Host Anthony Burke meets a couple who are transforming their Mid-Century Modern 1950s house into a family home suitable for 21st Century living, in a beachside paradise just outside Melbourne.
You can watch Laura and Wilf restore their house here
MCM is hot these days. A subset of house designs in the 1950s and 60s, it could well reflect the post-war optimism of a new generation breaking from the traditions of the past and even dismissing the 'Australian Ugliness' of transplanted British stodginess or imported American garishness. The council with the most MCM describes it thus:
Mid-century modern architect designed houses feature new design approaches, including use of light timber or steel framing; materials such as cement sheeting; flat or skillion roofs; north facing windows and easy connection to outdoor decks and gardens.Sometimes structurally daring, the style of architecture is distinct for its use of clean lines, open plan layout and a different approach for maximising vistas and utilising natural light with floor to ceiling windows."
I am ambivalent about the architectural and interior decoration style as heritage. Only because of the intrinsic biases that it embodies. On the one hand, the idea of the 'modern' attracted me early on. As a teenager at the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s the changes in Melbourne were something to explore and enjoy, whether pretending to be a left bank intellectual at one of the few street cafes......
On the other hand, it all seemed to be for rich people. I never went near Beaumaris, and few of the bright, open, spacious, modern houses of the period made their way to the northern and western edges of Melbourne. Spec-built weatherboards on floorplans little changed from the 1930s, migrant half-houses waiting for the money that would eventually allow completion, and big (to us) brick veneers, growing to two stories with arches, concrete balustrades, terrazzo and lions (or eagles) for the migrants who made good. This is the other side of modern houses from the mid century that no one fights to preserve.
I associate Beaumaris with middle-class families that looked down their noses at working class and migrant kids from the western suburbs. The kids didn't care mind - wealth to us was just another ethnicity; no better or worse than Maltese, Yugo, Pom or Skip. The fancy houses oppressed us with their demands to take your shoes off, to be seen but not heard, or just get outside in the fresh air. But that was just my prejudice. I only imagined what rich people might be like.
Eric Lyon's house has its fans. It is on Facebook. There is a conservation group gunning for it. It is well documented in a heritage study. It was even Domain house of the week.
But on the other side are owners worried that heritage listing will devalue their property prices.
Anthone Burke puts it: "It's not just your house that needs saving but a whole suburb worth of houses. How's that gonna go down in the hood?"
The City of Bayside twentieth century heritage study has had a difficult time; commissioned, then stalled, then cancelled. Then started again.
The Hun went as far as claiming that the "Heritage plan tears neighbours apart".
Plans to slap a heritage overlay on dozens of Beaumaris and Black Rock homes have been scrapped by Bayside Council after furious homeowners spoke of anguish, anger and a community divided. The council last year sent letters to 51 Beaumaris and Black Rock residents, telling them their mid-century modern homes would be put on an interim heritage overlay until a study was completed.
Fiona Austin of Beaumaris Modern reckons there are about 500 good MCMs in her suburb and they would like to see about 100 protected although realistically, maybe only 50 would make it. But bayside council can only offer 19 for an interim protection under a self nominated scheme that the former head of the National Trust described as a "“cop out” that left “huge gaps, which will continue to emerge every time a significant place comes under threat".
There is always a risk of course that many other owners get the demo crew in before their place gets a heritage listing 'slapped on it. Or after. On a Sunday. Or with a team of experts and lawyers.
(N.B. heritage listings are always 'slapped' on, just like a place is always 'riddled' with asbestos. You can't just have a bit of either heritage or asbestos).
The council adopted an "...opt-in system whereby the owners of the relevant properties will be able to self-nominate their properties for heritage controls." As if! The Mayor reckons that “...council is committed to protecting Bayside’s heritage for future generations and recognizing the significance of mid-century modern architecture to our prized neighbourhood character.” Unless its worth more to knock it down of course.
RA ventures surprisingly close to this argument with ABC balanced vox-pops down the Bowls Club. The big heritage question in the well-shod neighbourhoods is always: "should the rights of private property owners to realise the maximum value of their biggest asset outweigh the communal desire to keep the character and amenity of their neighbourhood? Professor Burke is sympathetic to both sides of the argument but offers no answer.
The argument between the 'preserve character' and 'maximise profits' sides, however, is not new and has been going on since the beginning of the sandy streets subdivisions in the 1950s.
Half of it is normal suburb, the other half is an Australian phenomenon. This second side of Beaumaris is the one loved by the majority of young families which have made their homes there since the war. The streets wind in and out a glorious tangle of tea-tree, banksia and gum trees. Through a curtain of boughs, you glimpse low, light, timber houses, white pergolas, oiled board walls, vivid splashes of color. You can stand in many populated streets and see nothing but trees and sensible modern architecture. This is the Beaumaris that attracted hundreds of progressive home-builders since the war. It has character, a happy quality of its own somewhere between a sophisticated studio-flat and a holiday camp. And it is thoroughly Australian. If anyone doubts Melbourne's accomplishments in advanced small house design, they should drive off Beach Road and wander the sandy back roads. (But be careful to pick a dry day.)(1954 'BUILDING AND DESIGN --', The Herald 8 June, p. 14.)_
IT is the one and only district in Australia where modern design and tree-conservation are clearly favored by at least half the population.
The origins of this attitude might go back to the Garden City vision of Wallace A Bartlett, who arrived from Sussex, England in 1937 to run the Dunlop Rubber Company and put forward plans to relocate the Montague Factory to a new site at Beaumaris where the company designed an Industrial Garden Village for 5,000 People (The Argus 9 Dec 1944 p. 8).
It never happened, but the idea seems to have stuck.
