Domain Review Stonnington & Boroondara - April 17, 2024

FEATURE

When Jessie Met Adam

The creative couple directing Netfix’s new Heartbreak High

Domain Group is a leading property marketplace made-up of a portfolio of brands. We are united in our purpose to inspire confidence in life’s property decisions. Our brands offer products and solutions to consumers and agents interested in property across every step of their property journey. We are motivated to innovate in our industry and leverage our unique data, products, and technology to deliver solutions to our customers that are found only on Domain.

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Broadsheet is Australia’s leading independent publisher. Online and in print, we aim to keep you in the loop with the best Melbourne has to offer and enrich your life in the city. We won’t waste your time with anything you don’t need to know about – just the essentials in home & lifestyle, art & design, fashion & style, food & drink, entertainment and travel. Broadsheet also has a presence in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Broadsheet  Founder and publisher: Nick Shelton   General manager: Sian Whitaker  Publications director: Nick Connellan   National editor: Michael Harry   Melbourne food & drink editor: Audrey Payne   Studio and strategy director: Roya Lines   Media partnerships manager: Jessica Kirsopp

Broadsheet  Editor: Jo Walker   Assistant editor: Gitika Garg   Design lead: Ben Siero   Designer: Ella Witchell   Sub editors: Miriam Kauppi, Barnaby Smith, Adeline Teoh, Annie Toller   Writers: Lucy Bell Bird, Sanam Goodman, Alice Jeffery, Grace MacKenzie, Jo Rittey, Vivian Tang, Irene Zhang   Photographers: Parker Blain, Sarah Burton, Jedd Cooney, Pete Dillon, Rhett Hammerton, Amy Hemmings, Kaede James Takamoto, Dave Kulesza, Arianna Leggiero, Ben Moynihan, Jake Roden, Samantha Schultz, Griffin Simm, Anson Smart, Brett Walker, Harvard Wang

Cover credits: Jessie Oldfield and Adam Murfet shot by Amy Hemmings

Broadsheet Media acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to lands, waters and communities. We pay respect to Elders past and present and honour more than 60,000 years of storytelling, art and culture.

Heartbreak High was appointment television when it first ran in the ’90s – an Australian icon that broke boundaries for teen TV, and managed to make rollerblading look cool. This issue we meet Jessie Oldfield and Adam Murfet, two of the people responsible for launching Netflix’s Gen Z reboot of the pop culture classic. They’re partners in life, business and parenting – and as the new season lands, we chat about how they make it work (sans heartbreak).

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www.broadsheet.com.au

Jo Walker Broadsheet Editor

The Interview with Gemma Leslie

Creative Couples: Jessie Oldfield & Adam Murfet

IN THE DIARY ADD TO CART NOW OPEN Bianchetto

26–28 Cotham Road, Kew

Chef and restaurateur Joe Vargetto moved to a newer and larger version of his Sicilian-leaning restaurant Mister Bianco late last year. Now cocktail bar Bianchetto joins the fold.

Though high-ceilinged, the softly lit 42-seater still feels intimate and moody. Crimson velour curtains cover one end of the room, and oldschool leather booth seating hugs the olive-green walls.

Beverage consultant Orlando Marzo – founder of Drinks by Loro and 2018 Diageo World Class Australia Bartender of the Year –designed a menu of classic Italian drinks with a local twist.

His Olive Oil Martini, made with Mount Zero cold-pressed frantoio olives, is clean and opulent, without the brine. The Sicilian Sour is a riff on the Bloody Mary, with Vargetto’s passata, marsala and lemon.

