoar Village
Carcoar remains one of the most intact and significant Colonial villages in rural NSW. Located just off the Mid Western Highway, 258 km west of Sydney, 52 km south-west of Bathurst and 720 metres above sea-level. It is nestled in a small green valley around the oak-lined banks of the Belubula River with steep hills on either side. Although it was laid out in a regular grid pattern, the settlement has developed along Belubula St, the steep main street which descends from the picturesque St Paul's Anglican Church and winds its way through the settlement.
The original occupants of the land are thought to have been the Gundungura Aborigines and it is presumably from their language that the town's name, meaning 'frog' derives.
The first European to travel through what is now Blayney Shire was surveyor George Evans who headed south-west from Bathurst and camped at the head of Coombing Creek in 1815.Unofficial occupation of the district began in 1821. The first land grant was 'Coombing Park' issued to Thomas Icely in 1829. In 1838 he requested that the village of Carcoar be established to service his large pastoral estate. The following year it became just the third settlement west of the Blue Mountains to be gazetted.
Land sales proceeded in 1840 although renegade convicts and bushrangers were initially a problem. By 1850 Carcoar had become a banking and administrative centre and the second-largest settlement west of the Blue Mountains, after Bathurst.
The town was negatively affected by the discovery of gold further west in the mid-1860s. Furthermore, because Blayney received the railway in 1874 it replaced Carcoar as the major rural service centre in the district, particularly as Carcoar did not receive the railway until 1888. Nonetheless the Government, foreseeing the on-going development of the town and district, began erecting a number of significant public buildings from the late 1870s including the Town Hall and the adjoining Post Office built in 1879. The population was in decline by the early 1880s and the development of the 20th Century left the town largely unchanged.
Today Carcoar is a significant tourist attraction in the Golden West. The town has been classified by the National Trust due to the number of intact 19th-century buildings many of which are also individually heritage listed by the local Council.

    
Carcoar Village in the 1880s

Carcoar Post Office
The Carcoar Post Office is one of a significant group of Late Victorian buildings in the main street of Carcoar, Belubula Street, that together form an important and rare cohesive historic country village streetscape. The building which is listed as a Local heritage item, was initially erected by the Postmaster General in 1879 and was modified in 1917. The building was erected as a residence and Post Office with attached telegraph room and also has a detached small stable block and former battery room at the rear. The site is partially enclosed to the rear by a high brick boundary wall that is also individually listed as a heritage item. The street presentation comprises a double storey, face brick façade with a hipped corrugated iron roof and a two storey timber and cast iron verandah. The site is currently fenced with a low rendered wall with a pipe rail over.

Belubula Street, Carcoar in 1885 showing the original form of the Post Office

Carcoar Post Office C 1920 showing the later additions to the Post Office & Telegraph Room.

NT Awards Entry Statement

ADAPTIVE  RE-USE
THE CARCOAR POST OFFICE NSW
‘FIVE FROGS’

Summary
The adaptive re-use of an existing Post Office and residence for use as tourist accommodation and refreshment rooms.
This project was motivated by the owners desire to utilise one of the historic buildings in Carcoar to increase the tourist attraction to the village and to provide a viable commercial use which would assist in the conservation of the building fabric.

Heritage Significance
The building is Classified by The National Trust and is identified as an item of Local significance but is also a prominent element in a highly significant streetscape and in the structure of the Heritage listed Carcoar Village. It represents the influence of Government in establishing and servicing rural communities and is one of the focal buildings in the largely intact main street.

Planning & Market Research
The owner of the building established a market for accommodation and refreshment facilities in the town to service short stay tourists and bus day-trippers. The commercial use was approved by the local Shire Council under heritage incentive provisions. They saw the new use as a positive contribution to the viable tourist attraction of the village and a viable use for one of the underutilised buildings. Detailed historic research was carried out before planning commenced to determine the original configuration of the building and to assess the levels of significance of its surviving fabric. Consultation was undertaken with Council’s Heritage advisor.

The Project Scope of Works
The project involved the retention and conservation of the building and its adaptation internally to provide en-suite bathrooms, a new kitchen fitout and minor cosmetic changes for the new uses. The adaptation of the stable / battery room building involved restoration of damaged fabric and minor sympathetic additions to provide additional accommodation.

The existing first floor bathroom additions have been reconstructed as ensuites and an existing unsympathetic enclosure in the rear courtyard has been demolished and the area appropriately landscaped for use in association with the Bed & Breakfast and Refreshment Room use.

The front windows of the Post Office have their original glazing muntins restored and a new front picket fence, more in keeping with the traditional character of the place has been installed.

Project Team
The Heritage Planning, Design and Documentation was carried out by Noel Bell Ridley Smith & Partners Architects and the works were executed on day rates under the supervision of the owner developer with continuing advice from the heritage consultant.

