Renovations continue on the Ladies Cottage and Nurses Quarters at Willow Court

Early this morning (Monday), work began to connect essential services such as electricity, water, sewage, and drainage to both the Ladies Cottage and Nurses Quarters in Willow Court at New Norfolk.
"It's a very special moment in time for both of these buildings as connecting services is the only way to properly repurpose the buildings to modern standards,” Site owners Betul and Defne Madakbas said.

“We have used the buildings for 4 years without services for our small community events, but now that we get proper services, we can start running them more professionally".
Stage one of the restoration was completed in 2024, which focused on restoring the exterior of the Nurses Quarters, which included adding new glazing for the building’s 131 windows, repairing existing brickwork and mortar, and crafting forged ironwork and specialised sheet metalwork for the building’s vents, rain heads, guttering and downpipes.
Early this morning, workers on site with a crane lifted an excavator over the large wall surrounding the Nurses Headquarters in preparation for advanced works with a team of archaeologists, electricians, plumbers, builders, chippies, and tradies all on site, ready to get their hands dirty.
When Betul and Defne Madakbas -a.k.a "The Sisters" came across the for sale heritage-listed Ladies Cottage at Willow Court in September 2020, they immediately fell in love with the site. In the middle of a Covid 19 lockdown, this meant there was no chance of getting to Tasmania to see the buildings personally, but this didn't faze them, and they committed to the purchase of the Ladies Cottage in 2021, which sold for 1.15 million dollars. When the sisters were finally able to visit the State after the lockdown was lifted, both saw the potential of the Ladies Cottage and the Nurses Quarters and what they could offer the local community, and plans progressed to restore both buildings.
Built in 1868, the historic 38-room Georgian-style Ladies' Cottage was once used as an asylum for "superior class" insane women. Working nurses were also housed amongst the patient wards, and a second storey was added to the cottage during further renovations in 1903. The Nurses Quarters was then built in 1911, a development welcomed by the nurses, who now had their own accommodation separate from patients and the Asylum.
Hot pink scaffolding will also surround the Ladies Cottage to help the workers with repairs where needed, and the roof will be replaced with a heritage-approved new one.
"The roof's been leaking for years, damaging the ceiling and the original stairs and last Winter, our foreman was on the roof almost monthly to patch it up so it wouldn’t leak," Betul and Defne Madakbas said.
Last week at the Nurses Quarters, space was cleared to accommodate new amenities and hospitality areas, with some walls also knocked down.
"Every decision is made with the building's heritage in mind and the original bricks are carefully removed, cleaned and saved for reuse, ensuring as much of the building's history remains part of its future".
"We found a piece of timber in a wall with the name of the person who built it "
"And yes, so much history, at a point in time, soon we will ask the community to help us with information and background stories, but it’s a process that takes some preparation to do it the correct way".
"The future kitchen currently looks more like a demolition site than a food place, but it's exciting to see these historic spaces slowly coming back to life", the sisters went on to say.
The future looks bright for both of these historic sites, with the Ladies Cottage recently hosting exhibitions through the Autumn Festival, such as the popular "Open The Door" art installation and, more recently, the "La Terra Sacra " photographic exhibition by Dominic Romeo. The site also runs Heritage tours that offer a unique historic experience across both buildings.