Mid-century modern on a budget: Where two Robin Boyd homes cost about $2m
A Robin Boyd enthusiast has bought two of the architect’s mid-century houses on Melbourne’s western fringe and will be only their third owner since the homes were built.
The houses in Long Forest, near Bacchus Marsh, were listed for sale with a price guide of $2 million to $2.2 million and sold within the range.
Set on 12.5 hectares surrounded by bush, the block at 305-307 Long Forest Road includes two houses.
The five-bedroom Boyd Baker House has two living areas, polished concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and stone walls, all wrapped around a central courtyard, and is registered by the Heritage Council of Victoria. It was designed by Boyd for University of Melbourne mathematics lecturer Dr Michael Baker and built in the 1960s.
The two-bedroom Dower House is built with similar materials and curved internal walls, and was commissioned as a home for Baker’s mother-in-law.
Their only other owners have been architectural philanthropist and lawyer Peter Mitrakas and his wife, Mary Ann, who bought the homes in 2006. The sellers hoped to find the right buyer for the renowned architect’s project, and decided to move on to renovate a centuries-old property in Europe.
The Robin Boyd design is set around a central courtyard.Credit: LAWD
Guests have used the homes for weddings and as short-stay rentals.
The selling agents were LAWD’s Nathan Cleeland and Patrick Kerr. Cleeland declined to comment on the sale price but said the buyer is an owner-occupier and Robin Boyd enthusiast who likes the architecture and wants to maintain the property.
“The combination of its nature setting and the architect was the drawcard,” Cleeland said.
“You don’t have any neighbours, it is totally surrounded by the bush.”
The homes are surrounded by bush.Credit: LAWD
He said most Robin Boyd homes are closer to central Melbourne rather than being lifestyle properties, and that the campaign received strong demand.
“It is certainly unique, I have never seen another Robin Boyd on a property like this.”
The homes were previously listed with another agent and available separately or together, with price hopes totalling between $3.15 million and $3,465,000.
The legendary Melbourne architect’s homes often attract interest from mid-century enthusiasts when they come up for sale.
Floor-to-ceiling windows are a trademark Boyd feature.Credit: LAWD
The last house that Boyd designed came up for auction last year and attracted a crowd of about 100 to a typically quiet street in Ringwood East. It sold for $1.61 million under competition from five bidders, and an architect who had always respected Boyd’s work won the keys.
Another Boyd home in Vermont sold for $2.1 million and recently opened to the public for the first time as part of the Open House Melbourne program.
Boyd’s mid-century modern style is known for its 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 reasonably-priced architectural drawings to builders and prospective homeowners, in a bid to make affordable, liveable homes more accessible to Melburnians suffering from overcrowding and a housing shortage.