Meeting the architects

One of the most pleasant outcomes of participating in Brisbane Open House was how it led to a wonderful meeting with the architects who designed our home. Apparently, the newspaper publicity about the A.F Dawson Residence earlier this month was enough to pique the interest of 82-year-old architect Peter Heathwood to pay me a visit.

And what an enormous privilege it was to meet Peter Heathwood, who also brought along the charming Michael Cardillo, a second year cadet during the time the house was built. Michael's handwriting was even on the original plans. He eventually became a partner in Heathwood's architectural firm which exists today as Heathwood, Cardillo,Wilson, although both Peter and Michael are now retired.

You know it will be a nice visit when your guests bring cake, which they did. They were simply delightful and we had a good old chat!

It was quite a special moment to have the people who conceived the design of the house come back after 51 years. They were very comfortable with the home and could talk with great ease about the design features and materials used in the home...like it was built yesterday. They were impressed at how well the home had fared for its 50 plus years.

I had a number of questions about whether or not certain things were original to the house. It was namely the use of lattice for the verandah/patio screen and balustrade, as it seemed at odds with the modernist style of the home.

I can confirm the lattice is indeed original. It was used as a buffer on the western side of the house to provide protection from the sun. The lattice pattern was also repeated for the balustrade. It is also consistent with many of Peter's other homes which used forms of screening. Michael visited the house just after it was built and remembers it quite well.

Michael said the house is very much how all of Peter's homes were built. The AF Dawson Residence is one of Peter's 'tent designs' which is quite evident when you enter the home with the central pole in the middle of the house.

Comfort and climate were the overriding imperatives in his homes. His philosophy was a home should provide shelter and his homes were designed for the best possible comfort in our sub-tropical climate. And it is a very comfortable home in which to live!

Interestingly, Peter designed all the interior and exterior Perspex light fittings himself because he said you just couldn't get decent light fittings at the time. He was chuffed they were still in the house. The yellow light shades outside were to repel mosquitoes and minimise the bugs which are attracted to white light.

The best line of the day was when Peter entered the refurbished 1980s kitchen and exclaimed, "Well, this is certainly not our work!" You'd understand why if you saw our country style kitchen which is completely out of kilter with the rest of the home.

The kitchen benches would have been much higher and would have had white Laminex bench tops which curved up the splash back and then there was a shelf  for condiments before the overhead cupboards would start. The cabinetry was originally maple plywood with black d-mould handles similar to the cabinets in our bedrooms.

Peter said to give him a call when we renovate the kitchen, as he would be able to help us out. That job has obviously jumped up in the priority list...especially given Peter's age... Stay tuned!

A.F Dawson Residence at Brisbane Open House

Well what a busy couple of weeks we've had in the lead up to Brisbane Open House which was held last weekend.

It's all done and dusted and we were so pleased to be involved in the event as part of the residential homes component. For those who don't know, our home was the A.F Dawson Residence in the program.

Jason and I had a terrific time opening our home and sharing it with the general public -  meeting lovely new people and even the neighbours. We were also happy to meet quite a few Fun and VJs readers and instagram followers. Thanks so much for visiting and hearing the story of what we know about the home so far and our plans for it.

For those of you who missed out, you can visit Walk Among the Homes blog to view a special virtual home tour. As the house is very much a work-in-progress, there have been a few changes since then...it's ever evolving as we remove, repair and restore!

AF Dawson residence – Photo by Elizabeth Santillan www.walkamongthehomes.com.au

We were also chuffed to be in the Courier Mail's QWeekend 4 October issue with an article written by the wonderful Margie Fraser. It is a hoot of a story about how we came to view the house because of the furniture and ended up buying the house instead!

And if you still want to satisfy your curiosity about the house, keep reading here. I promise to keep it updated more religiously as we go along!

Brisbane Open House 2014

Attention all archi-tourists: it's that time again when we have to plan our itineraries for Brisbane Open House to be held on the weekend of the 11/12 October 2014.

For those of you not in the know, Brisbane Open House is an annual event which grants the general public access to some of Brisbane's architectural gems. You can read about my experience at last year's Brisbane Open House event here.

Last week we attended the official launch and received our information guide books. The breadth of historical and contemporary properties which will be on show is rich and diverse. There are nearly 90 properties featured in the guide - with 35 new buildings opening their doors this year.

Brisbane Open House guide book

One of those new buildings is also our home...Eek!

