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Restoring a traditional cottage

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One more push for the first phase — please join us! Help us get this done and join the adventure by investing or by labor, tools, or expertise. Or by simply sharing — We are going the first week of October!

I changed the Category on our GoFundMe page from "Dreams, Hopes and Wishes" to "Travel & Adventure" because we have gotten close enough to our goal in this first phase to buy our tickets!
We are going to Malin to clean out the cottage October 3rd! Thank you team!

Think of it as a small gamble into the near future… a chance to effect and be part of a mutually enjoyable adventure.
Think of this as an investment a bit of “venture capital” if you will.

I’m not asking for charity.  My friends have donated (invested) because they know I’m a dreamer but they also know I move forward and complete, build my dreams and they know I’m a hard worker that gets things done. My friends know that when I say I’m going to do the labor to clean out the cottage and prepare it for a new thatched roof that I will do just that. They also know that I will move forward with the restoration of the cottage and that soon, someday in the near future they will put their feet up in this traditional Donegal cottage by an open hearth turf fire and contemplate the best of the lifestyle that has now become “nostalgic” in Ireland. 

I’m asking for you to become involved in anyway you can to feel connected to this project. You can invest any amount of funds or labor/expertice and it will be seen and treated as venture capital.  You will be investing in a traditional Donegal cottage restoration and a place you can come and visit stay in. 
The total experience is an opportunity for everyone who chooses to get involved - in anyway appropriate to the task.Hi! My name is Jack and I am making a documentary on the restoration of a traditional Donegal cottage back to its original state. We are going to make it available to the Irish community and contributers to experience staying in an Irish cottage heated by an open hearth turf fire as it was for hundreds of years.

37 years ago my wife Brooke and I spent a very magical two weeks in this thatch roofed cottage where my mother-in-law’s mother was raised along with nine brothers and sisters, situated in county Donegal Ireland.

Over the last thirty years the thatched roof has fallen in and needs to be cleaned out and re-thatched. 

Our intention is to restore the cottage and property so that the extended family in Ireland, the community and people like yourself will be able to experience what the traditional way of life was really like.

The cottage when we stayed there was in what I will refer to as it’s primal state, typical of the Donegal cottage with roped thatch, an A-frame roof truss, a Donegal hearth and other characteristics of what the County Donegal Heritage Office referred to as: “This traditional cottage in Malin looks like a fine example of the regional vernacular architecture of Inishowen in its time.”

We stayed in the cottage in the winter of 1980 heated by the open hearth peat fire where we cooked stews, scones and tea. I was 33 years old sitting by a peat fire reading Leon Uris’s book “Trinity” and drinking a Guinness - which was dream like and as close as I could get at the time to the traditional way of life. Along with that was the wonderful way we were treated by the farmers living on either side of the property.  Without asking we would find bags of peat and a jar of paraffin outside the cottage left with a simple note “you will be needing…” We chatted with our neighbors often carrying buckets of turnips for the cows while hearing stories of the “old ways”. We had late night dart games in their byre along with more stories and a host of laughter. All of this was magical and transforming. So influenced by the experience we were married on August 1st. Lughnasa; in the old days this was the Feast of the god Lúgh… the Celtic god of the Sun and we named our daughter Eirinn!

Last year we brought our daughter on a trip back to Ireland.  Eirinn fell in love with the people and the land. Unfortunately the cottage without the care necessary is in a bad state of repair and in need of restoration.

We want to bring this cottage back to its original state. We want to make it available to others for that wonderful experience we had living there so many years ago.

Our intention is to restore the cottage and property so that the community and people like yourself will be able to experience the old way, the “way it was”

We will be creating a documentary of the entire process from this crowdfunding through the restoration including those who join this effort and their experience staying at the cottage and warming their feet at a traditional open hearth peat fire.

The County Donegal Heritage Office said: “It’s sad to see the deterioration of these examples of our built heritage but I applaud your interest in restoring the cottage.”

This is a journey I’m inviting you to join in on. Whether it is through donations of time or money.

