2 December 2025 I thought the spaces underground at the new Town Hall Station might be vast, and they are ! Firstly there’s the cavern under the city square, with those forked beams, very grand, but strangely all one colour and relatively low lighting (update: the end wall will be one horrible giant ad screen … Continue reading Metro Tunnel stations →

November 2025 If you’ve ever gone up Auburn Road Hawthorn you’ve probably seen this fantastical mansion, which is now up for sale. ‘Talana’ was designed in 1899 by John Beswicke, who lived a few doors down the side in Harcourt Street, and had designed just about all the big houses in that street in the … Continue reading Edwardian mansion Talana →

November 2014 Lambs on Lygon Street, the long term late night souvlaki shop, has an actual stained glass window of lambs above the corner door - I thought this might be a coincidence, maybe it was once a butchers, but there a another two with different lambs - so I guess the shop commissioned them … Continue reading Lygon Lambs →

November 2025 Rather cute little building I’d never seen before just popped up on Facebook- the Fine Arts Society (update I’m told this wasn’t a society but a private art gallery run by William Gill and his son) started in 1917, and in 1920 built this Adam /Regency style place in Exhibition Street near Little … Continue reading Fine Arts →

November 2025 Perfectly nice but not outstanding block of Deco flats in Eildon Rd St Kilda, representing the stripped back often plain designs built in the mini boom of 1939-40. The notable thing here though is that it was built by a Jewish owner and the first occupants were recent Jewish refugees, and only female … Continue reading Refugee housing →

November 2025 Cute little modernish Georgian house in Anderson Street South Yarra, 1941. It was built for the van Stratens, who had recently come out from England, and remained home for son Frank up until his death last year aged 87. Frank van Straten was Australia’s foremost theatre historian, writing many books and histories on … Continue reading Modern Georgian →

October 2025 The great huge stonking entrance to the Old Melbourne Gaol, off Victoria Street, partly hidden behind RMIT buildings. It was built in the early 1860s, designed by JJ Clark or Gustav Joachimi, who also designed the Pentridge entrance around the same time. It leads into a nice courtyard with the chapel on axis. … Continue reading Old Melbourne Gaol →

October 2025 I still quite like this one that faces the forecourt of the State Library; it’s not too big, it’s got a podium that’s the same scale as the library, and there’s some fun shapes and colours. It’s by @mcbridecharlesryan, completed 2004, and the purple is one of their signature colours. I also like … Continue reading QV development →

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 →