22 January 2014: The rather wonderful Tomasetti Building in Flinders Lane near Elizabeth, designed by the prolific Tompkins & Tompkins in 1908 in the popular Edwardian #redbrick tall arched style, but with a touch of the Moorish in the keyhole arches and general stripeyness. It was an extra floor and new facade result of by … Continue reading Oriental Edwardian →

21 January 2025 Ive always sort of liked this thing, thrusting up from amongst older shops, topped by a variety of shapes and materials that look like industrial ad-hoc. It’s on Inkerman Street St Kilda just off Barkly, and I had some vague idea it was famous, and here’s what I found : called Luxe, … Continue reading Neometro in St Kilda →

21 January 2015 Repost from 10 years ago : St Francis in Elizabeth Street is an amalgam of many periods and changes, with the main middle section built 1841-5, making it one of the oldest buildings in Melbourne. The first thing you see going in is a huge marble #baldaccino thing - it was originally … Continue reading St Francis, Elizabeth Street →

20 January 2018 : Former Albert Park Coffee Palace, built 1887-1889 in Bridport Street as an alcohol free hotel with 40 rooms and big lounge and dining rooms. After the Windsor it’s the most palatial one remaining. It was designed by my favourite High Victorian architect, #WSLaw, and has a similar top pavilion to his … Continue reading Grandeur in Albert Park →

18 January 2025 One of those pointy corner places that just look wrong on photos from certain angles. This one on Barkly Street St Kilda near Grey. Probably Edwardian given the houses next to it / behind are all that era. Very nice girly sign for Luna Moss Flowers, nice to see a good window … Continue reading A cute corner →

17 January 2025 I don’t mind the end result of the redevelopment of the Herald building in Flinders Street from 2005 - about 20m deep of the original 1920s building was retained, so the tower rises up well behind, you don’t notice it from the street. Another fun bit is that you can walk through … Continue reading Herald Building →

16 January 2018: The Herald’s Instagram account, @heraldsunphoto_retro, is all great Melbourne stuff from the 30s-60s; I’d heard about the Payne’s Bon Marche department store in Bourke Street but never seen a photo or knew where it was exactly. This photo is Christmas 1955, and I worked out it’s where the 1969 Hoyts Cinema Centre … Continue reading Payne’s Bon Marche →

15 January 2021: Hosie’s Hotel, in a shot I took in 2013. Always liked this one, and what’s not to like ? Jaunty 1950s shapes and colours. The architects #MussenMackayAndPotter weren’t doctrinaire modernists, but it was very modern for Melbourne in 1956; it was built in anticipation of the Olympic Games that year, opening 15 … Continue reading So very 50s →

9 January 2025 A lesser but quite nice work by @dentoncorkermarshall in Flinders Street from 1989, which has suffered a bit since then. As in the first photo (possibly 1989), it once had bright yellow fins, and a stylised cornice. My photos from 2015 show how faded the yellow was by then, and the cornice … Continue reading Faded Pomo in Flinders Street →

10 January 2025 This extravaganza of High Victorian stucco makes quite a statement, but oddly nobody knows much about its creation. It sits boldly on the corner Nicholson Street and King William in Fitzroy, near the Exhibition Buildings, and I took the pics in 2014. It’s on the Heritage Register, but all they say is … Continue reading Swainsthorpe House, Fitzroy →