Original post 3 May 2020 Photos 12 September 2019 I always thought this was two blocks of flats that happened to be squeezed next to each other, but actually #DalgetyCourt (in my street in #StKilda) was all designed by the same architect, 17 years apart ! The right part is 1919, an early block of … Continue reading Howard Lawson in St Kilda, 1919 + 1936
Original post 2 May 2020 The history of naming places - I hadn’t realised it was quite so diverse, though it boils down to - early officials and early settlers, sometimes their relatives, royalty, places in London, England, Ireland and also Europe, lots of aboriginal word sources, and a horse, a bird, the Greek word … Continue reading Some place names of Melbourne
Original post 2 May 2020 I was looking for something nice to post, but I found this instead, which still makes me mad - this great 1928 mural (actually an oil painting) by #NapierWaller graces/d the vestibule of the grand #TandGbuilding in #CollinsStreet, and was open to the street for everyone to enjoy - but … Continue reading Napier Waller Mural, T&G building, 1928
Original post 1 May 2020 The Ritz Hotel in #FitzroyStreetStKilda was built in 1922, possibly designed by #ErnestHLong, who later designed the similar #RitzMansions next door. The new hotel replaced the old wooden Cricket Club Hotel (previously the British Family), had hot & cold water to every room, and a dining room for 400. It … Continue reading Ritz Hotel, St Kilda
Original post 1 May 2020 Another book I hadn't read: Great Properties of Country Victoria, published in 2015, mostly #VictorianMansions you might see in Hawthorn or Caulfield but they're in the #WesternDistrict. Don’t know them terribly well because very hard to visit ! Some of the most interesting Edwardian era houses in Victoria are out … Continue reading Dalvui, Western District homestead, 1908
Original post 30 April 2020 Love this image taken in the 1950s for a history iof #JohnsAndWaygood (written by #GeoffreyBlainey) which shows an Edwardian era lift complete with lift operator and seat - many of the earliest lifts in Melbs and Syd were operated by #hydraulicpower, which pushed the lift up slowly, hence the seat. … Continue reading Melbourne’s hydraulic lifts
Original post 29 April 2020 Photos 5 March A case of #whywouldyoubother #facadism in Lennox St Richmond. I seem to recall this was a stables (and there’s another facade 20m away), perhaps there was a lot of timber structure between ? I think this happened in the 90s. Update : yes Howell’s Livery, 1884.
Original post 27 April 2020 Lost Melbourne part 22- this is Prell’s Building, named after the developer Wilhelm Prell, who built this in 1889 on the south east corner of Queen Street and Flinders Lane. It was designed by #FMWhite in a very, um, efficient form of a grid of regular matching openings that could … Continue reading Lost Victorian Skyscrapers – Prells Buildings, Queen Street
Original post 27 April 2020 Tidying up my bookshelves and finding all these books I bought and then never read ! This one, published by the #RoyalHistoricalSocietyofVictoria has loads of photos of Melbs I havnt seen before, or only blurry old-time published ones, like this marvellous #MughalStyle house in #EastMelbourne, which was on Albert Street, … Continue reading Lost Melbourne, Moorish Style
25 April 2025 For about 25 years George’s Store in Collins Street had this amazing atrium ! Quite a wild display of the Edwardian approach to merchandising, that is, load it up. Except the ladies lounge. The store was built 1884, became George’s in 1889, and in 1908 was fully refurbished, with this atrium, and … Continue reading George’s Store interiors
If the Nazi's never took power, would Berlin have Europe's tallest skyscraper and East Prussia be a honeymoon destination ?
