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

I have just celebrated the first anniversary of my foray into the world of online journalism with Bluestone Magazine and to mark the occasion, I thought I would go back to where it began and recap on a remarkable year of mid-century finds.

With a fascination for the abundant stock of mid-century homes across the south-west coast, I hatched a cunning plan in late 2014 that would not only allow me to further indulge in my love of  ‘house cruisin’ but would also provide a compelling modus operandi to make contact with the owners of these retro gems and even gain a glimpse beyond the front door!

Of course it only seemed fair that I start with on our own home, given I was about to impose myself upon other unsuspecting homeowners…

The “expose” on the Krause House proved to be a much bigger hit than I imagined, with many readers commenting that they knew this house from either a connection with the original owner’s (the Downie’s) or because of its striking street presence.

With such positive feedback from Bluestone and healthy audience numbers, I decided to jump in the deep end with a forensic investigation into the history of local architectural identity Tag Walter.

Tag’s influence in the mid 50’s thru to late 60’s on the region’s architectural landscape is indisputable and with assistance from sources such as the local history museum, and contact with his daughter Robin I was able to uncover both the professional and personal achievements of this well-respected local.

As good fortune would have it, I would visit a number of Tag Walter designed homes during the year, but meeting the Murphy family and visiting their Walter-designed house in Port Fairy was a highlight for me.

Both Liam and Jo are both keen ‘ retro revivalists ’ and worthy custodians of this ‘little retro ripper ’ but it was Liams  forensic  restoration of the period wallpaper following a mishap with baby Charlie that will always remain in my mind and reassure me that this house is in good hands.

In early 2015 we took a detour from local design into ‘Googie Groove’ and highlighted the influence this flamboyant style has had on some of the local architectural icons of  Warrnambool.

With references to the Jetsons, John Lautner and the Googie Style indicators, Bluestone readers were now well equipped to converse on the subject at any posh gallery launch, haute coutre show, or gala opening – should the occasion arise!

A visit to the wonderful Herbert’s home in February demonstrated how a well-designed Tag Walter home could be fine tuned to become a stylish contemporary residence with all the facilities, flair and flexibility of a modern equivalent.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”]W[/dropcap]anting to mix things up a little, I devised a two-part road tour that was really just a ruse to drive around town is some of Harry Drostes’  fabulous classic cars.

Harry provided some enjoyable anecdotes about his working relationship as a cabinet maker for Tag Walter and our itinerary also covered some buildings that I plan to return to at some stage in the future.

My visit to Helen’s quirky renovated home in Japan Street was a real delight. I will never forget coming across Marilyn Monroe in her bathroom or the revelation that the wardrobe walls were lined with kaleidoscope patterns of printed shoes (look closely and you will see them).

But it was a trip to Portland to the home and business of ‘Be Seated’ couple Jack Van Roo and Megan Jarrett where I felt like I had hit the motherlode! Not only a great 60’s home filled with fabulous retro furniture, but a business focussing on the renovation, restoration and repurposing of all sorts of mid-century décor.

I can hardly bring myself to mention those fantastic original Featherstone chairs and how much they were bought for – I still weep when I think of it……

Discovering Golsworthy’s Hardware Store in Mortlake brought home the sad reality of many of these buildings that are now past their glory days.

With the uncertainties of changing ownership, declining demographies and shifting retail habits, I hope that buildings like this one will find a new lease of life in the hands of an innovative respectful entrepreneur.

Having traversed quite a bit of the country-side, for the September column I decided to stroll a few doors down from my own house to the ‘Bluestone headquarters’ staffed by Carol Altmann and Louise North.

As a touchstone for all things arty and tasteful, it is no wonder that the Bluestone home, like the magazine, is a cornucopia of the stylish, creative, eyecatching  and slightly off centre!  Over tea and biscuits we reminisced about the ‘good ole days’ and really showed our age.

My last article for the year was a cautionary tale for readers…

Seeking an understanding of  what can lie ahead for the avid retro enthusiast, I was directed me to the amazing home of Tony and Claire Drylie. While I personally found their myriad collections of all things wonderful, whimsical and ‘ wayout-there ’ inspiring , be warned – once you develop an eye for the creative, unusual, or even strange, it is only a short step towards complete surrender.

And so with the year drawing to a close, I would like to sincerely thank all those who generously offered up their home, time and privacy and allowed both myself and the Bluestone readers an insight into the wonderful places and people that are the heart of our community here in the south-west.

I have loved writing for you this year and look forward to bringing you more architectural exclusives in 2016.

Merry Xmas

Clinton

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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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.

Anyone passing through Mortlake would be familiar with the eye-catching facade of ‘Golsworthy and Sons’ Hardware Store at the eastern end of the main street.

Built in 1962, the building is testament to the optimism and buoyancy that arose from the regions prosperity during the post war boom in settlement and farming in the region.

