Bluestone columnist and architect CLINTON KRAUSE previously worked in Daylesford before relocating his business to Warrnambool. Clinton explores the architectural styles that gives our region so much character. Visit his website here.

I thought for my column this month I would keep it a little in-house and stroll a few doors down the street from my home to the home of editors and founders of Bluestone Magazine – Carol Altmann and Louise North.

Since buying the home in late 2013, there has been little change to the property’s original street facade  – a gracious and well-proportioned double fronted late 1950’s brick veneer with oodles of north facing glazing.

But a steady stream of tradesmen over the last year hints at the ongoing improvements that Carol and Louise have embarked upon.

A new home for Tipsy Glass studio (Louise’s other identity) has emerged from within the original garage, and paving to the elevated terrace and a capacious covered entertainment area are just a few of the home improvements that have raised the bar for other neighbours in the street.

Sitting in their light-filled and airy loungeroom for our interview, I am struck by the predominant ambience of casual and inviting comfort that the interior décor exudes.

Surprisingly, both women laugh at my suggestion that the spaces have been styled with a solicitous artistic eye. But I am sure that visitors and Bluestone readers would support my observation.

Indeed, it is the conception and ongoing dedication to Bluestone that has spawned a direct and rapid  connection for the couple to the arts and cultural community of the south-west and, as I look around the home, I  recognise the work of many of the artists, sculptors and craftspeople that have featured in previous editions.

“Occupational  hazard!” quips Louise and as we tour the home, she points out various pieces that have been seconded during their interviews with artists.

Every wall and room is adorned with both new and quirky retro art, sculpture or objects arranged with an intuitive and deft understanding of balance, colour and proportion.

The original features of the house have been retained and are cherished for their authenticity and domestic vibe – the crazy stone fireplace with spun aluminium wall lights reminiscent of  Star Trek’s  ‘Starship Enterprise’, the bespoke pink bathroom complete with sunken bath and jaunty angled laminex cabinetry, period wallpapers and  light fittings, and the piece de’ resistance – an imposing 1960s Frigidaire upright cooker in the kitchen.

In its day, this was a top-of-the-line model, complete with inbuilt fluorescent task lighting, onboard power points and a commodious oven capable of dealing with even the largest side of mutton or Christmas turkey.

Carol demonstrates an unexpected feature of this domestic wonder (proudly emblazoned with a badge that states “made by General Motors Holden” ) –  with the quick release of a concealed catch, the top panel swings up like a car bonnet for access to the inner workings of the hotplates. Looks like an oil change and tune up would be  “easy as pie” too!

We return to the loungeroom to enjoy a cuppa and discuss the philosophical concepts of  “home” for our generation living in Australia.

With perhaps “rose-tinted” retrospection, the three of us recall our childhood experiences of living in neighborhoods filled with double and triple fronted brick veneers, gaggles of kids streaming in and out of each others homes, out on the bike all day (but home by 5) and commandeering the street for games of ballsports or hopscotch.

With the realities of a changing world increasingly imposing itself on the Australian ‘way of life ’ and challenging our sublime naivety, perhaps it understandable that today more than ever we seek refuge and sanctuary within the comforts of these mid-century homes and the happy memories of an innocent youth they evoke.

By Carol Altmann

In this world there are two sorts of people: those who look at buildings and those who who really see them.

Donna Monaghan is definitely the latter.

“I am the sort of person who will look at a worn down bluestone step and wonder how many people it took to wear that step down,” the Warrnambool building designer says with a laugh.

“I have always been this way – I have always looked at buildings – and I didn’t realise until I was older that other people didn’t look at them in the same way.”

So when you talk with this award-winning designer about a building, it is not only a conversation about the light, finishes, materials and flooring, but also about the bones, the story, and the emotions.

“Buildings should make you feel something when you step into them. It should not be just about building four concrete walls, but connecting that building to the people who use it,” Donna explains.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about a heritage building, or a brand new, ultra-modern building – and I like both – but they need to have some character and make us feel good.”

