RIPE FOR CONVERSION: Proudly recycled original features abound in this converted Rangiora woolshed but these days the smell is far sweeter

摘要

Barrowloads of manure and a little scepticism marked the start of Peter Gilchrist's inventive building project. The agricultural contractor had to shovel away 50 years' worth of sheep droppings before starting work on the North Canterbury woolshed that has become his home.Although most people were intrigued with his project, one relative was forthright about her doubts. "Granny June couldn't comprehend or believe it wouldn't still stink like a woolshed," says Peter. The family matriarch, now in her mid-90s, remembers thedistinctive smell from her days of delivering freshly made scones to shearers inside the shed. She and her late husband, Peter's step-grandfather Robert Fear, farmed the property and erected farm buildings in the 1960s.