Plus enjoy some simple Sicilian snacks including scaccia (flatbread) filled with mortadella green-pepper-and-spicy-sausage spiedino (skewers). Finish on whisky-and-chocolate cigars or cassata-amaro gelato. — JR

Diamante wine bag

Melbourne event stylists Coral & Co offer chic accessories for big celebratory moments like birthdays and weddings. But we say: why wait for a special occasion to tote this ridiculously glam diamante wine bag around town? Its opalescent net pouch swings merrily from ivory-coloured resin handles, designed to hold a single elegant bottle or even a few cans of something nice. Equally perfect for the midweek bottle-o run as it is for opulent gift packaging – or just a very sparkly BYO. — JW

$69 99 / coralandcoshop.com.au

My Country

Thanks to the NGV and Country Road, eight First Nations artists across the country get the opportunity to be paired with industry mentors to bring their ideas to life. The first works from this national, biennial mentorship and exhibition program are displayed as part of My Country at The Ian Potter Centre. Walk through tapestries, ceramics, large-scale paintings, lighting works and more. Entry is free. — GG

Until Aug 4 / The Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square / ngv.vic.gov.au

Alec Baker with Baker and Eric Barney’s work Ngura (Country) 2023 at Iwantja Arts, Indulkana.

Photo: Rhett Hammerton

Photo: Arianna Leggiero

SNACK BAR STREET STYLE FOR STARTERS

Thelatestin Melbourne foodnews

By Audrey Payne Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy North

Cafe Diptyque, Mecca’s Parisian-inspired pop-up cafe in the CBD in collaboration with the French fragrance house, will close for good on Friday April 19. Reserve your spot to enjoy a $40 set menu for two curated by Andrew McConnell’s Morning Market. There’ll be hot chocolate with whipped cream, Baker Bleu croissants and petit fours. 30 Hardware Lane, Melbourne / events. humanitix.com/mecca-presents-cafe-diptyque

Cookbook author and food world superstar Nigella Lawson was in Melbourne recently after public talks in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. While in town, Lawson enjoyed what she described as “the perfect Sunday lunch in Melbourne” at Alta Trattoria in Fitzroy. 274 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy / altatrattoria.com

Japanese chef Hiroshi Kawamata has brought his cult-favourite Tokyo dessert shop Sebastian Kakigori to the CBD. Stop by for inventive takes on the Japanese shavedice dessert including a dual-temperature crème brûlée number containing ice layered in a large ramekin with condensed milk and strawberries. It’s then topped with meringue and blowtorched to resemble the famed French dessert. 203 Queen Street, Melbourne / sebastiankakigori.com.au

Warkop Richmond is back open on the weekend. The Indonesian sanga shop, known for favourites including its gado gado sandwich and Fillet-O-Fish spin with sambal, will now be open on Saturdays from 8am to 2pm. 12 Risley Street, Richmond / @warkop_melbourne

Austro bakery, specialising in Austrianinspired bakes and run by Sally Roxon and Christian Gattermayr, closed its six-yearold South Melbourne shopfront last month. The team is preparing to open a retail section in its North Melbourne production site later this month. @austrobakery

Read the full story for each dot point: broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/series/snack-bar

Name: Bernie Age: 25 Tell us about your outfit today. I found the shirt on the side of the road. I decided to make it look more fun by adding some paint and bleach. The pants are from Needles – I love how customisable they are. The shoes are Suicoke (they’re very comfy) and the bag I got from Savers. It’s really beautiful and you don’t see much patchwork like it. What do you gravitate towards when shopping?

Psychically just something that makes me happy and feel good. And something that isn’t polyester and feels better on the skin.

Fitzroy’s chic sibling, Fitzroy North is brimming with village charm and cool vibes. Boasting trendy cafes, bars, restaurants and a beloved grocery store, its status is cemented as a trendy locale.

1 bed unit, $418k

2 bed unit, $660k

3 bed house, $1.452m

Photo: Jake Roden

Photo: Harvard Wang

Photo: Parker Blain

Photo: Ben Moynihan

Photo: Kaede James Takamoto

THE INTERVIEW

Artist Gemma Leslie Wants To Know What’s in Your Pantry

Words by Alice Jeffery

Photo by Brett Walker

celebrate life’s simple pleasures, particularly when it comes to food. You might have spotted the Melbourne-based artist’s still-life compositions hanging on the walls of some of your favourite kitchens and cafes – she sells originals as acrylic on canvas, but is also the brain behind the Food For Everyone poster shop.

