01 Beaumaris Modern 2 by Fiona Austin and Simon Reeves
(Melbourne Books, 2022)
Melbourne’s bayside suburb of Beaumaris has changed a lot since the 1950s and ’60s, when dirt roads and sandy tracks weaved between untouched bush and the avant-garde homes of the architects and artists who flocked there in search of an alternative to the usual subdivision. Today, as land values have skyrocketed, many of the experimental, modernist homes that were built in the mid-twentieth century have been demolished, replaced by generic new builds. This follow-up to continues the work of documenting the homes that have survived the waves of development, acting as a pointed reminder of what first attracted people to the suburb. The new book brings 17 additional surviving houses “out from behind the trees,” including lovingly preserved homes by the likes of Peter McIntyre, Anatol Kagan and Geoffrey Woodfall as well as hidden gems by lesser-known architects such as Charles Bricknell and Judith Brine. A few of these homes have been in the same family for generations, but most others have been bought by new owners who appreciated their modernist design and relationship to the surrounding bush. We hope, as do the book’s authors, that inspires the suburb’s next generation to hang on to that modernist heritage.
