Repost from this day in 2019: Even Richmond has some #VictorianMansions, on the hill closest to the city of course - this one is called Elim “formerly called #Yooralbyn, built in 1889 for William Harper, a partner in a leading Melbourne merchant and manufacturing firm.” Then it was maybe a boarding house, I think the … Continue reading A mansion in Richmond, Elim on Erin Street, 1889 →

April 2021 Reading through my (photo) copy of Picture Palaces And Flea Pits (1983) I remembered that when I was growing up in East Camberwell in the early 70s we had 2 local cinemas ! The Broadway, originally Ours, was virtually at the end of my street (also called Broadway). I only remember going once, … Continue reading Broadway Theatre, but not NY. →

18 April 2021 14-16 Isabella Grove, Hawthorn, which I posted this day in 2019 when the ‘Victorian’ stair was up for sale due to big renovations by a new owner - but it seems the stair was/is 1990s (unless from some other Victorian house), because even though it was billed as an original house in … Continue reading Completely new old in Hawthorn →

25 March 2023 The new enlarged Melbourne Holocaust Museum in Selwyn Street Elsternwick looks finished, but it’s not open yet. Designed by Kerstin Thompson, I was surprised by the scale and flatness (and the sun was behind it), but being varied shades of white with some bricks in glass through which the sun was shining … Continue reading Jewish Holocaust Museum, Elsternwick →

I rather like the war/torn look of this one, at the Spencer Street end of #LittleBourkeStreet. Built in 1952, I think by the @cityofmelbourne as a store, which it still is - that’s where their heritage collection including things like old mayoral robes, Moomba things, paintings, maybe important documents too ? Photo from 2018, when … Continue reading Patchy in Little Bourke →

April 2021 There’s an endless supply of lost cinemas, but here’s a particularly elegant one, suitable for its location - the Village, in #ToorakVillage, opened in 1936. It was designed by #CNHollinshead who had done the interior of #HerMajestysTheatreMelourne 2 years earlier, also in a refined Art Deco style, all timber veneer with gold beading. … Continue reading Village Theatre, Toorak →

So Buck Rogers ! There’s not a lot of Art Deco cinemas left in Victoria, and almost none by #TaylorAndSoilleux, who I think did the best ones - often including the most extraordinary #ticketboxes, which probably went well before the theatres themselves. In order they are Padua Brunswick, Park Albert Park, Hartwell, Windsor, Oriana in … Continue reading Ticket booth deco delights, Taylor & Soilleux →

This is the ‘Vegemite Factory’ (Kraft Foods) in Port Melbourne which is up for #heritagelisting, as part of the #FishermansBend review. The administration building is very nice albeit slightly altered - it was built in 1957, with first floor additions in 1967, both by #OakleyAndParkes, nice #glasscurtainwall, but the cream bricks are now rendered grey … Continue reading Vegemite heritage →

Original post 7 September 2019: Right on the cnr of Swanston & Bourke is one of the ex- department stores in the CBD- the Leviathan Clothing Store. Big name but not so big building, and in fact it was originally smaller; as built in 1912-13 it was shorter on the Bourke Street side, as shown … Continue reading Leviathan Store, Bourke Street, 1913. →

Original post 15 April 2019: The Beehive Building, Elizabeth Street, 1935. Love how architect #JosephPlottel took the vertical proportions and said, nah, let’s go horizontal ! Plottel was pretty prolific in the interwar years, best known for his many flats in a range of styles from Tudor to modernist, and the excellent #FootscrayTownHall. This is … Continue reading Horizontally vertical Art Deco in Elizabeth Street →