Tim’s affection for mid century design is well documented, and since purchasing his own beautiful modernist home in Sydney in 2005, his passion for the era has only been exacerbated! ‘I have always collected things, and have had a serious problem with furniture over the years, particularly mid century modern pieces’ says Tim. This enthusiasm soon expanded into a full blown architecture obsession, inspired by the houses Tim recalls from his youth growing up on the Mornington Peninsula. ‘Mt Eliza in particular had houses designed by architects like Robin Boyd, Roy Grounds and Chancellor and Patrick‘ he says. When he has the privilege of visiting a fantastic modernist home now, Tim describes the experience as ‘like dealing with ‘architectural missing out disease‘!’ SO true! I have often wondered what it must have been like to live in a such an exciting time, aesthetically speaking!
The Walsh Street house is an iconic Australian home for many reasons. Robin Boyd is one of Australia’s most admired and influential architects, and his family home in Walsh street is his most well known work. The house perfectly demonstrates the design principles championed in Boyd’s book ‘The Australian Ugliness‘, including what he identified as the suburban propensity to build homes on the very centre of a block of land. Instead, The Walsh Street house demonstrates the advantage of a more introspective layout – the main house and a separate children’s pavilion face inward on the block, enveloping a lush central courtyard, linked by a distinctive sloping roof.
The home maximises its surprisingly modest footprint with versatile, multifunctional spaces which Boyd and his wife Patricia were known to re-configure often when entertaining guests. The lofty mezzanine with adjacent balcony in the main house served both as the couple’s master bedroom, and as a secondary sitting room when the need arose. Robin and Patricia’s bed would be covered by a neat upholstered cover to become a daybed for guests to lounge on! With its soaring sloped ceiling and views out to the courtyard, this would have been a seriously impressive space to entertain – can you imagine walking into such a bold and modern space in the late 1950’s!?
Tim Ross’ passion for mid century design has brought about a very intimate connection to this home, and many others from the era, on account of a hugely popular comedy show he’s been doing for a few years now, called ‘Man About The House‘! For this project he’s somehow managed to combine all his favourite things into one – comedy, music and mid century architecture. No mean feat!
‘Man About The House is about a complete experience’ explains Tim. First and foremost, the evening is an entertaining comedy show (with a little live music thrown in), but it is also an open house, allowing visitors to experience first hand a house or building that has outstanding architectural merit. Tim has performed the show at various architectural gems across Australia – in Melbourne, his venue is the Walsh Street House. ‘We encourage people to grab a drink and move around the house as if they were turning up at a friends place and check out their swinging pad for the first time’ he says. In fact, I was lucky to attend Tim’s show here last year and I can attest to this! The event started with a self guided wander around this incredible home, and culminated with Tim’s performance in the courtyard, alongside his best mate and musical sidekick Kit Warhurst.
Hosting his Man About the House show here, and in similar homes across Australia, has given Tim the chance to engage a new audience in a conversation about design. ‘Obviously the show is appealing for people who have a strong interest in architecture and design, but many people who don’t often walk away with a deeper appreciation for mid century modern architecture’ he says. ‘There is a strong message of preservation in the show, because I believe that buildings that are 50 or 60 years old are as important to save as those that are a 100 or 150 years old’. Having said that, although each show does include an appropriate level of banter about the house, it’s not an architecture lecture by any means! Tim’s performance is filled with anecdotes from his childhood in the suburbs, and cheerful musical interludes with Kit, ‘…and it’s also about me doing dumb things, which is always funny’ adds Tim!
What really makes Man About The House unique is the genuine sense of intimacy that this unconventional performance space provides. ‘There is no backstage, and after the show people tend to hang around and talk, make new friends and of course recognise each other from Instagram!’ says Tim.
The Robin Boyd Foundation have been fantastically supportive of Tim’s show, and will be hosting another series of Man About The House later this month for the Melbourne Comedy Festival. For a closer look at this very special Melbourne home, do consider getting along to check it out – a great night out, and one of the best ways to experience the charm of this truly iconic Australian home first hand.
For more on Man About The House, there is a cute video from Tim explaining the concept behind the show in a little more detail here.
For more info on The Robin Boyd Foundation and other upcoming events in the Walsh Street House , do check out their website!