We were asked to participate and are among some of the suburban residential offerings in this year's open house program. Our home is listed as the AF Dawson residence in the program and you can book a tour of our place via the ballot system on the Brisbane Open House website. Go on, we'd love to meet you!

AF Dawson residence

We are very excited to be part of this year's event as hopefully it will raise awareness of the importance of preserving mid-century homes. Too often, homes like ours are unsympathetically renovated or even demolished to build homes which are generally poorly designed and constructed...And we can't have that, can we?

Our home was designed by an award-winning Brisbane architect called Peter Heathwood - it was drawn as a specification house for builder AF Dawson in 1962. The house was owned by the one family until we purchased it earlier this year. It's a great home and we really love it.

Railton House. Image from here

In the open house program there are other mid-century residential homes and buildings which are 'must-sees' for the mid-mod enthusiast. My pick is Railton House and Office located in Spring Hill, Torbreck Home Units in Highgate Hill, Jacobi House in Indooroopilly. You can check out the Hot Modernism suggested itinerary on the Brisbane Open House website to see what else is on offer.

Because we are part of the event it means my 'archi-touring' will be curtailed to just one day. I've got my heart set on seeing the old Boggo Road Goal built in 1903 and also the 2014 Christian Street residence designed by architect James Russell.

If you're in Brisbane which  buildings do you plan to visit?

Hot Modernism

Queensland's modernist architecture from 1945 to 1975  is put under the spotlight at a major exhibit now showing at the State Library of Queensland.

I was very excited to gain a sneak preview of the Hot Modernism exhibition at the official launch earlier this week thanks to dansk vintage who is principal sponsor of the exhibition. (They were away overseas on a buying trip and kindly gave me some of their tickets. Yay!)

Centenary Pool Spring Hill designed by James Birrell

It is heartening to see there is a growing appreciation of mid-century design and from a preservation point of view this exhibition will add to that important conversation. You can never fully grow if you don't learn from the past. It is undeniable the period of development between 1945 to 1975 was the start of a modern Queensland. And it is wonderful to see the architects, designers and builders who dreamt big (and a little bit left of field) after the immediate post-war period acknowledged.

So, from a mid-century modernism enthusiast's point of view, this is a must-see exhibition. There are photographs, plans, models and videos a-plenty in which to immerse yourself. I'll be going back to have a good old leisurely look when the children are back at school next week.

Inside the re-creation of Jacobi House with vintage Danish furnishings from dansk vintage

One of the many highlights was the full-scale replica of the iconic Jacobi House (1957) designed by Hayes and Scott. It is a fabulous re-creation and gives a taste of how 'less is more' when it comes to building design.

Madly modern Susan posing in the Torbreck room.
Ironically, Susan looks like a 1950s housewife but has never  used a washig machine in her life according to her domesticated partner Chris.

There is also a room dedicated to the construction and history of Torbreck Home Units (which I wrote about in a previous blog post).

Speare House profile in the Hot Modernism exhibition

And of particular interest to me were the drawings and photographs of the demolished Speare House (1959) which was designed by the same architect who drew our modernist house. Although it precedes our home by four years, some of the features and ideas about climatic design can be seen in our humble abode.

Our friends, the publishers of Australian Modern (Chris and madly modern Susan), were also interviewed as part of the exhibition. A short three minute video was made about their mid-century home and how they came to buy it and then become friends with the architect, Barry Walduck.

Their modernist home will play host to the Man about the House Tim Ross Comedy show which is part of the Hot Modernism special events. The show cost is $58 and can be booked here.

Mid-Century Queensland with Chris Osborne and Susan Bennett from State Library of Queensland on Vimeo.

Hot Modernism is a free exhibit at the State Library and is open until 12 October.

Full circle, a new beginning

I've been deliberating for a few weeks on how I would write this blog post...

Firstly, let me share with you the very long awaited photograph I received through the distant relatives of the original owners of the Sow's Ear...

Yes, that's the Sow's Ear when it was being re-stumped to accommodate a new garage and under the house area...I'm not sure who is in the photo but I assume it would be Zoila...

We had always wondered what the front verandah looked like and were curious to see what the original stairs were like. Sadly, this photo doesn't show the style of stairs but we are so happy to see a record was kept of the evolution of this home over the past 85 years.

This next photo shows the house bricked in under with the new garage, new brick stairs, closed-in front verandah and side extensions on the left (our master bedroom has a bay of windows). My guess is this photo is from the 1950s?...

