25 August 2025 I’ve never liked this development on the edge of Fawkner Park and Commercial Road; the park side looked nice enough in the winter sunshine, but if you look closely it really needs some maintenance. No idea who designed it, but it apparently dates from 1982. Another reason to dislike it is that … Continue reading Ugly, or not ? →

25 August 2025 The enormous Younghusband Woolstores in Kensington, just south of the station - it’s been part of Open House a number of times, but I’ve never seen it. It was begun in 1901, the most elaborate bit, by Lloyd Tayler & Fitts, and quickly expanded a long way down the rail lines, with … Continue reading Younghusband Woolstores →

11 June 2024 A very early post from 2013 of a little 70s thing in Johnston Street Fitzroy, which I captioned ‘Neither chan nor chan has been trading for some time.’ Can’t find the original photo but I have another from 2014, and since 2016 it’s been @mile_end_bagels, who tell me they’re renting from the … Continue reading Chan & Chan →

17 August 2025 A wander round Kensington - the gigantic Allied Pinnacle flour mill near Kensington Station began here as Kimptons in 1887, as seen in an undated photo from their website. That must be before it was largely destroyed in a huge fire in 1904, depicted in a news article I found in the … Continue reading Kensington flour milling →

23 August 2025 Something that looks very 50s, but it’s actually 1940/41 - it’s a set of studio flats called Clendon Corner by Roy Grounds, on the corner of Malvern Road and Clendon Road Armadale - and looks much better in the old B&W pics than it does now, though actually not much changed, except … Continue reading Clendon Corner →

22 August 2025 Rather striking, with the winter sun picking out all the colours, and it looks very neat too, with a very tidy garden. 1298 Malvern Road Malvern. It’s pretty simple actually with just that massive vertical fin, some stripes, and brick quoins round the entries. It was built in 1939, probably designed by … Continue reading Neat Deco →

22 August 2025 One of those city buildings that’s nice, but not terribly exciting, but this one in Exhibition Street has an interesting history. Kelvin House was built in 1927, by and for the institutes for architects, engineers and surveyors. It was designed by Godfrey & Spowers in a pretty conservative mode, unlike the architects … Continue reading Engineers and a theatre →

21 August 2025 A grand mansion, or perhaps large house - but it does have a tower ! And it’s called Huntingtower (and said to have great views). Dating from 1890, it’s in Church Street Hawthorn, and in my memory was once much more visible, but you get a good view from the gate. Whats … Continue reading A tower in Hawthorn, but hunting ? →

21 August 2025 This trio in Yarra Street Hawthorn looks like they might be San Francisco! With those tall thin proportions complete with towers, they’re quite unusual for Melbourne- another place I knew of but had never actually seen. If you look closely you can see that they’re all the same plan, but with different … Continue reading The Beswicke three →

20 August 2025 A popular style for apartment projects lately is the white arched format, which I quite like - this one by @robmillsarchitects on High Street Armadale seems to be finished in bagged brick (though likely brick tiles). It replaced a pretty plain house, probably 1920s. The format is pretty obviously based on the … Continue reading Timeless arches →