On The Beach, Off The Beach

The Age

Saturday January 16, 1999

PORT MELBOURNE

202/12 Princes Street

Part of the Anchorage development, this first floor apartment is away from the hustle and bustle of the beachfront but still has views of the bay and the great white hulk of the Spirit of Tasmania from a long balcony. Almost spanning the width of the apartment, it also overlooks the tranquil newness of Beacon Cove and out to palm trees, the beach and the busy pier.

While the apartment is in a three-storey building and has its own private entrance, it has access to the complex's large courtyard and recreation facilities that include a swimming pool and gymnasium.

Completed 18 months ago, the apartment has a light, modern interior with a pale cream and white color scheme throughout. The honey-colored parquetry flooring in the entrance hall and kitchen make a subtle contrast.

A curving wall leads around to the spacious living and dining room which has two sets of sliding glass doors opening to the balcony. The kitchen, set back from the sitting area, has wide grey and white marble benchtops and splashbacks and a full range of appliances. Unlike many apartments, the laundry is not the size of a small closet, but a room-sized separate space adjoining the kitchen.

Away from the living areas are two bedrooms and bathrooms. The main bedroom opens on to a private terracotta-tiled terrace overlooking the lush greenery of the communal courtyard. It also has a walk-through wardrobe and a white-tiled ensuite with marble benchtops. The apartment has a space in the security carpark.

Auction: 1.30pm Saturday 6 February by Wilson Pride (9699 4555).

Price: mid-$300,000s.

Inspect: today and tomorrow from 11.30am-12pm.

Elwood elegance

ELWOOD

2 & 4/5 Wimbledon Avenue

The deep, dappled shade of Elwood's plane tree-lined streets seem a cool retreat in the midst of an urban summer. And they manage to screen some of the worst brown-brick blights from unbridled 1970s development as well as the "Tuscan" renders of '90s eyesores. But this block of four apartments can stand quite fearlessly in the light, its solid 1940s silhouette and late art deco idiosyncrasies at home in elegant Wimledon Avenue.

The building was owned by the same family for 45 years before its current renovation. The common land at the front has been subdivided to create large grassy front gardens for the two ground-floor apartments. The facade has been kept intact, including banded metal-framed windows and the narrow tapestry bricks surrounding the entrance portico.

Inside, the apartments are a mixture of the old and new. While the original hardwood floorboards have been retained and polished, the kitchens have been completely remodelled with tall white cupboards, wide timber benchtops and underbench stainless-steel ovens. The bathrooms have kept some original elements such as banded tiling or a pedestal handbasin, but the rest has been modernised with white fittings.

The two apartments for sale - one on the ground floor and the other above - each have two bedrooms. The layout is well-planned for flat sharing, with the bedrooms at either end of the hall. While both apartments have art deco open fireplaces, the bottom flat also has french doors opening out to the front garden. Direct access to the car parking spaces at the rear are through the kitchen's back door.

Auction: 1pm and 1.30pm Sunday 14 February by Barleys (9534 8034).

Price: low-to-mid $200,000s.

Inspect: today and tomorrow noon-1pm.

Cakewalk from the action

ST KILDA

11/21 Mitford Street

If fashionable dining and a late-night passeggiata are crucial to your urban idyll, this apartment up among the trees is merely a high-heeled totter from Acland Street. Although the apartment is close to the action, it does seem secluded. Set back from the street, it overlooks a stand of trees at one side and the building's leafy driveway on the other.

The block of flats was built in the 1950s and while it has lost its edge of pristine modernism, the apartments are more spacious than many contemporary developments. The owner of apartment 11 has made the interior a work in progress, gradually renovating it himself during the last four years. He has used brave color combinations of dark-blue, terracotta and persimmon in Porters paints that work together, oddly enough, quite well.

A large dining room and sitting room connected by bi-fold doors open from an entrance hall and provide a good space for entertaining. Both rooms lead on to a balcony surrounded by greenery. The kitchen has been refurbished with new cupboards and a wide breakfast bench in timber-look laminate. The owner has added a recycled period door with sandblasted pale glass and blue details.

The rest comprises two bedrooms, the main room with a wall of wardrobes painted in Madras Orange. The bathroom has been modernised with terracotta floors and green and blue tiling and has a bath overlooking a peaceful view of trees.

Auction: 3pm Saturday 27 February by Rand Corporation (9531 1888).

Price: $250,000-plus.

Inspect: by appointment.