Uncannily these photographs arrived the day we received word another house we put an offer on went unconditional. Yes, we've bought another place. We're leaving the Sow's Ear and will be moving house in the next fortnight.The timing could not be any eerier.

Nonetheless, I could not find a more fitting end than this. We are still keeping the Sow's Ear and have found the loveliest tenants who will appreciate the old house as much as what we did.  I guess we're not ready to say a final farewell just yet.

And so starts a new adventure in another home - an architect designed mid-century home with wonderful restoration potential. I hope you will keep reading the blog and join us in this next chapter of life.

A nook in our new mid mod home

Brisbane House History: more about the Stables family

Things have been a bit hectic at the Sow's Ear and it is the reason I've been absent here for the past fortnight. There's lots happening which I will be able to tell you about next week. It's huge and I can't wait to share my news with you...

Anyway, I had promised you some more information about the Stables family who had originally owned and built the Sow's Ear in the late 1920s. I am still slightly gob-smacked that I have finally been able to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle I have been trying to unravel these past few years.

Apparently there are diaries and illustrations from Zoila Stables which span over 40 years. Many thanks must go to the relatives who have compiled the following information of the Stables family.

Mary Ann Florence Day

So, the Stables children began life in Argentina. Their mother Mary Ann Florence Day, also known as Florry, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1870.  She was the first child of Robert and Emma Day. Florry was a tall lady of six feet and was mother to Zoila, Florence and Stanley (who are on the original house title deed of the Sow's Ear). The children also grew to be six foot or more.

The Stables family were part of the large Welsh colony which settled in Argentina during the period of 1865 to 1914 to farm. "Little Wales beyond Wales" was the aim of the settlement and today there is still an evident Welsh culture and language that has survived in the Patagonia.

When Florry was 15 years old she embarked with her five brothers and sisters by the ship Tainui, to follow her father Robert and stepmother Annie to Argentina (Robert was wanted by police for theft, fleeing NZ to South America...that's a whole other story!).

William C Stables

Florry married William Cordukes Stables.  William was from a well-to-do family in England and he spoke many languages. He was an analytical chemist and worked in England and Paris, before travelling to Argentina. He analysed the Buenos Aires water supply and wrote a letter in the newspaper describing how impure it was.  William made things hot for himself and the chemist he worked for accused him of using his drugs to analyse the water.  He left for Rosario, where he met and eventually married  Florry. William and Florry moved to Colony 16 de Octubre living there on the property with Robert and Annie in the wilds of Chubut.

The Stables welcomed the arrival of Zoila Ceferina Mabel (known as Dolly), born on 26 August 1898 to the family.  Florence Mary Ethel (known as Ethel) was born 24 December 1900 and the last, Stanley, was born 10 December 1902.

When Robert and Annie Day decided to move from Argentina, Florry and William also made the decision to go with them.  They lived in Scotland, with Annie and her family, where the children went to school. Robert Day was scouting out a new life for them all, where they could farm under the British flag. North Queensland was the place decided upon.

Florry and her children, sailed from England on 8 July 1911 aboard the S.S. Rimutaka arriving in Brisbane on the 26 August in the same year. They lived at Southernwood near Emerald with the contingent of other Argentine settlers.

Their next permanent home was at Yeppoon, on the coast, east of Rockhampton.  They grew almost every kind of tropical and non-tropical produce, they were even known to try their hand at growing cotton. This property was called Palm Grove.

The Stables children, now almost grown, had a large part of the work assigned to them, along with achieving skills of their own such as music and drawing.

They also gained academic qualifications, which saw both Zoila and Stanley gaining degrees from the University of Queensland.  Most of their study was done by correspondence until the family moved to Brisbane (the Sow's Ear) for them to complete their degrees.        
                                                                               

One of Zoila's illustrations

Zoila gained a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Literature and subsequently wrote many articles and some books. She also worked as a commercial artist and had a love of photography.

Ethel and Alan Lucy

Ethel studied and became a nurse, she moved with the family to Brisbane in 1927.  She met Alan Bertram Lucy, who was born 30 May 1904 in St. Paul’s Street, Randwick, Sydney - he had studied and worked with Stanley.  (Alan was orphaned at the age of 15, while playing in a game of cricket.  He hit his father in the head with a cricket ball, which killed his father. A fund was set up to help him continue his studies at Mechanical Engineering and he was awarded an apprenticeship with Evans Deacon & Co in Brisbane). He suffered all his life from epilepsy.  Alan and Ethel were married in Brisbane, on 8 November 1933, in the Albert Street Methodist Church.

