Houses and Apartments

Even as a child I loved to look at houses. I remember walking around my neighbourhood and looking at the different types of houses and gardens and thinking about which one I’d like to have. The houses in South Australia were very different from the ones I knew in England. In the sixties it was mostly what mum called “bungalows” and every house was brick or the new fangled brick veneer that was becoming popular. In my suburb, which was fairly new there was not a lot of weatherboard or fibro. I recall how when we first went to Melbourne we were fascinated to see so many weatherboard houses. I liked them. I like all kinds of houses though, the Georgian houses in Oatlands and other older towns, Edwardian villas, California bungalows, art deco. Pretty much anything built before 1970 has some interest for me. The first picture in this collection is an old bank on Murray St, Hobart which is now a private residence. The red awnings caused a lot of controversies when the residents put them up as the council did not like them but in the end, they were allowed to stay. I’ve left them red to commemorate all the fuss.

I am not really comfortable photographing suburban houses though in case the owners don’t like it. Occasionally I do if they are in a historic area or I find them especially interesting. With so many lovely old homes being demolished to make way for ugly apartment blocks and Mc Mansions I feel I want to preserve some of the memories. We have some lovely art deco buildings around the Hobart CBD and nearby Sandy Bay, here is one of them. The other is another interesting old home on Sandy Bay Road.

Naomi’s home town of Oatlands has many interesting old buildings from the early to mid-1800s. Blossom’s Cottages are now tourist accommodation. The stork on its nest is a sculpture. In stark contrast some very ugly townhouses built on the banks of the Port River, Port Adelaide.

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Finally an apartment block in Little India, Singapore. There are many of these all over Singapore. I would hate to live in something like this.