However, when the firm went bust in 2023 staff downed tools and never returned. 

Ravenscroft stepped in to complete the job and staff are still working on the site putting the finishing touches to the redeveloped home.

Secretary to the Board of Directors, Paul Robilliard thanked Ravenscroft for their diligence in picking up the unfinished project.

"They're still working on bits and pieces, finishing off, but the building was handed over to us at the end of August 2023. There's still little bits of work to be done because it's been weather dependent and we wanted to be able to complete it fully, but that shouldn't be too long now.

"It's been quite a journey to get here, though," he said.

Pictured: The entrance to Le Platon residential home. 

"Demolition of the old outbuildings started in November 2018, so it has taken five years to get to where we are now and we're looking to the future because although this work has now been done, there will be ongoing fundraising work.

"Residents are moving in and making the most of the new facilities, so we have to look to the future now. The old house is the poor relation if you like, so the plan will be eventually to get the old house upgraded to a situation as good as possible, to the new development."

The original home in Clifton was opened in 1914 by Edith Renouf MBE.

Initially she was caring for unwell young women, but over time the remit has evolved and Le Platon has long been a residential home for elderly men and women.  

It is the oldest residential home in the island. It is a registered charity and is run on a not for profit basis.

The residents were cared for by Miss Renouf and a small team of staff in the early years, with nuns then caring for the residents until their order was recalled and they left the island in around 2015. 

Some of the staff have worked at Le Platon for more than 20 years, while the board of Directors are not paid for their work.

Pictured: One of the internal streets in the redeveloped Le Platon residential home.

Mr Robilliard said that many of the residents now live with dementia which has influenced the design of the new facilities.

"The walls are softly painted, and every resident has different coloured doors so they know that they live behind the green door or the red door. The corridors are named after local streets or they've got street names with local connections, so we've got Liberation Street, we've got Puffin Place and Nerine Avenue.

"So the residents might live in room 212 Liberation Street. They've got their own address, so it is their home and we like to make them feel as if they are at home."

Now the work to the new parts of Le Platon have been complete - at a cost of around £7 million, Mr Robilliard said further fundraising will be focused on upgrading the original building. 

He said the iconic facade, visible on the St Peter Port skyline, will not change but will be refreshed with plans for rendering and plastering work. The rooms inside that part of the building will be upgraded to bring them inline with the ensuite rooms in the modern part of the home.