Stanley graduated, with a degree in Engineering, which took him to New Guinea during WW2.  He was employed to build many roads and bridges and an aerodrome for the Americans.  He often talked to the Italian POWs, (there were many Italians in Argentina, so he spoke their language) which made the Americans suspicious of him.  They thought he was spying, so they sacked him. An investigation was held and proved the allegations unfounded.  For the rest of his working life, Stanley was employed by the Department of Main Roads, initially as a surveyor and then second in charge, where he preferred his wages to be paid in ten pound notes.

William died in 1935, Florry died in 1943, Alan died in 1954, Ethel died in 1971, Zoila died in 1987 and Stanley, the last of this line of the Stables family, died in 1989.

Found! The Stables family

Never in a million years did I think we would ever find photographs of the Stables family who were the original owners of the Sow's Ear. If you are new to Fun and VJs, part of our renovation journey also involves researching the history of our home. You can read all the History blog posts here (you'll have to scroll down a bit).

There was no immediate next of kin as far as I was aware...that was the case until I was contacted a week ago by a cousin of the Stables via the Fun and VJs Facebook page.  The power of social media is strong!! 

This relation had generously offered to provide me the information they had compiled for a comprehensive family tree, which included information about the Stables branch of the line.

Zoila (known as Dolly), Florence (known as Ethel), Stanley and Mary Ann Florence Stables (nee Day and known as Florry)

And there were many photographs! To say I was completely blown away by the contents of the email I received yesterday would understate the emotion I felt...To finally put faces to the names of the people who lived in the Sow's Ear was one of my dearest wishes.

Zoila and Florence (Dolly and Ethel) when Zoila graduated from the University of Queensland.

photographic portrait of Stanley Stables

There's more to the story but it's getting late and I will post more in the next few days...

O'Reilly's Bonded Stores: is it worth saving if it's old?

There is a derelict early 20th century building which is set to be demolished on Margaret Street in the Brisbane CBD. It is O'Reilly's Bonded Stores (old warehouse space) which was built around 100 years ago.

The building is not heritage listed and when viewed with an objective eye, isn't terribly attractive either, particularly in its present state. However an off-leash dog park will be its temporary replacement until the developers obtain the green light for what will likely become modern commercial/residential high rise.

The O'Reilly family was quite prominent in Brisbane during the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The O'Reillys had a bonds store and forwarding agency business begun by Captain Henry O'Reilly in the 1860s  - the stores originally operated from Mary Street until the new stores, the ones proposed for demolition, were built in 1912/1913.

Captain O'Reilly also owned the spectacular mansion called Toonarbin in Dornoch Terrace in Highgate Hill and you can read about the restoration of that home here. The suburb of Bowen Hills was originally called O'Reilly's Hill after the family. Clearly, the O'Reilly family were the movers and shakers of Brisbane during its infancy as a city.

You can read more about the proposed demolition and development of the stores here.

image from here

I was having a conversation with Jason about whether this building should be saved...Is it really worth saving if it's old? Would we be having the same discussion if Westfield Indooroopilly shopping centre was proposed for demolition in 2070 (100 years after it first opened)? (I'll be dead, no doubt!)

The Bonded Stores survived 100 years, does that give it the right to exist for a further 100 or so years? Would Brisbane be better served with a modern building in its stead or should we try to retain as much of our past as we can given the paucity of historical buildings remaining in this city? Is there a creative way for the developer to do both?

To keep or not to keep? is the question. And sadly, 'not to keep' is often the resounding answer.

Over the past couple of months, Brisbane has lost two well-known heritage listed buildings due to fire - the old Belevedere in West End and the Albion Flour Mill. Both properties were either up for development or holding up development, so these 'accidental' fires are not terribly surprising. The historical properties are now bull-dozed and are just a hazy memory to be remembered through photographs and newspaper clippings.

image from here

Anyway, it seems a lot of people are sick of old buildings being neglected and then demolished without some thought or say in the matter. There is a community campaign underway to help save the O'Reilly's Bonded Stores building. If you are keen, you can get on board here. There is a petition and information about how to put in a submission against the demolition application. 

Perhaps if enough people were to raise an objection, then the developers may rethink their plans and incorporate the new with the old ...one can only hope in 2014.

