January 2026 Right next to St Paul’s Cathedral is another very fine Gothic Revival design from the 19thC, with pointy arches, gables and a cute stepped tower, and would be better known if it was somewhere else. The site had been the old ‘parsonage’ for the Cathedral, which they sold in late 1890 when the … Continue reading Gothic on Gothic →

January 2026 Very grand house on Beaconsfield Parade West St Kilda that must have been built c1900, since it’s much like like a Victorian one, but with various Edwardian details - for intact there’s the very Edwardian gable up front, and timber detailing to the verandah, but also Victorian cast iron lace and two-tone brickwork … Continue reading Stenhouse house →

6 February 2020, updated new pics Jan 2026 No it’s not about the car, though I do like the colour - behind it on Beaconsfield Parade St Kilda West is something looks like it might be 80s Edwardian revival, but it’s actually a block of flats made out of an older house, like many in … Continue reading Biarritz outside, Victorian inside →

6 January 2026 Tucked behind the Woolies next to the St Kilda Station tram stop is this intriguing bit of public art. It dates from 1996, by Cliff Burtt, whose ‘cosmological work references history and legacy’, hence the astrolabe/sextant look. It’s a feature of a quite attractive block of social housing, all one beds I … Continue reading Public sculpture on social housing →

6 January 2026 Very striking block of flats in Inkerman Street, North Caulfield, built in 1937, called Linden. Designed in horizontal streamlined mode, contrasted by vertical features marking the entries, which have fine stepped detailing. It may have been designed by the builder, TW Morris, and was originally going to be Tudor style. A short … Continue reading Flat front flats →

January 2026 Not much to look at, but this little cream brick box in Hotham Street, East St Kilda is the earliest remaining intact Modernist church in Victoria. St Margaret’s Presbyterian was completed in May 1954, and up till about then churches were still being built with clearly Gothic form and details. The modernist arch … Continue reading Modernist church, one of the first →

January 2026 Very grand block of flats that come as quite a surprise going down the relatively ordinary side street of Sidwell Avenue in East St Kilda. Rothesay Court was built 1928-1930, and the style is very 1920s classical, complete with Doric columned porticos and charming pergolas, and a sweeping front lawn. There’s only 12 … Continue reading Grand flats →

2 January 2026 Grimwade Court in North Caulfield, behind the school, is a fabulous cul-de-sac of 6 houses, all built 1935-41, 4 in Art Deco, 2 in Old English style, and all amazingly intact. They’re also covered by a heritage overlay, and the study has some original sketches. The designers are mostly not known, but … Continue reading Art Deco all round →

2 January 2026 The first block of Mitford Street St Kilda has a good collection of interwar flats, many with the names quite prominent. Ive found some details as follows : Oberon, 1933, Harry R Johnson, great brickwork; Rayson, probably late 1930s; Greenmoun(t?), probably early 1930s, I like the stylised Tudor effects; Marlo, 1930, a … Continue reading Mitford Street flats →

31 Dec 2025 Im ending the year on a good news story - that 50 modernist houses (and one precinct) scattered across Beaumaris, Black Rock and Brighton finally got heritage protection, confirmed in October. They range from lightweight 1950s to concrete block 1970s, some by well known architects, and some they don’t know who the … Continue reading Bayside modernist houses →