Donna’s business, Form & Function, has recently been recognised – again – by the Building Design Association of Victoria (BDAV) for her talent and skill by winning a major award for the transformation of the former St Joseph’s Primary School in Warrnambool into a childcare centre.

As we walk through the old school in Lava St, originally built in 1935, Donna reveals that it was in fact her old primary school in the days when she was known as Donna Carney.

“When I first stepped back into the school, it was highly emotional,” she says.

Anybody who has ever returned to their school for a reunion will know that feeling: the years contract and you feel huge standing beside the tiny chairs, tables and toilets, as your head fills with a million memories.

“It tapped into something I hadn’t thought about for a long time and reconnected me with a space that I hadn’t been in for, well, 30 years,” Donna says.

The designer in Donna rubs her palm across a solid brick wall inside the old school and explains that it is not single, not double, but triple brick. These walls were built to last.

The $1.7 million re-design has also retained many other distinctive features of the original school, which closed in 1985, such as the stairwell that once echoed the sounds of boisterous children, and the beautiful banks of windows that overlook Lava St.

Until the redesign, however, the window panes were all filled with opaque glass – perhaps to discourage daydreaming during prayers.

“Even when renovating, it is important to retain original architecture to tell the story of the building,” Donna explains.

“We took the context of this place, its view, its light and its spaces. We borrowed it and condensed it into a new box of tricks.”

Donna used a similar approach when redesigning the farmhouse of author Paul Jennings and partner Mary-Anne Fahey, for which she won three BDAV awards in 2010, despite having started her business only four years earlier and, at the time of the awards, being heavily pregnant with twins.

“When Paul described what he and Mary-Anne wanted to do with the house, he said they wanted it to feel as comfortable as an old slipper and I thought, ‘I have got to get this job! They so understand!,” Donna says, laughing at the memory.

(You can see a short video of the renovated farmhouse here.)

Like us here at Bluestone, Donna loves old buildings, including mid-century gems which may not be that old, but full of – here’s that word again – character.

“I was really sad, for example, to see the old brick buildings next to the Salvation Army go because they really added something to the streetscape…and often what we see replacing these older buildings is something that is poorly designed,” she says.

Donna says the Fletcher Jones site is another example of the rejuvenation of a space that still has a huge community connection, despite being almost written off.

“I don’t think we need to keep every old building, but the way we evaluate the worth of our buildings needs some serious consideration.”

[box]You can visit Donna’s Form & Function website here.[/box]

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Sign of the times for Mortlake icon, Golsworthy’s

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W’bool losing its character, brick by brick

Oh Biba, look at you now!

By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] I[/dropcap]t is with a hint of shame that I must admit that despite the Cape Nelson lighthouse being “just down the road” for 131 years, I have never got around to visiting it.

“You are not alone,” Rob Hunt says by phone, when I confess my failing.

Rob, who together with his wife, Margaret, leases and manages the Cape Nelson lighthouse precinct which includes unique accommodation, a cafe and the lighthouse itself, says most of their visitors come from well beyond south-west Victoria.

“We get a lot of international guests, especially from Europe, China…who are looking for something different and something remote,” he says.

If people are prepared to travel tens of thousands of kilometres to see a place that is right on our doorstep, we thought it about time Bluestone drove a mere 90km from Warrnambool to just south of Portland and checked out the historic landmark in a spectacular landscape.

In the process, we uncovered the perfect day trip.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] P[/dropcap]ortland locals Grant and Carmel Wallace, together with son, James, have kindly agreed to act as our guides, which is extremely helpful because Grant is one of several tour guides at the lighthouse, so he really knows his stuff.

We start the day with what should have been an invigorating 3km, circular walk on the way to the lighthouse, the Sea Cliff Nature Walk, but there is so much to enjoy on the walk that it is impossible not to stop, look, smell and even taste, if the bush tucker berries happen to be out.

