Mid-century dreams on a budget: Architect Robin Boyd’s last house for sale

The last house designed by famed mid-century modern architect Robin Boyd has hit the market in Ringwood East, and it comes with a price guide of less than $1 million.

The three-bedroom, four-level house at 20 Byways Drive, Ringwood East, is known as Hegarty House and has been listed with hopes of $900,000 to $990,000.

With Boyd’s unique design, the home has been built into the side of a hill, surrounded by expansive gardens and nature. Trademark oversized windows offer views of the Dandenong Ranges.

Commissioned in 1969 and officially completed in 1972, the home is in near original condition, with some upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms plus new carpets and a fresh coat of paint.

Selling agent Jellis Craig Balwyn’s Belinda Anderson said the vendors, one of whom is an architect, had bought the home because they were fans of Boyd’s work.

“They loved Robin Boyd,” Anderson said. “The home is very original, they’ve kept it in beautiful condition.”

Views of the Dandenong Ranges can be seen from the home’s expansive windows.Credit: Jellis Craig Balwyn

The vendors have owned the property for more than 25 years and are now planning to downsize as their children have moved out of home, she said.

Hegarty House has only had three owners. The current owners bought it 1997 from a family who had owned it since 1974.

Anderson said the popularity of Boyd-designed homes has risen over the past decade as more people warm to his mid-century modern style, which features open-plan living, large windows, a connection to the outdoors and site-responsive orientation.

Boyd wrote about design for The Age after World War II, and his Small Homes Service sold affordable architectural drawings to builders and prospective home owners.

Open-plan living is a trademark feature of modernist homes. Credit: Jellis Craig Balwyn

Though it does not have heritage protection, Hegarty House is a significant Boyd home, Anderson said, and offers buyers a chance to acquire a piece of architectural history for a much lower price than other Boyd homes.

Last year, a Boyd-designed home in North Warrandyte known as The Wright House sold for $2.65 million, records show, after more than 400 people inspected the property.

“This house is fascinating because it is the last house Robin Boyd ever saw completed – he died in October 1971 – and there’s a photo of him in one of the living rooms with a champagne in his hand celebrating the build,” Anderson said.

Hegarty House was included in the Heide Museum’s Robin Boyd exhibition last year, allowing Boyd fans a glimpse inside.

Buyers will now have another chance to look through it at the inspections, which start this weekend.

Hegarty House is one of a few Boyd homes to hit the market in the past year, with two others listed in March.

Those homes, at 305 and 307 Long Forest Road, Bacchus Marsh – known as The Boyd Baker House and The Dower House – are still looking for a buyer.

The properties have had just two owners since being built and have been listed for sale with hopes totalling between $3.15 million and $3.47 million.