With extraordinary modernist homes constantly under threat, the area of Studley Park in the Melbourne suburb of Kew is exceptionally rare. So too is its landscape, thick with gullies, steep hills, and escarpments, surrounded by wattles, gums, and pines. Remarkably, the native bushland setting is just five km from inner-city Melbourne.
Tour Australia's Studley Park and its modernist legacy
Long enamoured with houses of this era, architect Jake Taylor and accomplished architectural photographer Jack Lovel have documented the area and its houses with transparency and sensitivity for their new book, 'Riverside Modern: An architectural legacy in Studley Park.' Lovel and Taylor astutely refer to the peaceful locale as a 'reclusive suburb' and beautifully capture its handsome architectural treasures in this engrossing tome.
Adding to the allure of the neighbourhood is its lack of development and, in some cases, restrictive covenants and front fences. As a result, the streetscape has barely changed since the 1950s.
Lovel’s photographic style is sharp and clean, but the subject softens when it comes to the interiors, which depict the domestic life of its inhabitants without artifice. 'The houses are clearly loved by each unique owner, and we wanted to provide an honest look at these homes without any additional elements for the purpose of enhancing the visuals,' says Lovel, who reached out to owners via mailouts and letterbox drops. Word got around the tight community, which ultimately led to access.
Editorially discerning, the book only includes projects that are in original condition or renovated sympathetically in the spirit of the times. And each chapter attributes works done by subsequent architects, almost all of them still practising today. 'A key point of difference is that all the interiors were captured exactly as they are, featuring the owners' personal belongings, including artwork, antiques, and book collections. No additional styling was used; showing these homes honestly and authentically was a primary driver for the project,' adds Lovel.
Context is critical to the book, which tracks the history and development of the Studley Park enclave that is now populated by over 100 modernist homes constructed from the 1940s to 1970s. Largely agricultural until the postwar period when allotments were subdivided into residential blocks, Studley Park’s challenging slopes and Birrarung (Yarra River) made it difficult to reproduce the classic Edwardian and Victorian styles that had, until then, dominated Melbourne’s architectural landscape.
Together with advancements in materials, these constraints opened the door for innovation, with a wave of pioneering names such as Roy Grounds and Guilford Bell, and visionary émigré European architects leading the charge. 'Riverside Modern' highlights incredibly impressive mid-century projects, including the Bell House by Russian-born Anatol Kagan and Milston House by Ernest Milston, a Czechoslovakian architect who built the cul-de-sac property for himself. The humble house, with its butterfly roof form, sits below street level, and its lightweight construction reflects the frugality of the postwar era.
Formatted in chronological order, Riverside Modern opens with the 1946 Pettigrew House by iconic architects Robin Boyd, Kevin Pethebridge and Frank Bell, its construction completed in stages due to material shortages at the time. With its floating upper volume and slim roof eave, blank brick walls and high clerestory windows, it’s demonstrative of one of the earliest postwar houses in Melbourne.
A number of practicing architects’ private homes are showcased too, including the 1958 Williams House which surrounds an internal courtyard, the rear built at ground level and the front cantilevered outward into a tree canopy. Rescued from demolition by the current owner-architect Albert Mo, recent works involve a near-original restoration and a vertical expansion of the rear with a custom-designed drawbridge.
Among other featured homes is McGlashan Everist’s Guss House (1963), known for its floating glass-box form. Built from a thin steel structural frame and linked glazed pavilions, it’s evidently influenced by the minimalist work of Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe.
'Our objective was to celebrate the breadth and diversity of this enclave rather than focusing on a single architect,' says Lovel. 'It is rare to find so many significant modernist homes in such close proximity.'
'Riverside Modern is on sale from 1 September 2026
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