Best of all, the easy walk reaches its halfway point on a rocky outcrop that offers spectacular views across to Cape Bridgewater and makes you re-appreciate – all over again – the wild coastline that so defines where we live.

According to the Portland Tourism Association, this lovely walk was created in 1979 by Portland High School students, parents and teachers as the first bit of what is now the 250km Great South West Walk. It is well sign-posted off the Cape Nelson Road and you can download the Parks Victoria walking notes here.

Of course after a walk, comes lunch.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T[/dropcap]he Wallaces whisk us off down the road to the lighthouse for lunch at Isabella’s, the beautifully refurbished bluestone cafe that was originally a stables and still has some bluestone flagstone flooring.

The cafe was the first thing to be revamped when Rob and Margaret took over the complex in 2008. They added a commercial kitchen, reglazed the front and employed former thespian, Steve Campbell, to run the place.

Steve, who still has the pliable face of an actor, adds a touch of style from the moment you step in the door, but this is not a stuffy, over-priced cafe. Instead it is cosy, affordable and offers great food including fish and chips (fresh flathead tails) to a gourmet, home-made chicken pie, to lamb kofta. (No wonder it averages almost five stars on trip advisor.)

Fed and walked, we make one final, quick detour before the lighthouse to look inside the cottage accommodation.

The side-by-side cottages were originally built for the assistant lighthouse keepers but, over the years, as Rob describes it, were “bastardised” into three units. As part of a painstaking restoration that finished in 2010, walls that had been pulled down were replaced. Fireplaces that had been closed off were reopened.

“We ended up doing a renovation in reverse: not fixing it, but taking it back to what it was,” Rob says.

The Hunts are now restoring the lighthouse keeper’s home for similar, boutique, unique accommodation.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] A[/dropcap]nd so, to the lighthouse: the 32-metre tall, whitewashed wonder that has been safely guiding ships to the shore since 1884 and is still fully operational.

In this respect, it is a rare treat to be able to spiral your way into a working lighthouse, as most of those open to the public in Victoria have been decommissioned.

Whenever I am near a lighthouse, I always suffer from a mix of slight vertigo, awe and an inexplicable desire to quote passages from Moby Dick (if I knew any) and today is no different.

The lighthouse is in stunning condition, as solid as the day it was first built, with freshly painted railings and shining brass air vents and a visually arresting staircase that winds us up, up, up – like climbing the inside of a nautilus shell – until we pop into the light room.

Grant points out the globe that illuminates the world, well, at least our corner of it, and I won’t spoil that surprise…

He then heaves open an Alice-in-Wonderland-style door and we duck our heads, pass through, and step out.

Gasp.

Wow.

[box]The Cape Nelson Lighthouse precinct tours operate daily at 11am and 2pm, fees apply. Isabella’s is open seven days, from 10am-4pm, serving coffee, cake and lunch. Breakfast is also available from 10am on weekends. Licensed. For more information on the Cape Nelson Lighthouse precinct and bookings, visit the website here. [/box]

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Just in: The ALP has confirmed it won’t be running a candidate in the seat of South West Coast on Oct 31 – but Roy Reekie, who ran for Labor against Denis Napthine last time, will run as an Independent. This by-election just got more interesting! Do you think Roy running as an Independent (albeit as still a member of the ALP) will boost his chances of a victory? Read his open letter to voters below:

Tuesday 1 September, 2015

Letter to editor – An open letter to South West Coast electors

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] A [/dropcap]t the coming by-election for South West Coast, I will offer myself as an independent candidate to be your representative in State Parliament.

It’s fair to ask: if I’m not with a major party, what do you get?

Those who know me or who have observed what I’ve done in the community and in my career over the past thirty years will know that I won’t be propped up by photo-ops; I won’t speak through media release; I won’t be someone’s mouthpiece.

I don’t look like a normal politician. I don’t sound like a normal politician. I would not be a normal politician.

