A two-year project to restore every sash window in one of the world’s greatest wooden buildings draws to a close on Wednesday (October 27).

Joiner extraordinaire and legendary tour guide Mike Deavin will shut the latch on the 804th and final window at Wellington’s Old Government Buildings – one of the world’s greatest wooden buildings – which is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

For Mike it will be the satisfying end to a project that saw him restore every sash window in the historic building, which was once the administration centre of the New Zealand government.

“Mike knows a thing or two about restoring windows – after working on 803 of them at Old Government Buildings, he should do too,” says Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Property Lead Central, Caroline Ritson

“This Wednesday he will finish the last one – the culmination of two years of painstaking attention to detail and hard work.”

Besides being a proven authority on all things relating to sash windows, Mike is a fount of knowledge and expertise on almost every detail of the iconic heritage site; from the edibles in the native gardens surrounding the building, to the ghosts purported to walk the hallways.

“As well as the window restoration project – no small task in itself – Mike winds the tower clock, retains a mental archive of the heritage graffiti in the building’s attics, has designed a hand-crafted donations box, and pioneered a ‘virtual tour’ of the building,” says Caroline.

“In his highly informative and entertaining tours, he speaks about the building like an old and familiar friend. Mike has also taken the opportunity throughout the project to pass his expertise on to others, running workshops and documenting his restoration process – which we are very grateful for.”

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