Markalia

273 Nepean Highway, Seaford

History
Mitcham resident, Mrs. Alicia Maclure, owned Lot 9 and 10 Nepean Highway, Seaford, which overlooked the bay and backed onto Kananook Creek in the mid-to-late 1920's.1

William S. Brown, of Nicholson Street, Brunswick, bought the two lots and built a house on them in 1929.2 The house had rough-cast cladding and was called Markalia.3 Brown owned the property until after 1940.4 Hyland Bartlett, a horticulturist, and Nancy Bartlett, of Point Nepean Road, Frankston, were the owners in 1945, but by 1949 the property changed ownership again with Frederick Bosanko, an assistant sales manager, being the new owner-occupier.5 Markalia was owned and occupied by A. Culielenski by 1958.6

Description
As if taken from an English village, this house attic-type has the steep gabled and slated roofing, textured stucco wall finish and use of the rough clinker brickwork (chimney) which epitomizes the English Domestic Revival in the Arts & Crafts manner.

What distinguishes it further is the curved profile of the rear section of roof. Rather than assume a straight-gabled form, the roof curves out skirt-like to cover the extra plan width beneath it. Viewed from the side, the chimney breast is also curved (scallop), promoting the 'gingerbread' imagery of the house.

Dense planting from the house era fronts the property (Euc. Ficifolia, Cupressus macrocarpa, Cupressus sempervirens), along with a matching picturesque mail box built into a low stone wall.

External Integrity
What may have been half-timbering to the gable apex is now weatherboards, but otherwise the house is near original.

Significance – Study Grading B
Architecturally, this is an unusual house in the English Domestic revival manner, which is distinguished by its flared roof form and the use of rustic materials to promote the medieval image. It is also in a period landscape setting and historically it reflects the period when this part of the Nepean Road was developed for modestly scaled but comfortable seaside homes by Melbournians; of regional and local importance.