The family dynasty of four generations took over the local hardware shop in 1930 and embarked on successive expansion of both the business and the premises, culminating in the appointment of Melbourne architects Montgomery, King and Trengove to create the cutting-edge, modernist mecca that endures to this day.

More than a thousand people attended the opening ceremony in November 1962, partaking in afternoon tea on the upper floor.

The ‘Mortlake Gazette‘ of that month proudly boasts: “It is doubtful if there is any store in the country the would be the equal of the new building and it compares more than favourably with any Melbourne store”.

Locals, however, were less enamoured, and Eric Golsworthy, third heir of the hardware empire, repeatedly refuted naysayers who claimed that the shop was too big and too expensive for the likes of Mortlake.

It turns out that Eric’s timing was just right and the new business flourished during the good times brought on by the post-war building boom , the influx of residents to the district during the Government’s Soldier resettlement program and the healthy market price for wool.

At one stage the company employed 25 people and the building arm of the business was engaged to build many of Mortlake’s notable public buildings including the Police Station, Ambulance Station, Shire Offices, preschool and infant welfare centres to name just a few.

Chatting with the current owners, Rod and Betty Golsworthy, it is clear that the halcyon days are over and that the end of a long and successful family enterprise may be drawing to a close.

I am sitting in Rod’s office and I can’t help but feel that I may be on set for an episode of the classic series, ‘Madmen’.

We are seated in 60’s armchairs surrounded by rich blackwood timber wall panelling at a custom designed timber desk with curvaceous lines and stick legs.

On the floor is grey and blue checked linoleum and out through the glass partitioning, the banks of fluorescent pelmet lights still do their job of visual ‘ razzle dazzle’ across the shop floor.

Rod proudly shows me the “wall of fame” – a commemoration of the Golsworthy business reign, from James who founded the business in 1930, to Ernest , then Eric and through to Rod.

A photo of employee Arch Grant celebrates 60 years of loyal service. There is a lot of history here to take in.

An exploration of the shop reveals original cabinetry and display stands, building details and even the original architects’ coloured perspective rendering for the proposal.

The stairwell leading to the upper floor is a stylistic statement of floating steps, indoor planter bed and wall panelling all within a glass atrium – very groovy.

The shopfloor is still packed with tools , equipment, hardware and home decor and it is not hard to imagine the days when tradies lined the long counter with their scribbled lists for wire, screws and “2-b-4’s”.

It becomes clear to me while reminiscing with Rod and Betty how both this shop and the Golsworthy family are such a pivotal part of the community fabric and the cultural history of Mortlake.

It is a real delight to discover such an intact “time capsule” of 60’s architecture and design.

In the building itself – the shopfittings, photos , news articles and even the original architectural plans – there is a rich record of an entrepreneurial spirit that has left an indelible imprint on this small rural town.

Analysis – Carol Altmann

Another irreplaceable piece of Warrnambool’s urban landscape has been reduced to rubble without, it seems, a word of warning.

The well-known, pre-war apartment block at 259 Lava St (next to Aldi supermarket) was bulldozed last Tuesday (14/7), to make way for something which has not yet even been decided but which the owners, the Salvation Army, believes will better suit it needs.

Such was the swiftness of this particular demolition that nothing was salvaged, or offered free to others, so passersby watched in horror as window frames, glass panels, doors and fittings were broken up by a bulldozer and stuffed into waiting trucks.

It is enough to make you weep, and that’s exactly how a Bluestone subscriber felt when she sent us a series of photos she had taken of the travesty.

We posted them on our Facebook page where, within a few hours, they were seen by more than 4000 people and sparked a robust discussion about how we should treat our old buildings, but the debate, of course, was all too late: this building is already gone.

And this was a special building.

We know this because the Warrnambool City Council’s own heritage reports tell us so.

According to these reports, the apartments at 259 Lava St were one of only two examples of twin maisonettes in Warrnambool built in the “Interwar Moderne” design. This design was originally developed by one of Melbourne’s most notable architects, Robert Demaine, and, in this case, adapted by Marsh Michaelson.

The only other example of such twin moderne buildings in Warrnambool was the side-by-side buildings of “Sandilands” at 1A Liebig St (the former Madden’s building) and 1 Liebig St, known as Colern.

Sandilands, despite being recommended for heritage protection, was not protected but instead bulldozed earlier this year to make way for a nine-storey apartment block.

And Colern, despite being originally recommended for heritage protection, recently had that recommendation dropped. Why? Because without Sandilands, it has less architectural significance.

This logic means Colern could be bulldozed too.

Can you see what is happening here?

One domino falls and they all fall: from having three fine examples of moderne design, we could easily have none and those people, like Bluestone, who treasure the character of Warrnambool’s urban landscape, are at a loss as to what to do about it.

Because as it stands, the “community consultation”, if you can call it that, is simply not working.

Nobody is arguing that every old building in Warrnambool needs to be saved, but at least some of the shock at seeing great chunks of our streetscape disappear might be lessened if we all had the chance to have a say.

