March 2026 Fun quirky house in Deakin Street, West St Kilda. Love the fish-scale shingles, still unpainted, and that they curve out. The heritage study says this is an alteration of a Victorian house from c1920, and some Victorian bits are still evident. They also say it’s ‘bizarre’, and that ‘its presence in the streetscape … Continue reading Edwardian West St Kilda →

March 2026 The quite cute but now long gone Duke of Kent pub in Latrobe Street, just up from Elizabeth. It was built in 1929 to a design by W + R Butler & Martin in a restrained classical style with a parapet that could be called Egyptian. It replaced a typical 19thC corner pub, … Continue reading Duke of Kent →

March 2015: Random #victorianmansion on a suburban corner in #hawthorneast near camberwell junction (Havelock and Denmark Hill Road). Built in peak boom 1889-91 like so many other mansions, it has the requisite tower and arcaded verandah. But what a verandah ! Wraps round three sides, double level plus a bit of basement, fat columns with … Continue reading Mansion in Hawthorn →

March 2026 The Maori Chief Hotel on Moray Street South Melbourne, looking splendidly prominent - but also rather forlorn, since it appears to be closed. It was built in 1875, replacing an earlier pub of 1867 (wasn’t that old, maybe it was a little timber shack?) and already sported the exotic name. Nobody knows exactly … Continue reading Māori Chief Hotel →

March 2026 Various photos of Bourke Street from near Queen Street in the 1940s. I know they must be after 1940, because that’s when the last cable tram ran, replaced by double decker buses. In the first image the rough surface must be the wood block pavers which were used to infill the road between … Continue reading Bourke Street double decker buses →

March 2026 The grand Victorian mansion Coonac in Clendon Road Toorak is in the real estate news because the new owner has applied to build an extension - but it’s really a second house, with entry living dining and five bedrooms and 20 car basement garage (left of first pic). It’s clearly a simple version … Continue reading Coonac →

March 2026 Stage 3 of Caulfield Village, much more attractive than the other two, but also much taller. Designed by @aboutsjb, it’s feels nicer I think because there lots of bright red brick (tiles), and they form a solid base, with the more open towers in lighter colours which are set back (with a corner … Continue reading Caulfield ‘Village’ →

Match 2026 Architect Daryl Jackson died a couple of weeks ago; he was a major name when I was doing my archi degree in the early 1980s, and instead of posting about him I had a go at improving his Wikipedia page - and that reminded me of this fabbo Brutalist project, the 1973 YWCA … Continue reading Australian Brutalist in Fiji →

March 2026 Repost from 2014: A row of four most unusual #shophouse / #terracehouses. Built 1888 for local notable chemist Cuthbert Blackett, it was designed by Tappin Gilbert & Dennehy in a free interpretation of the very new to Melbourne Queen Anne style (seeing as they didn’t originally have inset #balconies like this). The architects … Continue reading Gertrude Street Queen Anne →

March 2026 Further info on the Chapel Street store a couple of days ago - it was built for ‘the well known drapers’ Brown Corke & Co, who seem to have been mainly in the Goulburn Valley area. But more interesting is the date, I would have guessed 1905, with that great two tone Edwardian … Continue reading Edwardian inventor. →