As one of the earliest buildings erected west of the Blue Mountains, guests were rushing to see the restoration of Moyne Farm on Sunday, May 5.
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An open day courtesy of the Di Falco Family, the owners of Moyne Farm, allowed more than 500 guests to see the historic building.
The house renovation has resulted in a modern home the preserves the best elements of the original cottage, Lithgow National Trust member Ramsay Moodie said.
The separate restoration of the cemetery undertaken by the National Trust has seen the resurrection of seven headstones and re-fencing.
"The origins of all this started in 2017 when the Lithgow Branch of the National Trust, Lithgow City Council, Heritage Near Me and Nick Di Falco workshopped ways to receive funding for some of the area's locally listed heritage assets," Mr Moodie said.
"Then in mid 2018 we were fortunate enough to secure a grant of $80,000 to repair and renovate the Moyne Farm Cemetery."
According to Mr Moodie, the house was first built by John Grant with the assistance of five assigned convicts between 1820 and 1822.
"Today isn't just a celebration of the restoration but also of John Grant's life," he said.
The timing of the completed renovation of both the homestead and the cemetery lined up perfectly, Mr Moodie said.
"Lithgow has a fantastic grazing past, with large grazing empires and we often forget it," he said.
"All of this was happening before Lithgow was a mining town, and we could really get foundation heritage tourism to boom."
A formal welcome to the day was performed by Lithgow City Council mayor Ray Thompson.
"Heritage is becoming increasingly important in our community and I am truly privileged to see the house today," he said.
"What an extraordinary place, in a beautiful location."
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Guest speaker Paul Brunton OAM, FAHA Emeritus Curator, State Library of NSW, said 2019 was a year of discovering more about historic figures.
"I will be forever grateful to the De Falcos for opening their home to us to show the restoration," he said.
Jaqueline Grant, author of 'Providence - The life and times of John Grant', also addressed the crowd and told a few of the stories about Mr Grant's life.
Residents were able to watch a restoration slide presentation before walking through the newly restored house and cemetery.
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