Walter Taylor Bridge tour

We've certainly become tourists in Brisbane over this past year. There are so many great spots and fun things to do in our home town. The Brisbane City Council has recently started free walking tours to view inside the pylons of the Walter Taylor Bridge at Indooroopilly. We were able to get a rare glimpse of an interesting part of Brisbane's history.

The bridge was renamed the Walter Taylor Bridge in 1956 after the bridge designer and constructor Walter Taylor

Yesterday we met up with our tour leader Alan from Brisbane Greeters at the Indooroopilly end of the bridge. He led us on a short walk across the Jack Pesch Bridge and through to the Walter Taylor Bridge Reserve. Alan was full of interesting tidbits...and corrected a lot of the misinformation I was taught at school...like who really discovered the Brisbane River?

Alan with some of my brood.
Word of warning, if your child has nil attention span , don't do the tour with kids!
Son #3 needed a leash.

Walking under the bridge on the Chelmer side

Built in 1936, the Walter Taylor Bridge is a suspension bridge which allows motor vehicles and pedestrians to cross the Brisbane River between Indooroopilly and Chelmer - it is also the only habitable bridge in the Southern Hemisphere (according to Wikipedia).

And this is what fascinates me most about the bridge: people used to live in the pylons! The washing flapping in the breeze was the only visible sign that the pylons were occupied.  It used to be the home of the bridge engineer and the toll keeper and was occupied by their descendants up until 2010.

Another interesting fact about the bridge was that the cable used for the suspension were leftovers from the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. If you're interested, you can read more about the history here.

Out on the balcony of the Walter Taylor Bridge looking out to the Chelmer side.

We were able to visit the residence at the Indooroopilly side of the bridge which was home to the Green family who operated the old toll booth. They had six children in their time living in the bridge; when you view the residence you wonder where on earth did they put them all? There were only three bedrooms in the narrow three storey building - it was certainly compact living for the family of eight.

My photographs of inside the pylons are terrible. It was very hard to take good shots, as the unfurnished rooms were quite small. In the early 2000s, the residence was renovated so the original kitchen and cabinetry is long gone...the new kitchen was not terribly inspiring, I'm afraid! It would be terrific if the rooms were restored to how they used to be in the 1930s, to give the rooms more context...

The doorway into the third bedroom on the top floor of the residence

 There is also a YouTube clip of life inside the toll booth which is very quaint. 

old kitchen in the pylon residence

The tours will continue again in January and there is talk that the Chelmer side will open in the near future (apparently the uni students who used to rent it out were hard taskmasters for the old building - it will take more time and money to make it safe to open to the public).

To book a tour of the bridge, go to the Brisbane Greeters website here.

Steam Train Sunday

We had the best time on the weekend, in between the blocked sewage drain fiasco at the Sow's Ear...We went for a family ride on a steam train.

The trip was mainly for the children's benefit but I have to say Jason and I enjoyed it just as much as they did. The steam train runs one Sunday a month, departing from Roma Street station for a 1 1//2  hour train journey to Pinkenba and back.

Steam train pulling in to the station

Sadly, Steam Train Sunday has finished its run for this year but you can visit the Queensland Workshop Railway Museum to find out if there are any other events planned over the school holidays. I'm already planning our activities...

Beautiful details in the carriage

The train is a restored Queensland Rail steam locomotive that pulls about 10 vintage rail carriages - the carriages are all completely different. You kind of feel like you're in one of those old country and western movies, as you can move to the different carriages while it is travelling...don't think I didn't pretend I was escaping from the baddies in a shoot out...! Ha!

And you can stand outside on the back or front of the carriage as the train is travelling from station to station. You can literally see the smiles on people's faces when they see the steam train approach.

Lino floors and gorgeous timber seats

We were allocated seats in what we thought was one of the prettiest carriages - it had pressed metal ceilings, timber panelling and lovely heritage wall lights. It's great that these carriages are beautifully restored and are now being put to good use. Steam Train Sundays are a really popular event and you need to book to secure a seat.

It was a fun morning out and about in Brisbane. 

Abandoned houses

For those of you who don't know, we live next to an old abandoned cottage. I wrote about it here back in 2009 when we first moved to the Sow's Ear.

I really haven't found much more information about the house since 2009... The owner comes around periodically to mow the lawn and tidy the yard: the house itself is now beyond repair and maintenance. The kookaburras peck at the rotting weatherboards cladding the house, probably to feast on the termites slowly devouring all that delicious timber.

By the looks of the house it is perhaps an early 1900s Queenslander cottage - it is definitely older than our 1928 Sow's Ear.