Part of that process, of course, is also hearing in plain English why a building should go: is it beyond repair? Has it been condemned? Full of asbestos? Are there many other examples of that style around? Will something extraordinary or beautiful take its place?

At the moment we are left in the dark and, once a building is gone, it is left to rumour and speculation as to why.

The council can rightly argue that more information is out there, but it is up to you to find it, buried somewhere in council agendas, reports, minutes, special briefings and papers.

We here at Bluestone keep a relatively close eye on council happenings, and we did not see or hear a word about 259 Lava St being earmarked for demolition.

Cr Peter Hulin, who is currently overseas, made a Facebook comment that he, too, knew nothing – and he is on council!

If he doesn’t know and we don’t know, what hope does the everyday Warrnambool resident have?

Surely we can do better than this and surely we deserve better than this.

Even a simple listing on the council’s website – “Demolition Applications” – would help.

(As it happens, Heritage Victoria held a forum in Warrnambool last Friday (17/7) to see how it could improve the 20-year-old Heritage Act.)

Built heritage is critical to a city’s character – Port Fairy knows this well – and while Warrnambool is tearing its down, other cities are finding new ways to revitalise old factories, warehouses, shops and houses: especially those in a CBD, where they become highly sought after, and very cool, housing.

Warrnambool lawyer Luke Taylor is doing just this above 222 Timor St (Biba Hairdressing), which was a virtually derelict dump when be bought it, but the 1850s building will soon house two, gorgeous apartments and its renewal is helping to transform that section of Timor St.

My thinking is that we don’t ever really “own” a building – we are merely custodians for a time – and if we are lucky enough to own a special piece of architecture, then it belongs both to us and the community.

Historian Jennifer Bantow also believed this. She was part of a passionate group of people who saved Murweh, the Fitzgerald’s historic home at the north end of Liebig, from being bulldozed in the 80s.

When I last spoke to Jennifer, who now lives in Geelong, she asked me: “So, is Warrnambool still pulling down its old buildings, or has it finally ‘got’ it?”

Judging by the events of last week, the answer is clear.

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.

This month my search for great mid-century architecture takes me to Portland to the home of Jack van Roo and Megan Jarrett who not only live in a very stylish Tag Walter creation, but are also proprietors of ‘be seated’ a boutique business specialising in the sourcing, restoration and sale of retro furniture and décor.

The house was originally designed for Megan’s grandparents, Theo and Jean, in 1962 and demonstrates an elegant refinement and maturation of Tag’s signature style.

The entry to the home is a carefully orchestrated ‘theatrical’ experience – the large welcoming porch reveals a number of ‘tricks’ to delight the senses and create an atmosphere of intrigue: walls of glass frame tantalising glimpses of the interior, or draw the view out over the large elongated pond and towards the garden beyond.

Planter beds filled with ferns and exotic foliage flank the terrace and create a ‘tropical’ bridge to the front door.

Inside the front door numerous original features continue the theme. Seagrass-wallpaper feature walls, ceiling bulkheads with concealed pelmet lighting, the centrepiece fireplace with its bewildering fusion of copper, granite, marble stone and timber.

With an extensive background in interior design, textiles and furniture restoration, Jack and Megan are the ideal homeowners and the interior spaces are filled with funky armchairs, well-mannered Danish teak tables and sideboards and original era paintings and prints.

Megan recalls visiting her grandparents at early age and being spooked by the bedroom curtains with their large garish brown rose pattern – perhaps a precursor that has sparked her interest in textiles and fabrics!

One of my favourite areas of the home is the outdoor entertaining terrace. With its stone terrazzo tiles, breezeblock screen wall, innovative built-in outdoor bbq  and brightly colored ‘butterfly ’chairs, this composition pays homage to some of the great innovative concepts of the time by architectural heroes such as Richard Neutra and Quincy Jones.

During our interview Jack tells me of some very special items of furniture that they are currently working on, so we decide to pay the ‘be seated’ workshop a visit.

Entering through the tradesmens’ door, I am  completely unprepared for the sight before me – a vast cavern stacked high with row upon row of retro gems, some a little shabby, some very much worse off for wear.

We push into the melee towards the ‘holy grail ’ of the retro afficianado – and there they are!!!

A stunning pair of original Grant Featherstone armchairs complete with the original cut velvet upholstery. Rarely seen outside the auction house or museum, these chairs represent the pinnacle of design innovation by Australian designers of the modern period.

Jack takes an almost macabre delight in informing me that the owner paid just $5 each for these chairs at a recent garage sale………..

We conclude our visit with a tour of the ‘be seated’ showroom to view the latest items lovingly restored and repurposed.

It is clear that the couple make a good team – with Jack’s considerable joinery and reupholstery skills and Megan’s eye for colour , texture and pattern in the selections of  rich fabrics used to give these pieces a new life.

Once again I leave my visit with the van Roo-Jarretts reassured in the knowledge that not only is another great retro style home in good hands, but there is also a thriving business in our region that is actively preserving the furniture and décor of this innovative era.