Modern in Maroondah

Maroondah modern houses for sale

2011-07-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

Frances St, Heathmont

Heathwood St, Ringwood East

Dorset Rd, Croydon

All images taken from realestate.com.au

Scholz Homes Floorplans

2011-03-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Here's some scans of the Mark 60 and 65 homes in the Scholz design catalogue.

Holidaying in Whangerei, New Zealand

2010-12-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to have a week long break in the North Island of New Zealand at the start of December. As well as being a beautiful place, the houses were gorgeous! There wasn't a street that wasn't filled with cute, mod beach houses or low line farmhouses. I didn't get to take as many photos as I would have liked, but here's some of what I saw.

Pinky & Kitty support Movember

2010-11-16T17:53:00.001-08:00

The girls are getting behind the mad month of fuzzy faces and itchy top lips. Pester your bloke to make an appointment with his doctor, or sponsor someone partaking in facial manscaping for the month on November.

Movember Australia website.

Croydon South homes for sale.

2010-10-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

Whilst doing my weekly trawl through the real estate website, I stumbled across some rather nice houses in the Croydon South area. This is a neighboring suburb to me.

Blue Mist Drive. Cute weatherboard with a feature chimney and a lovely retro kitchen that looks like an original.

Longview Rd. Red brick split level house with cathedral ceilings. lots of timber and a fantastic swimming pool with cabana. And look at those mosaic tiles in the bathroom *swoon*

Mimosa Court. This house is my favourite. If we weren't in the midst of renovating and landscaping our own house, I would try to convince the mister to sell our house so that we could buy this one. I love everything about it (except maybe the curtains, but that's fixable.)I think it will be snapped up rather quickly. I can imagine it furnished with some lovely 60's furniture and fittings or contemporary pieces and large modern artworks. And oh, what I could do with that garden.......

All images are from realestate.com.au

Callum View

2010-09-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this gorgeous time capsule house in Heathmont last month. I love everything about it, from the scrolly house name to the painted wall flower to the immaculate front garden.

I'm not sitting in front of the computer all day!

2010-08-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

I have managed to get out and about, despite the lack of sunshine and the constant deluge of rain!
I took a drive around the streets today and captured a few gems.
Enjoy!

Well, what do you know! The house in the lower picture is actually for sale. Details here.

Day tripping on the edge of the Yarra Valley.

2010-07-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's not really a day trip for me, more of a 15 minute drive up the road.

Back in April, the Robin Boyd foundation held an open day of some significant Boyd designed houses. As I'm not a member of the Boyd Foundation, I had no idea that this was on and only found out about it after reading it over at Modernist Australia. My disappointment at missing this event turned to surprise when I read the suburbs that these houses were situated. Lilydale, Ringwood East, Warrandyte and Research. Ringwood East is the suburb next door to mine and it turns out that the Patrick Hegarty house is around the corner from a friend of mine. When I drove past the other day I was going to take a photo, but the weather had other ideas. And the Stanley Blott house in Lilydale is actually in Chirnside Park on the cusp of Lilydale. And it's only 15 minutes up the road.
I drove up there yesterday (I say up as it's high on top of the hill, overlooking the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges) and managed to get a few photos of not only the Stanley Blott house, but some other wonderful houses that were built sometime in the 60's or 70's. The whole area is a real mishmash of houses, with a lot of redbrick 70's and 80's houses, some flat-roofed styles from the 50's and 60's and the odd McMansion springing up.
I didn't go searching for the homes in Warrandyte or Research as both of those areas are heavily treed and I doubt they would be visible from the roadside.

Seeing the light!

2010-07-03T01:43:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house it had been recently renovated and new fittings like carpet, timber venetian blinds and lights were all in place. The lights were nice, but kind of generic and cheap oyster lights. There were 7 of these lights throughout the house, all requiring 2 globes. The larger spiral energy saving globes didn't fit, so I had to hunt around for the compact ones before they became readily available. Also, the upturned design of the light meant that it was a great spot for flies and moths to die, leaving a lovely dark shadow on the glass part of the light fitting.

