Besser Blocks

For sale right now is architect Dr Ernest Fooks and his wife Noemi's own house.  I gather it has been lived in by Mrs Fooks until her recent passing and what a treat to see the house fully furnished.  Just stunning.

Plenty of information is available about the house itself; it's on the Victorian Heritage Register, but particularly:

"Howitt Road showcases the skills of the five cabinet-makers who crafted furniture and built-ins to Fooks' design requirements, including the respected furniture maker Shulim Krimper.  All the specifically fabricated pieces remain as originally positioned in Fooks' layout.
. . .
Howitt Road displays a rich array of innovative features fashioned in high quality, low maintenance finishes featuring custom designed furniture (often built-in), that create a sumptuous yet restrained effect.  The house, landscaping and contents are also remarkable for their intactness, the whole remaining much as it was in 1966, with the addition of the Fooks' collection of decorative and ethnographic objects.  It is a remarkable window into a very particular and fascinating time and place in Victoria's architectural and social history."

The (numerous) pictures really speak for themselves.

32 Howitt Road, Caulfield North.

I feel I have a special connection with City Edge apartments as, a) my Dad worked for a development company in the early 70s that was involved with the project and b) a girl I was friends with lived in one with her Mum and I stayed over once in Grade 6 and we watched The Omen.  Hated the movie, loved the apartment.

A bit more information, care of Museum Victoria:

"City Edge Housing Development, Eastern Road, South Melbourne, Victoria, designed by Daryl Jackson Evan Walker Pty Ltd, 1971-74.

The set of low-rise, high-density flats and town houses which comprise City Edge was one of the earliest attempts in 1970s Melbourne to provide an alternative to the typical suburban house and the high-rise apartment block.  On a large inner-suburban site in South Melbourne, this scheme of three and five storey buildings found a balance between public and private space in a large scaled housing project.  How to live close together and gain all the benefits of the single family house was the problem to be solved by the architects.

Between each row of houses and flats there is an elevated footpath which is connected by ramp and stairs to the street and to the communal garden in the centre of the scheme; this footpath is a public pedestrian street.  The cars are hidden on ground level below.  Private gardens, balconies, front doors, and the location of each block close to the street, recall the individuality of the surrounding 19th century terrace houses and the character of a cohesive streetscape.

Built in soft tan brick, concrete and stained timber, and with shops built into the scheme, the idea of a homogeneous village amidst native landscaping was for the average Melburnian a daring proposal for a new idea of home."

A further description from the excellent reference 'Australian Housing in the Seventies', Howard Tanner (published 1976), states:

"This may be the first urban housing scheme in Australia that offers an alternative to the high rise home unit towers which have dominated inner suburban planning for the past 20 years.  It is especially important in Melbourne, where monolithic Housing Commission blocks in precast concrete have ruined many a fine skyline."

Oh and one is for sale at the moment.  I would suggest much nicer than so many of the current high rise units on offer.

81b Park Street, South Melbourne.

Original shelving and possibly light fixtures.

Kitchen ripe for a makeover!

Does anyone fit in a bath this size anymore?

Soft tan.

Oh and if I see one more frickin combination of Aesop hand soap and a Missoni hand or bath towel in an Australian interiors mag . . .
Please, just style it with some imagination.

I know it's nice, but it's 40 bucks.

Actually I do like the blue one ; )

Everyone's a fan of Ikea.  I'm just thankful there's the Springvale store close(r) to us now.  A few products I'm liking at the moment.

Karlstad corner sofa.

Lack coffee table, new style + gloss!

Brasa table lamp.  So retro.

Jannike panel curtain.

PS cabinet, locker style.  Gorgeous colour.

Valby Ruta rug.  An oriental style without the wool!

Tejn faux sheepskin.  Faux - yay!!

Jonella table runner.  Very mod.

Angsspira quilt cover.  They're reindeer.  So 80s.

Skojig pendant.  Cute.  May yet be purchased for our place.

Torva Tradgard child's quilt cover.  As a vegan mum I love the vegetables.  V funny.

But I'd have to choose between the vegies or the foxes : (  Vandring Rav quilt cover.

My parents built a Fasham house in the late 80s (then known as Fasham Johnson), of which I will endeavour to unearth some photos.  This is one of their current designs, on the Mornington Peninsula.  Love.

Fasham, Mornington Peninsula, exterior.

Nice fireplace.

Rear of house.