20 December 2024

The famous Dogs Bar in St Kilda was built as Colombo Court flats in 1927, in a nice sort of Spanish / Mediterranean style (sketch from newspapers, architect unknown). It was completely reimagined by restaurant/bar pioneer Donlevy Fitzpatrick as a European style wine bar, using newly reformed liquor licensing, opening in 1989, with outdoor tables on the street, just unheard of back then. He opened up the ground level flats to do it (with the upstairs ones, accessed by going through the venue ?!). He also added the great door handles, and the wrought iron screen (both by Mark Douglass), but why he called it Colombo Hotel I don’t know. I’m also not sure the actual dogs bar was there before or not.

Update: A commenter Janet Gilpin, who lived next door and ended up working for him, says Don was originally intending it to be a small hotel, hence the name in the ironwork (with the bar doubling as hotel desk, hence no separate entrance), but that just didn’t eventuate, instead renting out the upstairs flats and eventually selling them off to fund his purchase of the George Hotel (see full comments below). @pogmiles, who was Don’s partner at the time, also tells me that after the purchase, they found the neglected dogs bar, complete with water pipe, so they fixed it up, added the plaque, and then called the venue the more catchy Dogs’s Bar, rather than Hotel Colombo (but I guess the ironwork was already commissioned). Don also painted it the lovely rose colour, using limewash by the looks. And he bought it in 1986 and the renovations took a while, but also it took 3 or 4 years of battling to get a license to serve alcohol outside- his was the first ! Anyway it’s changed hands a couple of times since then, closed with a lot of fuss in 2020, but going again now, and they have live music too. The first of goodness knows how many bars we have now.

Janet Gilpin:

Next to the Dogs Bar /Colombo Court in Acland Street St Kilda is the equally fine Harley Court, in faded yellow, making a lovely pair. It was built some years later, in 1933, with a bold classical portico that looks like it was borrowed from somewhere else, and a Spanish / Mediterranean Baroque pediment above. Inside, it all feels a bit 20s, with timber stairs, panelling and joinery, and tiled fireplaces. No 6 on the top floor, last pic, has more elaborate plaster. Like most interwar flats, the lounge is central, with not much of a view, instead the main bedroom gets the aspect. The ground floor flats became bars/cafes probably in the 90s, so probably some noise. Im told the curly wrought iron chair /barriers either side of the entrance are by @markdouglass who did the wrought iron on the Dogs Bar.

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