I convinced The Bloke to change them all to batten fix lights so that I could change the shades as I desired. I thought that this would be a simple task, but unfortunately the heat from the lights had damaged the plaster and large pieces had to be replaced. So, the lounge room is still a work in progress, but the hallway is done.
I found a spaghetti light on Ebay that is the same as one I have hanging in my front entrance. After we removed the wiring and constructed a clear acrylic hanging plate for it, we strung it up from a batten fix lamp cord.
Then we replaced the temporary light shade that I had put up on the brick feature wall in the kitchen. When we moved in, it had a rather garish, colonial looking coach light in gold with amber glass (sorry, I didn't take photos of it).
Now it has a retro glass and timber sconce that I found at a salvage yard, cleaned up and gave a new coat of paint.

The bathroom needs new lights but that will wait until we do a complete renovation of the bathroom. As we still need to finish landscaping the front yard and building a new garage, I think that will be some time away.

Pinky & Flo

2010-06-24T01:16:00.001-07:00

Pinky & Flo
Originally uploaded by Joyflea

Just what every modern home wants/needs!

We picked these up at The Mill Market, Ballarat. I can't bring myself to put them outside in the rain!

Eye candy for the famished!

2010-05-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon The Soda Tree in Monstrose, at the base of The Dandenongs. I had a quick look around the attached collectibles store, Atomic Artefacts then vowed that I would come back another day with the kids to sample the fare.
I had a free afternoon last week, so decided to take the girls for an afternoon treat, as it was gloomy and overcast and I'd been stuck at home all day.
This great cafe is housed in a rambling old building (with dwelling attached to the back) and is filled to the brim with cool table settings, vases, lamps, Tretchikoff and various other kitsch art and what I thought was a stroke of brilliance, Little Golden Book covers housing the menu.
We chose from the cake selection and whilst I had coffee, the girls had hot chocolate with marshmallows.
The staff were all lovely and I would like to return to this place on a less than overcast day and take better photos. But for the time being, these shots will give you and idea of the fun vibe the owners have created. If you're ever in Montrose, drop in and grab yourself a bite and maybe a vintage goodie.

Rebuilding

2010-04-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Marysville on Sunday. It was my first visit since Black Saturday. There were quite a few tourists visiting and the bakery was doing a roaring trade. You can see the strain though. It's like there is that unspoken question on every visitor's lips. "How are you doing?" But not in the lighthearted greeting kind of way, but the imploring way, that 12 months on, there are still some people living in caravans about to endure a 2nd winter.
I was surprised to see some buildings survived, like the Tower Motel, the Cumberland Day spa (or was that rebuilt?) and the timber tavern near the park. (I remember seeing the documentary about the man that stayed and defended that property.)
The town felt foreign, all shiny and new. But you could still feel the ghost of old Marysville. The impressive trees, the stream beside the footpath, the diagonal carparks in Murchison street. You can see that new supermarket from Murchison St, because the foreground buildings are no longer. The trees are re sprouting and the gardens that weren't completely decimated provide splashes of colour.
I visited the block where Mrs. Cuzens house stood. There is a bit of garden, some plastic chairs and a rotary clothes line. It made me sad to see it gone, but I knew that there was little hope of it surviving as it was weatherboard and right in the firing line. At least I know that Mrs. Cuzens is safe.
I will go back again soon. I'd like to visit Bruno's sculpture garden as do the girls. The garden is growing back and the sculptures are being repaired. And life will go on.

Eye Candy

2010-02-15T16:50:00.001-08:00

Some lovely Mid-Century gems in the Croydon/Croydon Hills area.
And this last picture is some unusual sculptures outside a fairly non-descript house in Chirnside Park. They certainly stand out against the white wall!

door decal

2010-01-19T01:59:00.001-08:00

door decal
Originally uploaded by Joyflea

I found a door in hard rubbish (a council roadside clearout for non-Aussies) and after much wrangling, got it into my car and safely home without breaking the glass. When time was on my side, I stripped it back and with the bloke's help, repainted and rehung it. I was worried about the fact that it wasn't safety glass and as we have already had one child hospitalised from running through a glass door, I didn't want a repeat of that. I decided to design a decal that could be applied to the door in frosted vinyl, so that if the door did get broken, the vinyl would hold the glass in place. I searched the web for inspiration and was going to go for a traditional retro design, when the bloke suggested I use one of my sketches. We scanned it into CorelDraw and then he cut it out using a vinyl sign cutter. (He works in the industry, so that's a bonus!)
I love the finished product, and I'm sure our bookkeeper will be pleased with the outcome as well.
Because this is the door to our office. She comes to our place once a week to do the bookkeeping and she is seriously allergic to cats. And of course, the office is the cat's favourite room.
Not any more.

