Once beautiful but neglected: My ‘Cinderella’ suburb is Melbourne’s mid-century belle

My parents’ first date in the 1950s was at a party in Beaumaris. It was, my dad explained, an “interesting” suburb. The area was popular at the time with creative types such as writers, artists, actors, fashion designers – Prue Acton, Linda Jackson, and Jenny Brown grew up in Beaumaris – and for some reason, airline pilots. (Dad worked in travel and Mum was an airline hostess).

Years later, when I was at art school, Beaumaris again popped up on my radar, thanks to a fellow student who lived there. I knew it was out of the city and by the bay, and it always sounded a bit exotic to me. I imagined a lifestyle among the trees, drinking wine, painting and lazing on the beach.

My husband and I grew up in the suburbs and had become avowed inner-city dwellers. Then children came along. Two boys and all that energy, combined with some wonderful holidays out of the city, made us yearn for more space, even a garage. We were missing trees and sky. It’s funny how you can subconsciously mimic your parents. We had just completed a renovation on our “forever house” in East St Kilda and were not looking to move – but somehow, 23 years ago, found we’d bought a mid-century modern home in Beaumaris.

When you see a map of the bay, Beaumaris is the place that protrudes out before the long curve of beaches to Frankston. It has a rich history, beginning with the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation and their middens can still be discovered on guided coastal walks.

Close to the border of Mentone, there are spectacular cliffs with views back east and down to the Peninsula, including “Table Rock” featured in the paintings of the Australian impressionists(Heidelberg school artists) from the 1900s and Clarice Beckett in the ’20s and ’30s. At the base of the cliffs are world renowned fossil deposits where you can still discover shark teeth. Above the cliffs, on Beach Road, was the striking Beaumaris Hotel (previously known as the Great Southern Hotel), opened in 1889 as a seaside resort. It was extensively damaged in 1944 fires, rebuilt in the 1950s, and recently restored and rebuilt as apartments with its 1889 facade.

The cliffs and the coastal path wind all the way around to Ricketts Point, with its tea house and marine sanctuary – perfect for bird watching and snorkelling. You can keep walking to Quiet Corner at the Black Rock boundary via a path adjacent to bluestone sea walls built by workers during the Depression. The walk is a delight with its indigenous vegetation and habitat, making it hard to imagine you are only around 20 kilometres from the centre of a major capital city.

When we moved to Beaumaris, we found it was half an hour to the city by train from Sandringham and even longer by car. (It’s too bad that the electric tram from Black Rock to Beaumaris was closed in 1931.) Yes, it did seem like a long way out … but a long way from what? With boys aged six and 10 it was the perfect place for us to live with its beaches, parks and nature reserves. The scouts were Sea Scouts, with their own jetty and sailing boats, and in winter, the scout hall even had an open fire! It felt safe, the kids roamed free and rode their bikes to friends’ houses and to the video shop. They could walk to school.

The Concourse shopping centre on one of the central roads was a revelation. It was designed in a U-shape with its open space and trees almost hiding the shops. Good shops, too – great fruit and vegetables, a deli and a fabulous bookshop. In recent years, more cafes, restaurants, wine and fashion shops have added to the mix.

As designers, we were also attracted by the mid-century modern architecture of the area. Beaumaris is unusual in that it was mostly developed in the 1950s. Much of the land had been purchased in the 1930s by the Dunlop Perdriau Rubber Company with the intention of relocating its factory and building a “garden city”. However, World War II and economic shortages put Dunlop’s plans on hold, and the devastating bushfires of 1944 destroyed many of the area’s existing homes. This expanse of bushy land by the water was ripe for post-war development.

In 1949, architect Robin Boyd, writing in The Age, described Beaumaris as a Cinderella suburb, beautiful and neglected. His cousin, artist Arthur Boyd, took up the challenge and moved there a few years later from Murrumbeena, joining other creative Melburnians – including artists Leonard French and Stacha Halpern – wanting something different to the usual subdivisions.

A guide produced by the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects in 1956 said Beaumaris had “the greatest concentration of interesting houses in the metropolitan area”, with homes by many of Australia’s best known mid-century modern architects, including Boyd, Roy Grounds, Frederick Romberg, Peter McIntyre and many others.

When we first moved to Beaumaris, we found it a bit quiet and quite conservative. In the past 20 years, young families have moved in, the primary schools have doubled their enrolments, and we now have a shiny new secondary college with capacity for over 1000 students. Beaumaris is probably still a bit “suburban” but there is certainly a bit more diversity in our community now as another generation makes their mark.

Local artists gather at the Beaumaris Art Group, which has been going since the 1950s. The original studio is undergoing an exciting renovation and in the same location is the library and community centre, U3A area, the soccer club and the RSL cenotaph.

In the years since we’ve lived in Beaumaris many of its historic homes have been lost amid a fierce debate about the preservation of these designs versus the rights of homeowners. Fortunately, we have met other like-minded people and our community group, Beaumaris Modern, aims to celebrate the groundbreaking architecture and design found here.

Although Beaumaris has a wonderful architectural history and pedigree – the reality now is many people buy original houses and demolish them and construct “volume build” type houses or dual occupancies. It is all about affordability (and size), and most people can’t afford an architect-designed house. Back in the day, we had The Age Small Homes Service, where architects designed houses and sold the plans for a small fee – some are still dotted around Beaumaris and although modest in size, because of the large “window walls” which frame views to the garden and the open plan design, they feel spacious.

Our sons were eventually keen to leave here and move to the inner city. They tell me they felt isolated here in their teens, but now they appreciate coming home and enjoying the peace and quiet. When they left home, we could have chosen anywhere to live, but we stayed. It has everything we need.

Fiona Austin is a retired interior designer and co-author of Beaumaris Modern, books 1 and 2.

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