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Iggulden House

Location

50 Wells Road,, BEAUMARIS VIC 3193 - Property No B7364

File Number

B7364

Level

State

Statement of Significance

The house at 50 Wells Road, Beaumaris, was designed by David Chancellor of the firm Chancellor and Patrick and completed in 1957/58. Commissioned by the Iggulden family as a home and inspirational environment for its owner, an aviation historian and author, it occupies a prominent site on a hilltop approximately five hundred metres back from Port Phillip Bay. The brick pylon and timber-framed house was designed to exploit the full potential of the views to the north and south.
Two storeys of living space are topped by a third storey lookout and studio over which hovers a projecting butterfly roof. The flat roof of the second storey and strong horizontal emphasis of the windows and white painted fascia boards contrast with the verticality of three substantial brick pylons; one at either end of the building and one placed almost centrally on the northern facade. A service core of stairs, kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms is located vertically around the junction of this central northern pylon and the proposed (now completed) extension. A concealed open well to the left of the entrance extends from the ground to the roof of the second storey. Dining room, kitchen and sitting room are on the ground floor with a two storey living area on the east side and two bedrooms on the second floor.
Originally the house was intended to have a projecting two storey northern wing containing a squash court. The lower storey of this wing was set below the ground level of the main house exploiting the nature of the site and giving a fourth level. Due to lack of funds this wing was not built by the original owners but later occupants have commissioned a billiard room and extra bedrooms on this site on the original footings to the intended two storey level. This work was not carried out by Chancellor and Patrick. The house is currently almost hidden from view from the road by foliage and mature trees.
How is it significant? The Iggulden House designed by David Chancellor is significant for architectural reasons at a State level.
Why is it significant? The house is an excellent example of privately commissioned domestic architecture of the 1950's in suburban Melbourne. Its design is both functional and aesthetically expressive. It is eminently suited to its elevated site. The architect has exploited the strong visual contrast formed by the interplay of the horizontal and vertical elements; the transparency of the glazing and the solid earthbound structure of the brick pylons. A third storey studio adds to the vertical emphasis and the projecting butterfly roof serves to lighten the whole design whilst also alluding to its original client's interests. The house combines elements from two major influences on the architects at the time, the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Austrian born American émigré, Richard Neutra. The verticality of this building, originally intended and now realised as of four storeys, was relatively new in the work of Chancellor and Patrick in the 1950's. Only one other building is both similar and contemporary, the Miller House in Frankston. Most of the houses designed by the practice during the 1950's were of a single storey linear form.
The architectural practice of Chancellor and Patrick is regarded as one of the most important on the development of individually designed houses during the mid twentieth century, of which many still survive. Projects by the practice were covered extensively in the architectural press of the times and have since been the subject of new academic research and exhibition. The Iggulden house is important for showing a developmental change in their design vocabulary. David Chancellor himself considers this house as one of his most successful projects both for its design, and also because of the excellent relationship between himself and the clients.
Classified: 26/02/2007

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