An Intersection of Time – Captain Kelly’s Cottage by John Wardle Architects

One of two buildings perched along the edge of a vast maritime landscape, Captain Kelly’s Cottage is steeped in history. Through purposeful and meticulous intervention, John Wardle Architects has restored the home whilst celebrating a significant intersection of historical eras.

Captain Kelly’s Cottage was completed in 2016. After architect John Wardle and his wife bought Waterview, the farm on which the cottage is situated, without knowing its history, almost two decades passed during which they focused on revegetating the landscape and learning about its past. The cottage had weathered multiple additions and adaptations over time, along the way, losing a sense of its own history. As a result, much of the new interventions involved removing layers of accrued structure to reveal the history beneath.

Through a playful yet respectful curiosity, many of the home’s features were restored or adapted to suit modern-day living.

Originally built by carpenters from Captain Kelly’s ship, the cottage today speaks to this identity. Through a playful yet respectful curiosity, many of the home’s features were restored or adapted to suit modern-day living. Elements, such as the strip of paint that has been removed to reveal the home’s former interior colours, explore both the original and subsequent eras of the cottage’s existence at once.

For a small and condensed project, the key challenge of the restoration was to give the home a contemporary reinterpretation whilst staying true to its heritage and understanding the environmental impacts and climatic conditions of the site. Simultaneously, John also took the time to understand the responsibility that comes with owning the property and is currently researching the pre-colonial history of the First Nation’s stewardship of the land.

As a curatorial restoration, Captain Kelly’s Cottage embodies both past and present. Looking out over Storm Bay, an appreciation of history is felt throughout the landscape and its structures. At the same time, the new interventions are a celebration for what still lies ahead.