October 2025 I just saw an old photo of this huge pile and thought it was a demolished mansion I hadn’t seen - but actually it’s still there ! It’s Moondah in Mt Eliza, the home of the quite wealthy Richard Grice. The 1860 Gothic house on the adjacent property was built by his father, … Continue reading Moondah, a mansion by the sea →

September 2025 Bright red tiles and a blue post add a Mondrian touch to these 50s flats in Burnett Street St Kilda. It’s actually one of a pair, the other painted into blandness. They replaced a large Victorian house, so they’re numbers 17 and 17a, the latter with the red tiles. It sold earlier this … Continue reading nice tiles →

October 2025 Near Caulfield Racecourse are some houses of trainers that have survived with their big stables - I knew they were there somewhere, and happened to see two down some lanes. The first is off Bond Street, and it’s got some nice carved barge boards, but seen better days (and so has the house). … Continue reading Caulfield racing stables →

October 2025 The all new Melbourne Walk development on Bourke Street, which looks very nice, does all the right things - except that only facades and some side walls were retained from the 5 heritage buildings there before (blue bits on the plan, and I’ve got some before pics interspersed). They were abandoned above the … Continue reading Walk arcade redevelopment →

October 2025 After a large site on Fitzroy Street near Grey Street was subdivided and sold in 1879, a row of six grand mansions were built, all a similar size, with matching garden setbacks. From the 1910s to the 1950s, they all disappeared behind shops built over the gardens, leaving some of them intact, and … Continue reading Hidden mansion row, St Kilda →

October 2025 The beautiful Royal Arcade, which looks much like it’s ever done, elegant shopfronts, marble floors, glass roof on decorative cast iron trusses, lights on curly brass fittings - but actually it’s changed a bit from the 1870 original, designed by Charles Webb. Back then it had a slate floor and flat timber shopfronts, … Continue reading Royal Arcade →

October 2017 new pics 2025: Always loved this old bank down #LittleCollinsStreet; a bold classical front, but setback cos the streets so narrow, allowing for that grand door on the corner, round to The Causeway, a tiny 3m wide pedestrian laneway. Built for the Union Bank with rental office above, 1939, architects #AandKHenderson. This was … Continue reading Grand little bank →

October 2025 Some nice but not extraordinary Art Deco flats in Creswick Street Hawthorn, on a sloping site looking to the river. The only notable style elements are the broad horizontal stripes versus the stepped facades with chamfered corners creating windows on the angle. Not heritage listed so no existing research, but checking Trove contemporary … Continue reading Flats controversy in Hawthorn →

October 2025 This photo from 1984 popped up Facebook recently - it’s the South Yarra Arms Hotel, which once stood on the corner of Chapel Street and Toorak Road, and gathered lots of comments from people who fondly remember it from the 70s and 80s as a popular pub with live bands and a disco. … Continue reading South Yarra Arms →

October 2025 Spotted this rather gigantic house in Anderson Street South Yarra opposite the gardens, and thought it looked maybe Tudor revival but without the cute details - turns out it dates from 1907, designed by Klingender & Alsop on Arts & Crafts style, and comparing to the early photo, it’s been sadly rather altered. … Continue reading Arts & Crafts, altered →