The Lyon house at least made it into the heritage overlay (HO783),
- 10 Valmont Avenue, Beaumaris - constructed in 1952 and extended in 1957, to a design by architect Eric Lyon is significant.The statement of significance (stripped of some of the heritage) tells us it:
- is one of the earliest houses built in Valmont Avenue
- demonstrates the particular development phase of Beaumaris in the 1950s and 1960s, and post-war demand for housing in Melbourne
- is an intact and good representative example of an early mid-century modernist style house with very few changes
- reflects the profound influence of the International style, vis: a single flat roof structure; extensive panel glazed windows; ‘H’ shaped floor plan, zoned living, service and private areas; exposed structural elements and use of contrasting materials and texture; and the setting of the house which incorporates a courtyard and the retention of indigenous plants.
- is a fine, intact and rare example of the residential work of Eric Lyon,
- displays progressive concepts regarding the spatial integration on internal and external living areas that emerged during the post-war period.
- has manipulation of form, articulation of function, honest expression of structural elements and materials and a courtyard for outdoor recreation reflective of the progressive ideals of modernist residential architecture of the time.
Love a bit of articulated function.
I can't find much else by Lyon except a spiky Murrumbeen a Church and 17 Hepburn Avenue Beaumaris but I gather a lot of architecture goes unnoticed, since we have little public conversation about it, despite the democratisation of media in the digital space. Perhaps Eric, despite his evident profile at the time, worked quietly in the background.
The State Library gives us a glimpse of what it looked like when nearly new - some wooden shackiness appropriate to the beachside location.
and the cement tile veneer reflects the experimentation with new materials.
We have plans:
and Eric's son John has a fabulous collection of slides and home movies, at least some of which look like they have been scanned, at least by the programmers.
Burke explains the stained timber facade as due to post war brick shortages. Except most of the rear is brick. So perhaps it was an aesthetic choice. It went blue for a while.
The real estate agent had two bob each way when it sold in 2013:
Designed and constructed in the early 50s by renowned local architect, Eric Lyon, this classic corner positioned, 4 bedroom home is a testament to innovative, post war architecture. Lived in by Eric and his wife since day one, this coveted Deauville Estate positioned residence is now presented unchanged over the decades. In fact a step inside is like entering a time warp. The original fixtures and fittings have worn well over the years but this home really is ready for a complete restoration by an architectural purist. Or, if you are game, it could be a potential new home site (land size approx 725 sqm, 18m frontage). Featured in magazines such as Period Home Renovator, the experimental, timeless design provides delightful garden outlooks from every room. Equipped with multiple, purpose designed storage solutions, the home was built in two separate wings. All four bedrooms (with BIRs) are set to the north with exposed masonry block exterior, whilst the two living zones, lower tier home office and kitchen are set to the front. A brick wall with OFP to one side divides the front lounge and dining rooms and the every day living zone includes a servery into a separate kitchen with built in diner style meals zone and original milkmans delivery chute! Off the hallway, the bathroom is divided into three separate rooms. With wonderful garden views, timeless design and rich creativity, this classic Beaumaris home also includes an under level carport.
It's one that really didn't look like it needed restoration. Just a lick of paint and new carpets.
So what does Prof. Burke have to say about it?
But what is to become of the MCMs? All around units, dual occupancies and McMansions are going up. The measure of class aspirations have changed. The connection to the outdoors and openness to the street and it's suburbanite communities has been replaced by the home theatre and indoor-outdoor room. I presume people with architectual training design these too. Optimistic openness has been replaced by private insularity. Full realisation of their most valuable asset is more important than getting on with the neighbours. One biddy at the bowls club reckons if they want to preserve the houses, they can preserve their own.
His mantra is similar to the last RA host Harrison - "how can they update the house for modern lifestyles?". As if humans can't adapt their lifestyle to their environment.
Adapting to modern lifestyles seems to mean stripping out and refitting the kitchen and bathroom, taking out the wall to the dining room and replacing some tiles. An en-suit is essential. A few towel rails and a bathroom cabinet are reused, and the cork floor is kept, while the originally-planned but never realised deck will be finally built. Not really much to change then.
The quality of the work is worth noting - which might be due to the $360000 budget, but more so to "head carpenter Adrian". He is really the star of the show - making possible both the ambitions of the owners, and creation of quality work. Adrian Moscatt of Top Level Carpentry.
When a shadow line timber is accidentally cut up, Adrian remakes it to original spec.
He makes a really nice door with wedge-tightened mortice and tennon joints. He also shows that wonderful self satisfaction craftspeople get from a really nice bit of work when he installs a hide-away sliding door with perfectly matched timber lining.
Another Restoration hero is Arne Groskopf, who is a quiet and reserved, and doesn't have a big head at all, but works quietly restoring all manner of things. He strips down and remakes the Beco light fittings - who would have thought such things would be part of the retro-fetish home decorator thing. Anyway -see his work here.
So what is to be done with this place? While the floor plan remains much the same, the 50s feel fades when the old fashioned elements - stainless steel sinks, cupboard doors in the kitchens, old brown tiles, etc - are removed. The bright ceilings with their shadow lines, the cork tiles, the Beco light fittings, even the painted mural in the dunny all stay. So maybe I should concede that this is a pretty good restoration.
A few of the unusual elements that reflect both the owner's extra effort to tailor the house to his family's own needs (and lifestyle) are evident: Built in book cases abount; a sound system piped (really wired) all around the house; and a clever milk and bread delivery hatch that has found a new use for contactless, online shopping deliveries during covid.
Hopefully the trend will swing again. The residents and members of Beaumaris Modern will be campaining for it to happen in any case.
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