Shortest day of the year today – June 21 is the winter solstice, which means the shortest amount of daylight hours. In Melbourne this also means one of the coldest days as well. When assessing property, one of the most important criteria I believe is rear orientation. Due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis, in Australia [...]

Here is a property that prospective buyers will be thinking long and hard about – and they need to.  Although livable it is need of serious renovation – the original house / facade must remain as this is protected by a statutory planning department  Heritage Overlay. Golf Links Estate is a much loved [...]

Are ceiling heights important? Most people would agree that they are very important, for a variety of reasons. Generally, most marketing campaigns for houses for sale will highlight tall ceilings and for good reason: quite simply, the rooms are more spacious and feel better. Tall ceiling heights  are nearly always found in old period or high-quality [...]

If you are a lover of the English Architectural style (which suits leafy Kew quite well), then you will be drawn to this house, built in 1934. Architect Victor Dumbrell got the facade proportions right here and it has stood the test of time. This is a very pretty house from the street and it is timeless. Howard [...]

Here is a property that prospective buyers will be thinking long and hard about – and they need to.  Although livable it is need of serious renovation – the original house / facade must remain as this is protected by a statutory planning department  Heritage Overlay. Moorhouse Street is one of Camberwell’s best – close to [...]

33 James Street Surrey Hills is a property that may not immedidately impress you -  in fact, you might walk straight in and then straight out.  But give this one a chance: it does have a lot going for it and it would suit a young family very well. Big pluses here are that it is [...]

Generous land size and a home with and genuine house charm. That is what is on offer here at 35 Essex Road Surrey Hills. Listing agent Clayton Smith of Jellis Craig suggested a lot could be done with this – moving the carport forward will make use of some dead driveway space and extending on a [...]

Peppin Street sits up nicely on the hill, a stone throw or two from Camberwell Junction. No. 3 is currently on the market, an honest double-fronted timber Victorian in dire need of some work. This property has many future options – bulldoze and build again (no heritage overlay helps with this), or work [...]

105 Stanhope Street Malvern is a good example of Italianate (or late Victorian) residential architecture, and while it is been updated many times over it’s lifespan, time has come again for change. House has plenty of positives – grand formal front rooms and solid brick building bones, a corner location and a prized [...]

With Melbourne’s population exploding, townhouses are becoming more and more prevalent in our suburbs. Like everything, some are good, some not so good. 35 Yeovil Road is one of the better townhouses I have seen this year. Designed by well-known Malvern architect Gary Catt, this townhouse has suits very well modern living [...]

From very early on, when people built houses, siting was important. Why build in a ditch when you are likely to be susceptible to flooding? Why not build proud on the hill where everyone could be impressed by your fantastic house?

Up for auction this weekend - it has been on the market for some time, albeit with another agency - is 25 Central Park Road in East Malvern. Many will see the romance in this house: it has plenty of scope for improvement while retaining the original house heartbeat. Among the big pluses here are position (the Gascoigne Estate does [...]

Two properties that we visited and rated this week are 14 Greville Street Prahran & 11 Keats Street Sandringham. These homes are located in two very different parts of Melbourne, but both properties are renovated period homes with a great feel, well suited to the area demographics (Prahran is mainly singles and [...]

When 7 Parslow Street Malvern first publicly listed for sale it caught my attention. An original, free-standing white timber Edwardian house in need, I suspected, of some desperate TLC. Buyers have two options here: demolish and build again or seriously renovate. If renovating (which would be my preference), this could be done on a single or two-storey level. The real plus with [...]

Currently listed by Kay and Burton is 54 Mary Street in Hawthorn, which is part of the wonderful Grace Park precinct. The land size is very good at just under 1400m2 and the block has excellent width. Originally constructed in 1910, this was likely designed by architect Christopher Cowper, who did so many fine homes in this area. [...]

Here is a story from Margie Lane, one of our favorite clients. We think this is a really important story and Mal purchased Margie’s home before I came into the business as a full-time architectural adviser. It is a mixed story – the joy of finding a home that you truly want [...]