In the end the cottage will exist for family and community use and the documentary will be a how-to educational resource for restoration and the experience of Ireland’s heritage.

Our team as it stands now:

Jack = 40 years of Landscape gardening, 25 years Graphic designer and promotional video artist

Eirinn = video/film editor

Peter = Video artist and sound technician

Chris = 40 years as carpenter builder with extensive experience restoring Old New England post and beam barns

And room for more volunteers! 

Goal
Our goal is to restore the cottage using traditional methods and create a documentary to teach the process of restoration including the entire process and methods used including masonry and framing repair as well as the thatching process and maintenance. We will also include in the documentary the “living experience” of the community and those of you involved in the restoration. 

Why Crowdfunding
This cottage is the “tap root” of the family going back many generations. I cannot restore this cottage on my own without the help of the community we hope to serve by bringing back the availability to experience a disappearing way of life. This cottage had it been mine 37 years ago I would have worked on keeping it up. Back then I was young and capable of earning what I needed to get by. The owner of the cottage is retired and living on a limited income. Everyone in the family would like to see this cottage restored but no one has the resources to do it themselves.

The physical infrastructure of traditional farming methods are the cultural expression of the Irish people and should be valued for that very reason, alongside the grander buildings designed for the wealthy landowning class. The everyday farm heritage generally does not have as many champions and consequently is much more vulnerable to decay, disuse, dismissal or perhaps ill-advised alteration. The historical value of this building is steadily being lost.

Crowdsourcing is a way for a large group of people to donate small amounts to make great, exciting and impactful dreams and projects come to fruition and in a way that is accessible to all. Accessible to all because you can be part of it by donating a small amount. Or like Vincent Athy in the comments - by offering his experience. Even asking a question like why crowdsourcing is a way to be involved. In the end - when we succeed and restore this cottage it will be there for the family, the people who got involved by donating time, money or knowledge and it will be there for the community.

Your Impact

First  phase: $5,000
I will be contributing my labor (along with any volunteers) for the “clean-up & assessment” phase.

We will be cleaning out and removing the fallen in and rotted thatch as well as assessing what needs to be done with the roofing timbers and masonry structure.

I will all be removing the wild fuchsia currently engulfing the outside of the cottage.

After completing this first cleanup and assessment we will be able to more closely know what the overall restoration is going to cost.

Our assumption is that we will be able to complete the 
restoration and the documentary for less then $50,000.

Other ways you can help

Volunteer your time and effort

Give your expertise in anything from construction to video production  so lets talk about it...

We will keep everyone updated on dates and times. Come join us for a day, a week whatever works for you.

Expert advice! We are very interested in making this a collaborative journey and would love to have local experts be apart of this process.

Levels

$ 10 USD
Every contribution counts! Receive a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 25 USD
Receive on-line access to outtakes of the documentary showing progress a hand drawn illustration and
thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 40 USD
Receive full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 50 USD
Receive a one night stay at the cottage on completion of the restoration (first come, first served), a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 75 USD
Receive a two night stay at the cottage on completion of the restoration(first come, first served), a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 100 USD
Receive a three night stay at the cottage on completion of the restoration(first come, first served), a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 200 USD
Receive a one week stay at the cottage on completion of the restoration(first come, first served), a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 300 USD
Receive a two week stay at the cottage on completion of the restoration(first come, first served), a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 500 USD
Receive 2, two week stays at the cottage on completion of the restoration over two years(first come, first served), be part of the documentary, a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to
outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!

$ 1,000 USD
Receive 4, two week stays at the cottage on completion of the restoration over four years(first come, first served), be featured in the documentary,, a full report and assessment of progress, on-line access to outtakes of the documentary and a hand drawn illustration and thank-you note. Thank you!
Donate

Donations 

  • Madeleine Lesser
    • $30 
    • 5 yrs
  • Various Anonymous
    • $2,500 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
  • Alyssa
    • $40 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
  • Magdalen
    • $25 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
  • Phyllis Travell Greenhill
    • $50 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Jack Disbrow
Organizer
Wilton, CT

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