Private Property

The Age

Saturday September 17, 2005

BEVERLEY JOHANSON

A steel for the right buyer

A QUIRKY moment in Australian architecture is for sale at 55 Reed Street, Spotswood. At first glance, it seems as if there is nothing unusual about the modest white cottage in the pleasant street but this is a house of steel.

Prefabricated kits, known as Beaufort houses, were designed by modernist architect Arthur Baldwinson and made of steel left over from the manufacture of Beaufort bombers.

The Department of Aircraft Production at Fishermans Bend and the Victorian Housing Commission collaborated on the project. A "display home" was built in the Treasury Gardens in 1946 and several were erected in developing suburbs in Melbourne and Canberra.

The houses were designed in standard units made of steel frames and spot-welded sheet steel and bolted together.

Even the building technique was borrowed from aviation, with the external panels designed as a stressed skin that braced the structure. Plasterboard lining was used for internal walls. A selling point for young couples at the time was the option to buy an extra room and bolt it on.

Juliet Taylor and her family have lived in their Beaufort house for eight years and she says it's a "delightful place". They have an original brochure that claims the house is "safer than any other for lightning" and "hurricane proof". It also seems that something rather heavy could fall on it without doing a great deal of damage; the roof is steel, topped with tiles.

Ms Taylor is an arts administrator with show business in her blood. She was a child actor and is the daughter of theatre director and producer Ariette Taylor.

"This house is a very 1950s design," she says, "with lots of floor-to-ceiling windows and it's surprisingly open-plan for the era." The kitchen and living room are elevated and overlook the front garden. There are schools at both ends of the street and the beach is close by. However, the family now needs three bedrooms and this has two.

Jas H. Stephens will conduct the auction at 11am on Saturday, October 8 and expect more than $330,000.

Former Tiger's lair right up to scratch

The sale of the family home of former Richmond footballer Mark McQueen, his wife, Leah, and their two daughters set what is believed to be a record price for South Blackburn. In an auction with five keen bidders, the renovated and extended four-bedroom house at 3 Lavelle Street was sold for $675,000 to a young couple with children.

"I've been working in the area for quite a few years and this sets a real precedent," Graeme Keogh, of Fletchers Real Estate, says.

The McQueens more than doubled the size of the 1950s weatherboard and renovated it from top to toe. Mr Keogh says the result is stylish and immaculate, with quality fittings and finishes.

Make a splash in Box Hill

The double-storey Californian bungalow at 38 Landale Street, Box Hill, was built about 1927 and is thought to be one of the suburb's finest houses. Owner Dennis McCardle says he and wife Janine have done it up over the past 15 years to include everything they want and, if circumstances were different, they would probably not be selling.

Two of their three children are elite divers, age national champions and representing Australia in the upcoming South Pacific Games. They train morning and night in South Melbourne, and the McArdles, who are partners in Mosaic restaurant in Whitehorse Road, Box Hill, are moving closer to the city.

The house has a wide veranda with patterned glass doors and windows, high decorative ceilings and ornate cornices. There are four bedrooms, a study, two attic retreats, formal and informal living areas, an open-plan family room, two bathrooms, a powder room, parking for three cars and a bike shed. The gardens are landscaped and there is a heated, in-ground swim spa.

The house is within walking distance of state and private schools, shopping and transport. It will be auctioned by Fletchers on October 8 at noon and more than $650,000 is expected.

Deco detailing and bay views

The managing director of direct marketing agency Clemenger Proximity is selling his art deco house at 74 Bluff Road, Black Rock. Michael Branagh and his wife, Marlo, are expecting their first child and moving to a place with a larger garden.

The house is one of a pair set high above Black Rock with bay views from the main bedroom and balcony on the first floor. There are three bedrooms, an ensuite and the main bathroom on this level.

On the ground floor are formal living rooms with art deco niches and detail, and a central vestibule. Casual living areas and a black granite kitchen open to the back garden. Other features include reverse-cycle air-conditioning, video intercom, European appliances and a remote-access garage.

To be auctioned by Buxton on October 15 at 1.30pm. Expect more than $690,000.

West to get kiss of life

West Melbourne is surely the Sleeping Beauty of the inner suburbs, and Private Property has heard that developer Morrie Schwartz (pictured) believes it is about to awaken.

It has been whispered to Private Property that Mr Schwartz has bought a development site in Hawke Street for $1.7 million throughColliers International.

Make a booking

Beaufort houses, such as this one in Spotswood, were built of steel; If circumstances were different, the owners would probably not be selling; Val Jellay and her son Marty Fields.

Make a booking

There must be the ghost of an Abbotsford muse in the house at 146 Vere Street. There, Penny Attiwill (above) devised one of the most useful resource books around, with another to follow next month, and her partner Matt Learmonth compiled his first book, which will also be released in October.

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and it was the birth of their first daughter, Matilda, that inspired Ms Attiwill to create a guide to products and services for new parents. The Nappy Bag Book has become a must for families. Her next book, Dog Poo on the Pram Wheels, is a witty look at the challenges new babies present.

Mr Learmonth's design company Parkhouse started in the lounge room, but has since moved on. He manages design work for AFL clubs and corporations and also runs Fishvictoria.com

His new book is a fishing guide.

The couple's house is a single-fronted Victorian that is wider than is usual and fully renovated. There are two bedrooms, a central bathroom, living area at the rear and a studio or office. The floors are polished wood, the period features remain and the house is opposite a park.

Nelson Alexander will auction the property at 11am on October 15 and expects more than $500,000.

Showbiz legend is a hard act to follow

Val Jellay, admired actor and variety performer and widow of Maurie Fields, is selling a two-bedroom apartment at 3/70 Park Street, St Kilda West.

Jellay and Fields both began their careers early; her at the age of four, and he playing drums in his mother's band when he was six. Their son, Marty Fields, has continued the show-biz tradition.

The couple met when they were working in pantomime at the Princess Theatre. She was the lead in Puss in Boots and he played the evil bat. They married in 1960.

Jellay's body of work reads like a history of Australian stage and television.

As Vic and Nancy Buckley, she and Fields ran the pub at Coopers Crossing in The Flying Doctors and she appeared in, among many others, Sunnyside Up, Division Four, Homicide, The Sullivans, Prisoner, Neighbours, Carson's Law and Blue Heelers.

Her strong stage presence includes recent roles in The Full Monty, We Will Rock You, Anything Goes and Crazy for You.

She has also chronicled her experiences and Field's life in three books - Stagestruck, Maurie Fields: Keep it Funny and After You've Gone: My Life After Maurie Fields.

The apartment will be auctioned on October 1 at 11am. Cayzer Real Estate is expecting more than $330,000 for the property.

bjohanson@theage.com.au