Felicity Selkirk (1992)
Felicity Selkirk (1992) and her husband, former Victorian politician Tim Holding, restoring a 105-room château in France was never part of the plan. But when Tim stepped away from politics, the couple sought a new adventure, eventually settling in Paris before searching for a property in the French countryside.
In 2020, they purchased Château de Purnon, a vast 18th-century estate just south of the Loire Valley. The château was rich in history but in dire need of restoration, with a leaking roof and decaying interiors threatening its survival.
Thanks to years of determination, the immense roof restoration project is expected to be completed before the end of the year, after four years of work making the estate watertight for the first time in decades. This milestone will allow Felicity and Tim to begin the painstaking process of restoring the interiors. To share their journey, the couple launched a YouTube channel documenting the challenges and triumphs of breathing new life into the château.
As Felicity explains, the project is about legacy: “It isn’t possible to do everything in our lifetime, but what we can do is preserve and protect as much as we can. That will be our legacy.”
Acknowledgement of Country
Ballarat and Queen’s Anglican Grammar School acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we learn, live and work, the Wadawurrung People, and recognises their continuing connection to the land and waterways. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend this to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
Commitment to Child Safety
Ballarat Grammar maintains a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of child abuse and actively implements measures to identify and manage any risks of harm to students within our school environment. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people are central and fundamental responsibilities of the School. We are firmly committed to fostering a child-safe culture that provides an environment where students are safe and feel safe, where their participation is valued, their views respected, and their voices heard in decisions that affect their lives. Ballarat Grammar values diversity and strictly prohibits any racist or discriminatory practices. All members of our school community share the responsibility to care for children and young people by promptly raising any concerns regarding their safety, promoting their wellbeing, and protecting them from all forms of harm or abuse.
