By Clay Lucas
It's not the typical house Melburnians picture when they think heritage-listed architecture.
And yet a concrete brick townhouse built in 1964 in South Yarra's busy Domain Road is among the most recent additions to the state's heritage register.
Not all South Yarra locals are fans of its windowless fortress-like facade.
Stopped for a chat as they pass the house on Wednesday, a pair of dog walkers decline to share their views, although one shakes her head and wrinkles her nose - it is definitely not a neighbourhood favourite.
It is, however, a thing of beauty for owner Tony Bignell, who moved in six months ago, before it received its heritage listing.
"I absolutely love every minute of living in it," says Bignell who lived in a more traditional terrace-style house before. "I love the flow of space. It feels very much more connected than a terrace, which is a series of discrete cells."
Bignell admits the house's front is not to everyone's liking. "The street frontage is quite bland - the brilliance of the design is only evident if you go inside."
The home's 93-year-old architect Neil Clerehan won the Victorian institute of architects' most outstanding house award for it in 1967. He designed the house to face away from Domain Road to the south - he was after crucial north light.
"It is a fortress against the outside Domain Road traffic, but it faces the right way as far as comfort is concerned," says Clerehan.
Asked what contribution the building gives to the street, Clerehan says: "If you want windows and a nice high roof, it gives f*** all I think would be the term. But it fits in well with the street."
The Fenner House - it's named after the retired pastoralists who commissioned Clerehan to design it - reverses traditional planning, with bathrooms and a walk-in cloak room lining the front facade. Beyond that are three bedrooms.
The simple plan includes two small internal courtyards and a modest rear garden that eliminates the need for side windows and enables all bedrooms, the dining room and kitchen to receive north light.
Clerehan says the heritage listing is a great honour. And it is a suitable recognition for an architect who has contributed so much to the city since his registration in 1948. Along with his much-celebrated work, for many years Clerehan wrote for The Age's "Small Homes Service", designing vast numbers of sample house plans. He designed The Age "Dream Home" in 1954 in Surrey Hills (it has since been demolished).
Heritage Victoria executive director Tim Smith says the Domain Road house is a significant 20th-century building, nominated on the advice of a group of eminent Melbourne architects.
Mr Smith says the house is "a prototype for the modern townhouse" because its compact domestic design is still prevalent 40 years later. Its design also combined a new style of open plan living with privacy.
Many believe only grand Victorian mansions and Federation-style architecture gets heritage-listed in Victoria, says Smith, but everything from small cottages to original slab huts are protected. There are around 2325 properties on the Victorian Heritage Register.