Dreaming.

2009-11-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

It's been too hot to pound the pavement lately, so I've been doing my daydreaming online. Here's some properties in my area currently on the market.

Tagell Rd, Heathmont. Built in 1962.

Gracedale Avenue, Ringwood East.

Aurum Crescent, Ringwod North. I liked the style of this house, but I didn't like the renovation of some parts of the house. Why do people insist on feature walls of every lounge and bedroom in a suede finish?

Wembley Gardens, Donvale. I love the exterior of this house. The crazy paving, the split rock walled garden. Unfortunately, the interior of this house was a bit OTT. The masculine room was alright, but that stag head would be the 1st thing to go!!

All of these images were found via realestate.com.au.
It has a great new gallery feature so you don't have to squint at thumbnails to get an idea of the property.

One day whilst the sun was briefly shining.....

2009-10-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

.....I grabbed my camera and went for a drive around Ringwood North. Why did I drive? Well, it's magpie season and I preffered not to get swooped by a birdie!

Ringwood East, Heathmont

2009-10-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who lives in the leafy part of Ringwood East, in a house that sits amongst the tree tops. I am envious of her large expanses of glass at each visit.
It's a beautiful area with many gorgeous modernist homes. The only problem is that many of them have been there for 30-50 years so the magnificent gardens often obscure the houses from the street.
The neighbouring suburb of Heathmont, once thriving apple orchards, is another hotspot for contemporary post-war housing.
After visiting my friend on Wednesday, I grabbed my camera and cruised around the streets of these 2 suburbs and took some snaps. Here's a couple that could be seen through the foliage.

Open for business!

2009-09-29T22:10:00.001-07:00

After a well deserved break and a freshen up for the shop, Railway Bizarre is open for business again. Drop in and see the lovely Wendy at 42 Railway Ave, Ringwood East.(It's almost across the road from the train station-how's that for handy?)
Opening hours are 10-5 Tuesday to Saturday. If you visit on a the 1st Saturday of the month you can wander around the Car Boot market in the station car park.

Wall art

2009-09-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a newly established estate in the South Eastern suburbs in the 70's. There were lots of brick veneer houses, mission brown wood trims and some quite avant garde houses. One thing that I remember vividly was the "flowers" that people had attached to their houses. The 1st time I saw them, I thought that they were a kind of metal sun and wondered why our house didn't have one. I guess we just weren't European enough. Or cultured. I later discovered that you could get coffee tables made from the same twisted and misshapen metal. I didn't like those quite so much as the wall art.

They are slowly disappearing from the landscape. As houses get renovated, rendered or knocked down completely, these metal marguerites have no doubt been handed over to the scrap metal man for a nice wad of cash. Or placed in hard rubbish for the lucky treasure hunter to acquire for him/her self.

I hope to acquire one for my own 70's redbrick, so that I may bask in it's nostalgic from the comfort of my yard and not from a stranger's nature strip.

Day Tripping- Mt. Waverley (City of Monash)

2009-08-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

I spent a good part of my childhood in Mt. Waverley, in a 70's brick 2-storey with Mission brown trims. I used to walk past a group of houses and wonder to myself "Why couldn't my parents have built a house like this?"

They haven't changed much in the last 30 odd years, except the gardens have grown and some of the houses have been pulled down and replaced with McMansions.
Waimarie Drive. This house wasn't always yellow. I think it was a redbrick with white trims. It's long and takes up two house blocks across the front.

Bond Street. These houses backed onto a reserve. Most of them had inground pools, which I was rather envious of!

This house was built in 1964 and is still occupied by the original owners. It was designed by an architect after the homeowner couldn't settle on a display house design, using components from various designs he liked. it has a northerly aspect with large loungeroom windows at the front. It has a seperate carport at the back.