View of the old abandoned house from our deck. And the missing stump.

Word on the street is that the house was once owned by a famous aboriginal boxer (Lionel Rose?) and the house, at some point in time, operated as an illegal brothel. Yes, a house of ill-repute!

Someone told me that under the house there are still all kinds of adult devices suspended from the floor beams...of course! I don't know that any of this is true mind, but there is always a grain of truth in these neighbourhood folklores, surely? Anyway, I'm running with the story because it's a good one!

The view of the house from our side stairs. Here is the fallen timber house stump.

I'm not game enough to find out the truth about the adult devices under the house business and I will definitely not go to investigate after one of the house's foundation stumps keeled over during the storm last week. Yikes!

Although, it is very sad the home is falling apart, I find the whole abandoned house business morbidly fascinating. Clearly I'm not the only one who finds it so, as I recently discovered.

There is a whole Facebook page dedicated to abandoned houses in and around Brisbane here. The person who runs the page records the ruins for our viewing pleasure - there's nearly 10,000 likers!

So, are you fascinated by abandoned house too?

Brisbane Open House 2013: Windmill Tower and Craigston

The concept of Brisbane Open House is a winner for all those interested in architecture, history and culture. This years' BOH was a lot of fun and I was able to satisfy my inner-house voyeurism, yet again.

And there is nothing better than being a tourist in your own town - we should all go out and see more of what makes Brisbane...Brisbane. It's a way of gaining a wider appreciation of our history and will hopefully educate people about the importance of preserving the great buildings dotting our suburbs.

Windmill Tower Spring Hill

I had the privilege to visit a number of historical buildings that I have always wanted to see. Brisbane's oldest building, Windmill Tower, is a landmark in Spring Hill near the CBD. It was built by the convicts back in the 1820s and has obviously stood the test of time as it is now the oldest windmill tower left in Australia. In the 1860s, after it had ceased operating as a mill, a central spiral staircase was constructed to allow it to be used as a signal tower.

Looking down the spiral staircase at the top of Windmill Tower

Casement windows in the Windmill Tower on the ground floor

This year at  BOH, small tours were allowed to ascend the top of the tower. I was lucky to be one of the successful people in a ballot for a tour of the Windmill Tower. It was unbelievably cool to stand at the top of the oldest convict built structure in Queensland. The Windmill Tower is on the Queensland Heritage register - you can read more information here.

View of the mid-century Tower Mill Hotel from the Windmill Tower

Looking up Wickham Terrace at the Tower Mill Hotel and Windmill Tower

Afterwards, I met up with Elizabeth from Walk Among the Homes, my new best 'house voyeur' buddy, who was successful in the ballot for a tour of the Spanish mission style Craigston. It's located across the road from the Tower.  Again, what a fabulous experience to view Brisbane's oldest concrete and steel high-rise building which was built in 1927 (same vintage as the Sow's Ear...).

View of the Craigston from Windmill Tower

Craigston was originally built to house medical chambers on the ground floor and doctors' residences in the flats above. When constructed, each floor had a residential flat and over the years some of the flats were subdivided into smaller units, such is the scale of the floor plan.

A photograph of Craigston shortly after the building was constructed. You can see that one side of the building was open verandahs with awnings. They were closed in later,  purportedly after a severe storm

Yesterday we were given a tour of floors 7 and 6 which were entirely intact - the flats were huge. We were also able to visit a compact studio located in the basement level - it is a contemporary renovation and plays host to a very cool architecture practice.

Craigston basement studio with French industrial Jielde lights

Dumb waiter in the basement, now used for the recycling rubbish

I was completely enamoured with the Floor 7 flat that is larger than many houses. In the good old days, it also had servants' quarters for two maids. The owners, who bought the flat four years ago, were very gracious and generous with their time and knowledge. They've made a beautiful home and have decorated the space beautifully.

Exquisite Craigston flat on Floor 7

Craigston floor plan

Floor 6 was originally the home of the Dr SF McDonald who was the first chairman of the building and had introduced the concept of cooperatively-owned multifunction office and residential space. All the silky oak wood panelling is original and is very much how it was when it was first built. It was literally like stepping back in time when we entered the main living and dining rooms.

The flat on Floor 6 

If you would like to know a bit more about Craigston visit here.

Craigston window details

That concludes my BOH tours. It was such a fantastic experience and I am looking forward to next year's open house event. I hope it gets bigger every year!