2 July 2014 Repost 2014: 1960s #electricty #substation #controlroom, #openhousemelbourne opening do. I thought it was a tour of the Spencer Street Power Station, though mostly demolished by then - it was actually a tour of the substation on the corner of Spencer and Lonsdale, which was first built for the railways c1916, and is … Continue reading Railway Substation, Lonsdale Street →

24 June 2024 Great house in Foster Street St Kilda; actually it’s a two flat, looking like a single house. Probably about 1920, all lovely original unpainted rough cast, cute projecting bay windows, original fence with driveway portal thing etc. Not sure about the blue of the gate. Nice garden. Last sold in 2002, with … Continue reading Arts & Crafts Bungalow style →

24 June 2024 Lisieux House, 100 George Street, East Melbourne, a rather elegant Georgian style block of flats trying hard to look like a mini mansion. Designed by PJ O’Connor and built in 1934. It was sold as a block in 2018, and still seems to be a rental. It’s got a larger flat up … Continue reading French Georgian →

2 July 2013 Essendon Technical School in Buckley Street, opened 1939, and one of Percy Everett’s best designs - and he did a lot as Chief Architect of the Public Works Department, 1934-53. This one has sharp rectangular horizontal forms contrasted with that projecting semi-circular stair and vertical element marking the entry, using three colours … Continue reading Essendon Tech Moderne →

1 July 2024 These elegant wrought iron gates at entrance D to the Botanic Gardens are almost all thats left of the grand mansion Nareeb that once stood at 170 Kooyong Road Armadale. Built in 1888 and designed by William Sallway, it was a very heavily elaborated design in large gardens, entered through these gates. … Continue reading Nareeb gates →

28 June 2024 Garton’s Hotel (later Her Majesty’s), east side of Swanston just south of Bourke, designed by Peter Conlon, was built in 1866, with a grand array of columns and pedimented windows over three floors. It was actually to the right of the shop pair in the photo but exactly matched it - or … Continue reading Old shops, Swanston Street →

27 June 2024 Will’s Buildings, a pair of nice 1870 shophouses on Flinders Street near King Street that are unfortunately not long for this world. A permit to replace them with offices was issued in 2018, just as the Hoddle Grid Heritage Review was starting up, which recommended them for listing in 2021. The Independent … Continue reading Wills Buildings, Flinders Street →

26 June 2024 Generally known as the Fitzroy North Post Office, this fabbo pointy towered landmark on St Georges Road was originally built as a ‘land office’ in 1887, selling real estate at the height of the land boom of the 1880s. So it’s got a rich array of arches, columns, pediments, swags, lions too, … Continue reading Towered corner in North Fitzroy →

25 June 2017: Posing with the remnants of the London Tavern, Port Melbourne. Update 2024: to be fair the pub was not outstanding architecturally; it was a 1941 remodelling of an 1861 pub, but rather top heavy, maybe it had some speed lines lost by the time of the 1967 B&W photo ? More of … Continue reading Pub no more →

25 June 2024: Fabulous light in Queen Street at 1pm. Also note the equally fabulous fact that in the first two blocks all the buildings are a similar height, some built before the 132ft height limit was lifted in the late 50s, one other happens to be a similar height, and now all are heritage … Continue reading Midwinter light →