If I’m elected, I will consult with, listen to and speak on behalf of the community, with strength and without fear.

Having run in four previous elections (1999, 2002, 2006 and 2014), I recognise that this is my last chance to be elected as a parliamentary representative for a part of the world I love. My future – our region’s future – is in your hands.

This by-election provides the south west with a golden opportunity to control its own destiny; to break the mould by electing someone who can truly represent the entire region without fear or favour.

Whether that is me is not the point. The point is that, in this first ever by-election for South West Coast, our region might find its voice and, like the north east of Victoria, make itself contestable and relevant to both major parties.

Roy Reekie

Ferguson Street Warrnambool.

(PO Box 882 Warrnambool 3280

Facebook: Roy Reekie, Independent candidate for South West Coast |)

Comment – Carol Altmann

When it comes to showing some spine on marriage equality, the majority of the Warrnambool City Council has proven, sadly, that they have none.

We know this because yesterday (31/8) the council had an opportunity to actually stand up and be counted on same sex marriage and they didn’t even make it to first base.

This is despite a majority of councillors telling Bluestone just two months ago that they had no problem with marriage equality, none at all, yet when it came to doing something about it, five of the seven councillors ran the other way.

How hypocritical.

Here is what happened.

As I mentioned in an earlier piece, Byron Shire Council Mayor Simon Richardson contacted the WCC by letter, asking for it to join a growing number of councils around Australia who have endorsed marriage equality as a civil right.

(Mayor Richardson who, for the record, has a female partner and two daughters, has taken a national lead on the marriage equality campaign within local government and has also formed a Mayors for Marriage Equality group.)

More than a dozen councils around Australia have so far declared their support for marriage equality, including Hobart City Council, Albury, Glen Eira, Greater Geelong- Surf Coast, Tenterfield, Byron Shire, Sydney, Leichardt and Port Douglas.

The people of Warrnambool have also shown they are ready to embrace same-sex marriage, with the most recent poll by the local newspaper coming in at 72% support.

At its regular briefing yesterday, the council had an opportunity to decide whether to join these councils by acting on Mayor Richardson’s letter, together with a marriage equality proclamation that Byron Shire Council has asked each council to sign.

Only two councillors, both women – Cr Jacinta Ermacora and Cr Kylie Gaston – argued that Mayor Richardson’s request should be taken further.

The remaining five, including Mayor Michael Neoh, Cr Peter Sycopoulis and Cr Brian Kelson – who told Bluestone that they support equality – all agreed that it should instead be “parked” ie. do nothing.

This is not leadership. This is weak.

It is also supremely ironic that a council can name Shane Hernan as its Young Citizen of the Year in 2013, yet not consider it worthwhile to publicly support the very issues that Shane is fighting for.

Because it is one thing to support gays, lesbians and transgender people quietly behind the scenes, but another to stand publicly shoulder-to-shoulder when the going gets tough.

And believe me, the going has been tough.

As it stands, there is not one political leader representing Warrnambool who will stand up for marriage equality: not Member for Wannon Dan Tehan, nor outgoing South West Coast MP Dr Denis Napthine, or state MLC James Purcell, or even, it has now come to pass, Mayor Michael Neoh.

In other words, the message to young gays and lesbians from our political leaders in south-west Victoria is that you are, and should remain, second class citizens.

What a terrible, isolating and discriminatory message.

And it is not just about young people. There are many older gays and lesbians living in Warrnambool who, despite their age and wisdom, are still too frightened to reveal their sexuality for fear of rejection.

I know how hard it can be. I grew up in Warrnambool and returned here determined not to retreat back into the closet. Bluestone has lost subscribers because of this, but, I would hope, we have also gained more.

Sexual identity is not something you can just turn on and off. Similarly, it is not enough to “like” gay people, provided they don’t act too gay or start asking for too much.

What is so heartening is that the majority of people in Warrnambool actually get this.

What is so disheartening is that the majority of our civic leaders don’t.