Tilba Tilba

14 Gulls Way, Frankston

History
Harry & Dorothy Hone of Callantina Road, Hawthorn, owned Lot 10 Gulls Way, in 1953.1 By 1956 Eric (a salesman) & Nellie Bond, of Hornsby Street, Beaumaris, had purchased the
allotment and in c1956 had a dwelling erected there to the design of Chancellor & Patrick.2 The NAV increased to £200 in 1956-57 and £273 in 1957-58.3 The Bonds owned and occupied Tilba until after 1960.4

During the job Bond traveled overseas, leaving some money in the bank to pay the bills. This was the ideal type of client for an architect, but was seldom experienced then or now.5 Reputedly Colin Jones worked on the documentation of this house in the Chancellor & Patrick office.6

The design included natural stone, `quarried four miles from the site' (Moorooduc quarry) and other natural materials used for internal wall linings. The unusual plan, based on intersecting sexagons for inside and outside spaces, followed natural contours, embraced the bay views and provided a private elevated terrace.7 The geometrical complexity of the planning resembles the Yarra Street, Kew design by G & R Block but with less effect on the elevations which follow the typical gabled Chancellor & Patrick approach.

Mrs. A Mackay and Miss Dentry purchased the house from the Bonds in 1968.8 A fire gutted the house in May 1989, leaving most of the external fabric.9 The house was reinstated to its original external appearance by local builder, W McIntosh, July 1991.10

Description
(Refer to 30 Gould Street for design themes)

Recently reinstated after a fire, the house still displays its former excellence. The house plan was based on the hexagon to allow bed and living rooms to better address the westerly bay view while service and utility rooms lay on the opposite side, facing east. The gable eaves were angled (Griffin- like) and the Moorooduc rubble stone chimney and adjacent weatherboarded walls were also angled in plan. Even the terrace fell within the plan angles, with planter boxes, a hexagonal pool and a low stone barbecue at each of the angle intersections. Concealed from the street view in the living area, the radiating rafters are clearly seen in the open car shelter. The same rafters were expressed inside, along with lacquered vertical boarding. The stone fireplace hovered over the hearth in the living area, jutting as a wedge- shaped stonework from the hall, while the characteristic open plan with dining alcove, split-floor levels and kitchen off, via a servery, was still visible. Astra hardware and Beco lighting were used as the contemporary architects' choice for door furniture and custom lighting. The roof is currently steel decking, with the Brownbuilt fascia gutter, but may have been Malthoid originally.

External Integrity
Generally as original: the recent reinstatement appears to have faithfully followed the original form. The interior has not been inspected since reinstatement.

Context
A major contributor to an important Modernist beach-house precinct of the 1950s.

Landscape
The rock edging to garden beds is consistent with the house materials and the era, with remnant planting of Prunus sp., camellias, and succulents. The garden structure is largely intact.

Significance
Architecturally, this house is among the most important examples among the distinctive output of the noted peninsula house designers, Chancellor & Patrick, and illustrates well the prevailing obsession with expressed structure and geometry in house plans and forms while still achieving purely functional goals, also a major contributor to an important residential 1950s precinct: of State importance.

Historically the house contributes to a group of buildings which is distinguished by its shared `Modernist' character. This area also reflects the distinctive appeal of Frankston in the expansion of the 1950s: of local importance and regional interest.