Purnell in Hawthorn

31 August 2019:

This is my father’s house at 33 Creswick Street Hawthorn, and blow me down I’ve suddenly discovered who designed it and when ! #ArthurPurnell, in 1937. I always liked its quirkiness, me and my bothers helped convince my mother to buy it in 1988 – I thought it was 1920s all this time.

It was originally a warm buff (which I knew from seeing under the white paint), and the roof was originally painted green. Purnell had a long and varied career, spending the 1900s in Canton, designing numerous things, then came back here in 1910 and designed a whole heap more, including a few things with a Chinese influence (check Wikipedia). He mainly did commercial work, including the St Moritz St Kilda, and the southern stand at the MCG, and lastly the Olympic Stand there too, in 1956 – all those are long gone but plenty of other work left. Photos 2024.