The owner was going to build a patio at the front off the loungeroom and even installed glass doors to open onto this area. After living in the house for a while though, they decided that a patio would impede the sun that streamed into the front bedroom windows. Potted rubber plants and a rather impressive monstera deliciosa have been plonked out the front, obviously removed from the interior of the house as they either a) were no longer fashionable or b) grew too large to be kept indoors or c) too heavy to move back indoors. The gentleman that owns the house was a lovely old fellow and I wish his ailing wife a speedy recovery. And I hope his sons realise the gem of a house that they will possibly one day inherit.

For more pictures from Mt. Waverley, head on over to my Flickr site.

Day tripping- Coburg

2009-07-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

Whilst visiting relatives, the girls and I walked through the streets of Coburg. There were some lovely old houses, many with the original features. I particularly loved the numbers attached to the walls of many of these houses. I couldn't get many pics as the sun was going down, but here's a couple to whet your appetite.

Sunny winter days.

2009-07-09T01:38:00.000-07:00

The weather has been perfect this week. Cold, frosty mornings followed by warm, sunny afternoons. Just right for a bit of a sleep in and an afternoon walk. I drove to Heathmont and Croydon South today and had a bit of a wander around and took some photos. I was pleased to see that many of the houses in Heathmont have been kept in an original or close to original state. There's a bit of rendering and painting of exteriors to modernise things, but shapes are kept the same and landscaping has been done to suit. It was a difficult area to photograph as it is heavily treed and the sun was a bit to high. But here's some eye candy to peruse.

Alistair Knox home for sale

2009-06-01T02:41:00.000-07:00

ARCHITECT DESIGNED HOME ON 2 1/4 ACRES

This unique one owner, Alistair Knox designed home is privately situated in the heart of the prestigious Tintern precinct of Ringwood East on 9,246sqm (2 1/4 acres). Alistair Knox is arguably one of our most famous and influential theorists of domestic architecture in the 20th century and meticulously planned the site and aspect of this fine example of his architecture.

Photos courtesy of Treeby Real Estate.

Getting to know the neighbourhood.

2009-05-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying my walks and sometimes drives around the neighbourhood and surrounding area. There is really quite a diverse mix of house in the area, ranging from california bungalows, 1940's waterfalls and 60's cream brick. There's also a high content of traditional weatherboards and the ubiquitous McMansion popping up here and there. The more radical contemporary homes, of which there are quite a few, are impossible to photograph due to the long driveways, expansive garden combination.
Yesterday, I focused on details. It was a hazy day so I only got a few.

Love the split rock wall.

This house had good solid contemporary lines. Built late 50's early 60's. Really hard to get a good picture.

Time capsule garage in Ringwood East.

Largely untouched 60's brick. The patio even had some lovely concrete planters.

It all in the details.

2009-05-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I should have been in the studio sewing and that it was threatening rain at any moment, I slung my camera bag over my shoulder and went for another walk today. I did the circuit of streets at the back of my house, which is also know as "The Golden Mile". It's an area high on the hill that overlooks the valley where the Croydon township sits and towards Montrose and the Dandenong Ranges. The house block are huge and the gardens are gorgeous. Most houses are completely hidden from the street because of the rambling, tangled gardens. Today, as I realised that I couldn't get many full shots of houses because of trees, plants or even a car in the driveway, I decided instead to focus on the details. I was looking for an interesting mail box or a house name, perhaps an old hanging sign or some wrought iron railings. Here's some of what I saw....

One day in Autumn I went for a walk.....

2009-05-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

...and this is what I saw.

Only pictures left.

2009-02-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

Readers of this blog might remember this house I posted about last year.

Tragically, by all accounts this house is not longer standing. It was situated in the main street of Marysville, a township that was razed to the ground by bushfire on Saturday 8th February.
My only hope is that the occupants escaped and made their way to safety.

77 Montana Pde, Croydon

2008-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Photos courtesy of Carter Real Estate, Ringwood

'Peony Lodge'. Built in the late 50's to early 60's. Montana Pde is a very desirable location given it's glorious views to the Blue Dandenongs. I have walked along here a few times and I marvel at the large blocks and stunning houses, many which have been built with contemporary leanings. As much as I love this property it is wayyyy out of my league in terms of price. And the fact that we're not actually in the market to buy anything at the moment. But it doens't hurt to dream.

More details of this property here.

Lack of posting.

