I must admit before I go on that I did not find this fantasy time capsule of a home. Oh no there are other hard core real estate stalkers out there in the internets who email, tempt me, show me things I shouldn’t see. (Thanks Alison!) Welcome to a retrolicious dream home. Oh my! How OTT! How bad taste! How perfect! Like stepping back into an uppers/downers and martini fuelled technocolour, freak show trip. Lattice patterned mirror walls, wall to wall synthetic carpet, a sunken conversation pit that would be right at home in Palm Springs, a stone bathroom and a kitchen that just leaves me gasping. There is even an electric organ! This place is so hot thank goodness there is a pool to jump into to cool down. Even better it’s not for sale. It’s for rent… furnished… move right in… just bring the booze and the Pucci bell bottom pantsuit. I feel an uncontrollable urge to back tease my hair, slather on the eyeliner and slide into my marabou slippers. Perhaps Elvis will drop round when he is finished his shift at the 7-Eleven. See I’m rambling! This lovingly refurshibed 70’s home in Caulfield North, Melbourne is obvious the lair of a retro collector and it could be yours, if just for a little while. Link here if you want to sign the lease.
Minimalist and modern. Two spaces by Berlin based architectural firm bfs design. Retro riffs and textural wall treatments for a modernist glass atrium house or a sparsely elegant interior fitout in an historic apartment. Sophisticated and oh so German cool.
Photos by Annette Kisling
Gissling House, Wahroonga, Sydney. Described as a modest domestic work by Harry Seidler. Untouched by time and fads, developer or the market. As perfect as the day it was completed in 1972. Definitely not modest. To me a suburban jewel of modernism. For sale. I wish I could be so lucky to call this home. Link here while it lasts.
Midcentury meets contemporary. What happens when an interior designer buys a house from an architect’s house, a house designed and built in 1966? She respects its past and creates an inviting and stylish modern home for her family. The architect is Ervin Mahrer and the interior designer is Tina de Salis of Tina & Louise Interiors (sorry couldn’t find a website for either). Now it is for sale here. Sometimes real estate stalking induces serious, serious house envy. I’d love this Castlecrag home. It sits in a harbourside suburb of Sydney originally planned by Walter Burley Griffin surrounded by other midcentury gems. I thought I would include a picture from the original listing in 2009 (as well as a link) when Tina de Salis purchased the house just to show you the changes that have occurred. Amazing!
before
An original 1950’s post & beam house and a newly designed addition. Midcentury aesthetic married with honesty of materials. A beautiful transition between inside and out. A design that respects the site and the natural vegetation (yes that is a tree wending its way through the room). Privacy and a sense of voyeurism. Steel and wood and glass. It’s love on my part. The Runyon Canyon house by Mike Jacobs Architecture.