May 2026

Mysterton, a rather grand house in Crimea Street St Kilda caught my eye a while ago – an unusual amount of window in the main bay, and a fine very Queen Anne style entry portico, not to mention the very shabby chic gates.

It’s just now been listed for sale, first time since 1988 when Andrew King and Sandra Powell bought it for $810,000, unheard of in St Kilda. Though it did have 5 bedrooms, with coach house, and had been a Buddhist ashram. They since had children, renovated it (by @grantamonarchitects), and collected art – in recent years mainly street art styles including Rone, and even commissioned murals (!). There’s not a lot of Victorian details left.

It was built in 1883 by builder George Parsons, who probably designed it, as well as three either side, two have been altered and the third is pretty a typical design (last pic) – he really had a go with this one, or got an architect to help, in fact if it’s all 1883, then it’s a very early example of Queen Anne.

Update : I’m told the single level skylit entry and hall on the side were added in the early 1900s, which explains the very Queen Anne character. And now I look more closely, I can see the front bay was probably extended then too, since it’s also Queen Anne and sticks out a lot. And there’s lots of pressed metal inside, also very Edwardian, so it definitely had a big makeover then.

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