Andy Lee is currently renovating his 148-year-old home on the Melbourne River.
Located in Hawthorn, the once grand home sat abandoned for a decade before Andy, 43, and his fiancée Rebecca Harding, 32, bought it for a whopping $8.5 million.
And as they peel back the layers of the story, the couple stumbled upon a series of “strange” discoveries.
“We found a few trinkets as we started cleaning the place,” he said. 9Entertainment.
“It was mainly cleaning up pigeon droppings and seaweed, because they used to use seaweed as insulation, which is quite strange,” he explained.
Over a century ago, algae was an insulation method of choice.
Andy previously revealed he made the discovery after tearing out a chimney.
But amidst the mud there were treasures to be found.
Andy Lee (pictured) is currently renovating his 148-year-old home on the Melbourne River
“We found a coin from 1897, I think, which is pretty cool,” he added.
In May, The Hundred host revealed he would be building a brand new mansion closer to the river and connecting the property to the original house via an underground tunnel.
“We gave the architects some big rules. 1. Honor the old house and 2. We would like to live in the new one,” he explained.
“Flack Studio had the idea to create this historic house. It sits proudly on its own land and will be restored. The new part takes full advantage of the river view.”
And as they peel back the layers of the story, the couple stumbled upon a series of “strange” discoveries.
“We found a few trinkets as we started cleaning the place out… “It was mostly cleaning up pigeon droppings and seaweed, because they used seaweed as insulation back then, which is quite strange,” he told 9Entertainment
“Everything is connected underground, under the square,” he also revealed.
Andy then joked that his fiancée’s wardrobe was going to be “pretty much all this back construction.”
Andy and Rebecca got council approval for their development application in June last year.
Plans for the site include the addition of a second building that will be connected by a tunnel to the original Italianate-style mansion, built around 1876.
But amid the mud there were treasures to be found: “We found a coin from 1897, I think, which is pretty cool,” he added.
Other highlights planned for the 19,500-square-foot building include a home cinema, gym, swimming pool and a “mega bedroom.”
Historically, the front of the property faces the river, as this was the original point of arrival of the residents.
Rebecca and Andy revealed that the house was last occupied in 1992.
The previous owners left the property in a terrible state for over a decade after their own renovations ceased for unknown reasons.
In May, The Hundred host revealed he would be building a brand new mansion closer to the river and connecting the property to the original house via an underground tunnel.