2008-12-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of pictures of late. It's been quite overcast and I haven't had the chance to go for a walk and get any good photos. I hope to remedy that now that the holidays are fast approaching.
Until then, I wish you all a safe, happy and mod Christmas.
xJoy

Dublin Rd, Ringwood East

2008-11-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here's another Ringwood East gem that has just gone on the market. I was going to take pictures of this house as soon as we had a nice sunny day. I remember the first time I drove past this house, I had to do a double take. The sculptures are awesome and the whole house is a time capsule. I sincerely hope that someone who appreciates this house as it is now, buys it and keeps it the same, rather that knocking down the house and building units as is often the case. A house of this significance should be heritage listed for future generations to enjoy.
Pictures and text below courtesy of Phillip Webb Real Estate. You can view the complete listing here.

Even though you’re being introduced to a home built in 1956, you are also looking at a home before its time. A General Motors designer, artist and visionary set his pen to paper to design this home with a future extension in mind. Crisp white borders are balanced by porthole feature windows and sculptures in the garden were borne of the designers’ futuristic fantasies. Not one aspect of the property has been altered since its conception yet it is in pristine condition. And there are some design features that are appearing in modern architecture today – this designer saw the light half a century ago!

1-7 The Mount

2008-10-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

This house is currently up for sale in Croydon South. It was built in 1958 and features a pool, spa and sauna and expansive gardens. And the icing on the cake is views to The Dandenongs. Here's a sneak peak. Photos courtesy of Carter Real Estate. You can see the details of the listing here.

The Famed Scholz Design Collection

2008-10-08T02:18:00.000-07:00

This isn't technically about houses in the Maroondah shire, but it was purchased in Ringwood East, which IS in the Maroondah Shire. Besides, it's my blog so I'll post what I want to post!!

These photos are a snippet of the gem that is a catalogue of housing designs from a company in Ohio, USA. I'm thinking late 50's, early 60's. I purchased it from Railway Bizarre (see side link).

Entrance-Mark 60

Entrance-Mark 65 Contemporary

Rear patio- Mark 65 Contemporary

Day tripping- Marysville (Shire of Murrindindi)

2008-09-28T04:07:00.001-07:00

U-shaped entryway

Love that girder!!

Taken from the hotel driveway, looking at the front and entrance to house. (The house is U-shaped)

Backyard patio.

I'm in love with this gem! I had to be very discreet taking these photos as the house is in the Main st of Marysville. Luckily, there is a hotel next door (although unlucky for the occupant) so I walked down the hotel driveway to get a shot of the entrance and a sneaky shot of the backyard through the gate. I noticed an elderly lady enjoying the sun through the windows, so I didn't want to intrude any further. I would love to have seen the interior!!

Finally, something to look at!

2008-09-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

The girls and I went for a walk today and I remembered to take my camera. It was a bit overcast and I was a bit timid, so the pics aren't the best. But you get the idea.

This is a gorgeous house on a huge block. It's called "Copperfields" I fell in love with this house the first time I walked past it. This area (behind where I live ) was established in the late 60's. The blocks are huge and the gardens (and sometimes the views) are breathtaking.

Another house in the high, heavily treed part of Ringwood East. This is on an unsealed road. I would assume that this was built in the 70's, but I could be wrong. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Quite a few block are being bought for the land, despite the house only being 30/40 years old. This house is quite well placed on the block. And I love the pink door!

A couple of 60's weatherboards on the high side of the road. I really like this style of house, particularly when it overlooks the ocean!

Photos to come......soon.

2008-09-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

So I was all fired up when I started this blog. Only problem is, every time I have a spare moment to go out and photograph some houses, the clouds roll in and the rain falls. So as a tempter, here's some of my collection of vintage yard furniture.

Welcome.

2008-09-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

I know I know!
As if I don't have enough things on my plate already. What would possess me to start another blog?

I have walked/rode/driven past so many interesting houses in my area and felt the urge to document them somehow. I've seen lots of Flickr sites with modern homes from all over the world, but few from Australia.
I hope to carry my camera with me at all times and take some photos of houses that I find inspiring, interesting and sometimes unusual. They will range from the 1950's through to the present day. There will be a fair bit of guess work involved in regards to the exact build date unless the current owners know and are willing to tell me a little bit of history on the house.

Stay tuned and we'll see how this blog unfolds.

I would love contributions from others in the area. Email me at stuffability(at)gmail(dot)com.