18 August 2015, updated 2025: A simple little very early pub in the heart of the city, a testament to the ongoing profits of beer. The Duke of Wellington was built in 1850, just before the #goldrush, but didn’t become a pub till 1853, license trouble I believe. Oldest/longest operating in the city at least … Continue reading Duke of Wellington →

17 August 2025 (photo 2015): On Flinders Street near Russell, one of the more elaborate Victorian #lightindustrial premises found in the #melbcbd. Built 1885 for the stationers Schukraft & Co, it was designed by W H Elleker, later of #ellerkerandkilburn. An early #residentialconversion in 1995, rather ordinary inside but great views. The window frames are … Continue reading Warehouse, Flinders Street →

17 August 2025 An interesting but definitely not spectacular house in Kooyong Road Toorak that looks maybe 60s ranch style, but it’s actually 1936, and designed by Roy Grounds ! He was in partnership with Geoffrey Mewton at the time but they designed separately, and Grounds did other rustic style houses at the time. It’s … Continue reading Roy Grounds modern cottage style →

16 August 2025 A rather extraordinary Toorak mansion we learned about in archi school but I’d never seen irl until today - it’s in Kooyong Road just north of Toorak Rd, and called Glyn, built in 1908, designed by Rodney Alsop with terracotta roofs and gables everywhere, in fact it’s huge ! And the walls … Continue reading Glyn, Toorak →

15 August 2025 A pair of nice churches on Sydney Road Brunswick - both Presbyterian, one succeeding the other. I like the bluestone one more, dating from 1864, designed by Charles Webb, small but soaring. Twenty years later they needed a bigger church, and I guess already had the land, and this time engaged Evander … Continue reading Presbyterian Churches, Sydney Road →

14 August 2025 Happened to go to this place for lunch - it’s on Nicholson Street, and called East Brunswick Village, and it’s a huge development, and it’s not bad ! I like the architectural expression in particular, lots of brick and tiles and textured precast too, and it’s all by @jam_architects, they’ve managed to … Continue reading Huge development, but nice. →

14 August 2014, updated: If you’re going to do #facadism then at least do it like this, cnr of Swanston and Pelham Streets Carlton. Couldnt believe it when I went past in 2008 and only 2 walls left of this nice #victorianpub, called the Canada (last pic is 2007 streetview). Turns out wasnt #heritagelistedat all … Continue reading Facaded pub →

11 August 2025 Airlie, another one of the dozen or so mansions left in St Kilda Road/Queens Road, now of course dominated by glassy blocks behind and next to - and in fact the curvy one (called Opera) seems to point down towards it. The house was built in 1891 for solicitor Frederick J Neave, … Continue reading Airlie, St Kilda Road →

11 August 2025 Some flats on High Street Armadale that stood out in the winter sun - Koonoona, cnr Hampden Road, was built in 1933, and architect M Sherlock was quite eclectic. There’s a more or less Art Deco arch, Georgian wrought iron, a classical portico, some Spanish barleycorn columns, and loads of textured clinker … Continue reading Eclectic interwar →

7 August 2025 I always thought the Brunswick Town Hall was a 19th one like all the others, but a little less detail - but turns out it’s mostly 1927! And a complicated story that I couldn’t find written out anywhere. So, it started as just the central section in 1877 in Renaissance Revival style. … Continue reading Brunswick Town Hall →