House

116 Bulleen Road, Balwyn North, designed by architectural designer Sol Sapir in 1963, is significant. Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include: 
• asymmetric built form with projecting front room and geometric massing 
• flat roof with deep fascia and concealed gutters 
• orange face brick walls with two tone detailing and ‘toothing out’ of the brickwork at the building’s edges 
• open carport beneath the upper floor 
• upper balcony and metal balustrade 
• original pattern of fenestrations and timber framed windows 
• original or early stacked stone front fence/retaining wall with integrated planter boxes and timber letterbox.

The house is of historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Boroondara.

116 Bulleen Road, Balwyn North, is of local historical significance for the evidence it provides of Boroondara as a locus for fine, leading architect-designed public and private buildings from the 1850s into the Post-war period. Designed in 1963 by respected architect Sol Sapir, this house exemplifies the high concentration of architect-designed Modernist houses built in Balwyn and Balwyn North during the 1950s and 60s. (Criterion A) 

The house is aesthetically significant as a striking example of Post-war residential architecture in the area. The design of the house responds to the difficult site, having integrated garage underneath with main living space provided on the upper level. Its geometric form is emphasised by the upper balcony cantilevering beyond the building line at its northern end. The house represents one of Sol Sapir’s earliest designs in a Modernist idiom, anticipating his later residential designs. The house features refined detailing including a series of eight narrow floor-to-ceiling timber-framed windows punctuating the upper-level wall and a wider floor-to-ceiling window facing north. A sophisticated level of detailing is further evident in the use of two-tone brickwork to the edges of these windows and the balcony’s support column, and ‘toothing out’ of the brickwork at the corners of the front projecting room. The house is complemented by its original stacked stone front fence/retaining wall which returns along the driveway and incorporates planter boxes and an integrated letter box. (Criterion E)