The sounds of hammers and woodworking will soon ring out over Bonavista as renovations start on the Alexander Bridge House, one of the oldest known residential properties in the province.

The Georgian-style home was built between 1811 and 1814 on Church Street, the town’s main road, which runs along the harbour. In the last few decades, it has fallen into disrepair but one group has rallied to save it.

“When it’s repaired and it’s finished, when you’re driving down the street it’ll stand out amongst the rest. When you restore a town you’ve got to have whatever was in the town,” said Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation treasurer David Hiscock.

Work is scheduled to start in April and it could take at least two years before the painstaking restoration work is wrapped up, he said. An architect recently walked through the house to assess the situation and see what work had to be done, and Hiscock said they heard promising things.

“They’re saying it was in way better shape than they had anticipated.… It’s 200 years old and hasn’t been lived in since the 1960s, so you can imagine it looks pretty derelict from the outside.

“But apparently the structure is sound.… Inside, a lot of the old mouldings and the old stairwells and old doors are sound. So that’s a good thing.”

To restore the home to its former glory the foundation has raised $1.8 million, with 10 per cent coming from the foundation. The remaining $1.62 million is divided up, with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency contributing three-quarters of it and the provincial government kicking in the rest.

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