Potential Heritage Impacts
Development involving change of use often requires the insertion of new service areas to be successful and the conversion of the former Post Office residence to a series of individual serviced rooms involves the introduction of several en-suite bathrooms as well as the reconstruction of an existing kitchen and other minor internal and external alterations that have modified the existing building fabric. It should be noted that several changes have occurred in the past as part of the evolution of the site and that these have not significantly impacted on the heritage value of the place. In undertaking adaptation an approach of changing as little as possible to achieve the outcome has been taken.

Historical Research
Drawings obtained from the Australian Archives Office indicated that a number of changes had been made to the Carcoar Post Office during its history. The building was erected in 1879.

The earliest Plans of the building are dated October 1917 and represent the place much as it survives today. The drawings provide information regarding the use and disposition of the rooms, the out buildings and the grounds. By 1900 the Post Office had been altered by the demolition of the original porch and the addition of the Queen Anne bay.

Archival photographs of the building and its setting were sourced from a number of collections.

Design Principles
Where visible in the context of the external fabric, similar, compatible materials and forms have been employed to reduce the visual impact on the established aesthetic value of the place. Where changes have been proposed internally they are discrete and generally do not unnecessarily affect areas of higher significance or highly intact building fabric or spaces.

The new work is identifiably new but blends visually with the old. The new structures are generally of timber construction in contrast to the surviving masonry structures of the site.

The new use for the building is well suited to its original configuration and detail and has resulted in limited physical and virtually no visual impact on the place or its contribution to the larger heritage group. The new use allows appropriate interpretation of the place to occur and enhances the general character of the Village as a destination for Cultural Tourism.

The limited physical impacts have been offset by the conservation works and are generally reversible having no significant permanent impact on the original building fabric.

The additions and alterations to the Carcoar Post Office to partially adapt it for use as a Bed & Breakfast and Public Refreshment Room facility while retaining its historic use as a Post Office facility have positively assisted in its maintenance and conservation as an important element within the Village of Carcoar.

Contribution of the Project to Heritage Values

• The project has enabled the expenditure of funds for the general conservation of the building and enhancement of the site as part of the adaptive re-use.
• The project has involved the removal of intrusive development in some parts of the site allowing for more sympathetic development.
• The project reinstated original design features lost over time with earlier modifications and deterioration of building fabric.
• The project’s presentation to Beubula Street enhances the overall streetscape of the historic town.
• An appropriate heritage style external colour scheme has enhanced the site’s presentation in the streetscape of the town.
• The increased use by the public will introduce the building and its history to a wider section of the community and lead to increased appreciation of heritage and conservation values in society generally.
• The upgrading of this site will form an impetus for other sites within the village to be appropriately conserved.

 

The rear Courtyard

Carcoar Post Office and Five Frogs Tourist Accommodation

The Stable Block and courtyard area

Synopsis

ADAPTIVE RE-USE
THE POST OFFICE, CARCOAR, NSW
‘FIVE FROGS’

The former Carcoar Post Office and Residence in the historic town of Carcoar was put up for sale by Australia Post and purchased by Mr & Mrs John Gerathy who have a rural property in the surrounding area. Mr Gerathy is no stranger to the adaptation of heritage buildings and has previously been awarded for his work in the rehabilitation of the famous Sir Joseph Banks Hotel at Botany.

Identifying a need in Carcoar for high grade tourist accommodation, the Gerathies saw an opportunity to maintain the historic Post Office services in the building while adapting the large residence and stables for hotel rooms and associated refreshment room facilities for day trippers.
Carcoar is one of the outstanding historic towns of the central west and the 1879 Post Office is part of an important group of public buildings that form the core of the town in Belubula Street. The building is individually listed as a local heritage item in the LEP and is Classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW).

The two storey face brick building has timber framed verandahs, timber, double hung windows and a corrugated galvanised iron roof. A later Queen Anne style addition houses the Postal facilities at the front of the building while the remainder was a large residence.

The adaptation of the building for 6 double rooms with en-suites, a lounge area, dining room, service kitchen and breakfast loggia was carried out in consultation with the planning and heritage staff of the local Blayney Shire Council and utilised heritage incentive clauses for the new use which was otherwise prohibited.

The building was in fair condition but had been previously modified and repaired in a superficial manner. The rear and in particular the stables were dilapidated and required substantial reconstruction work.The work was carried by local tradesmen and involved the incorporation of bathrooms for the hotel rooms and the removal of later additions and alterations at the rear of the building. A new picket fence gives a more traditional appearance in the streetscape.

This form of sympathetic adaptive re-use of historic buildings is important in towns such a Carcoar to ensure their conservation and to attract new visitors to the area. There is limited tourist accommodation in the immediate vicinity and this facility has proved to be viable in this regard. Economic viability is an important part of cultural tourism and the beneficial impacts that such projects can have on the surrounding area are well recognised.

        

Five Frogs Entry Hall and stair