First posted 30 January 2020
The #ChevronHotel in #StKildaRoad was nearly demolished in the early 2000s for a high rise, which got a permit, but surprisingly it wasn’t (helicopter flight paths ?), instead the main part was kept and 10 storey wings built on the inside edges around a nice courtyard, rather better than everything since ! It was built in 1934 just as the depression was lifting; designed by hotel specialist #LeslieMPerrott it was quite a prestigious ‘country club’, complete with tennis court and swimming pool, the first hotel to have one. Very low key design, almost domestic, the tower thing doesn’t face the corner or even mark entrance. It was still upmarket in the 1950s when the ballroom became a proper nightclub, and Ava Gardener stayed there while filming #onthebeach in 1959. The hotel part must’ve closed ages ago like the 80s cos I only remember it as a band venue and then dance club in the 90s. After being empty for a while in 2006 it reopened as Chevron Green, designed by @peddlethorparchitects, with a courtyard by Eckersley Garden Architecture. I have a friend who lives there, it’s kept very neat, and the trees are deciduous letting winter sun in, summer sun out, lovely.
