Hoddles Creek - Autumn in the Dandenongs near Melbourne

We travelled from Launching Place through lovley winding roads through the hills with bush and farms to the end of a road where we found Karen's wonderful large garden at Hoddles Creek, in the Dandenongs - part of The Open Garden Scheme. There was a heated patio with devonshire teas - welcome as this was a very cold day. The huge landscaped garden with many roses also had ponds, "rooms" and a small football field was surrounded by rainforest complete with tree ferns. There were many native birds too including a Yellow Breasted Robin and an unusual honeyeater I could not identify.

James Richmond percussion player in Berlin and Melbourne

James Richmond is currently playing percussion with the NAKED RAVEN contemporary music group in Berlin. He is also a great web site designer and has created this stunning internet site with his CV and audio samples and some more photographs like this one - as they perform around Europe.

Arts and Crafts House and others Ivanhoe

This is a slightly altered house by Harold Desbrowe Annear 1903 in Eaglemont.

Ravenswood Registered Historic House no. 199

'Ravenswood' at 40 Beauview Parade in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe. This house is an Italianate Renaissance-style built in 1890-91. It has a two-storey colonnade of Corinthian columns, Tuscan pilasters, a single-storey pedimented porch, balustrades, parapets, cornices and festoons. It is set in large sloping garden with a huge hundred year old fig tree, and other large trees and superb view to the City.

Heidelberg Artists and Architecture - Charterisville

Charterisville c 1840 was built by David Charteris McArthur, Manager of the Bank of Australasia [ ANZ]. It was sited high on the hill overlooking the valley to the east and his 168 acres of land down to the Yarra River which had orchards and vineyards. This house is now only half of the original structure - the northern part being removed for the purpose of subdividing land for houses in 1960. This half of the house was leased by Walter Withers from 1890-94, be E.Phillips Fox,and Tudor St George Tucker who became the founders of what is now called The Heidelberg School of Painters which was an informal collection of artists adapting French impressionist style to Australian conditions and included Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Frederick McCubbin, Walter Withers and Charles Condor, Jane Sutherland, Clara Southern and Emma Boyd (the wife of Arthur Boyd, May Vale and Jane Price. There were small dwellings on the property that were leased to artists who painted from the landscape all around Eaglemont and the Yarra. These photos show all the original parts of this house with the exception of some woodwork around the courtyard area. The cellar was probably very important during the summer months before we had air conditioning.