“I don’t find inspiration being in my studio. I have to go out into the world and bring it back,” Leslie tells Broadsheet . “I get inspired by going to exhibitions, eating out at restaurants or going to the markets. My local is the Preston Market, which I find so lively and beautiful.”

Fruit and vegetables, as well as seafood and seasonal florals, have become signatures of Leslie’s illustrated works. Compositions are thoughtful and bold – a product of her background as a graphic designer.

Leslie has always been intrigued by the idea of family recipes, though she doesn’t have many herself. “My ancestors came to Australia with no money and the family never inherited any of those strong cultural identities that I noticed with some of my friends,” she says.

But memories of birthdays spent at Vietnamese restaurants on Victoria Street in Richmond or celebrations in Chinatown pepper Leslie’s childhood. “My upbringing was really a lot about celebrating Melbourne’s diverse cultures without me even realising it.”

Right now Leslie is deep in the process of surveying pantries across the city to piece together the puzzle of what Melburnians cook and eat at home. It’s for her next solo exhibition, Multicultural Melbourne: Pantry Items, which pays homage to the city’s famed melting pot identity.

The series of portraits offers a peek inside 15 pantries – from a second-generation Italian household brimming with pickles and preserves to a Bangladeshi-Australian family whose kitchen shelves feature popcorn and baking ingredients.

When Leslie spotted their daughters’ traditional Bangladeshi dolls dotted around the room, she decided to incorporate them into the work, too.

“I’m finding so many stories throughout this project; it’s becoming a study beyond just pantries,” Leslie says. “But I’m really just scratching the surface”.

Community is a core theme in Leslie’s work. Her business Food For Everyone, with its vibrant recipe posters, was built around giving back. The concept launched in 2020 during Melbourne’s lockdowns when Leslie decided to draw four of her friends’ recipes and donate the proceeds to charity. Those first-edition posters featured meals by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Clementine Day, Ellie Bouhadana and Suzanne Corbett.

Since then Leslie has collaborated with both foodies and fellow artists on an extensive range of recipes and designs. “As the business has grown, I’ve been able to give briefs to other artists which is really fun. I’ve worked with Indigenous artist Aretha Brown, as well as Max Blackmore, Libby Haines, Evi O and Nadia Hernández,” she says.

For every poster purchased, Food For Everyone donates the equivalent of 10 meals to charity. Over the past four years the business has donated more than $150,000 to a range of charities, including Second Bite, Oz Harvest and Fare Share.

The Food For Everyone shop also sells a small collection of limited-edition home and lifestyle wares, including playful key chains made with Adelaide-based industrial design studio Daniel Emma. The newest lucky charm features laser-cut acrylic motifs of an oyster and a wedge of lemon. “It’s such a joyful project and that’s really what I aim to do – bring joyful products into the world.”

Gemma Leslie’s exhibition Multicultural Melbourne: Pantry Items runs from July 20 to August 3 at North Gallery, Fitzroy. Find Food For Everyone posters and merch at foodforeveryone.com.au

Gemma Leslie’s colourful works

RECOMMENDED

Made-toOrder Celebration Cakes for a Slice of Fun

lolly-topped number. Pick

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By Audrey Payne

At Creative By Design we are proud to produce custom joinery for any room in the home, making each space more usable and pleasant to spend time in.

The team will work with you throughout the design, manufacture and installation journey to bring your dream to reality.

MALI BAKES Patchanida Chimkire caused something of a sensation on Instagram during the 2020 lockdown when her Mali Bakes account became known for its colourful vintage-style cakes. Starting off by baking and delivering cookies around Melbourne, Chimkire now has a commercial kitchen and shopfront in Thornbury. In addition to her signature vintage creations, get custom designs including bubble cakes topped with piped messages on button-like icing blobs and heart-shaped cakes simply covered in tiny heart icing details. malibakes.com

MISS TRIXIE DRINKS TEA Former PR-professionalturned-baker Alice Bennett runs Miss Trixie Drinks Tea and is one half of the duo behind Richmond’s Co Bake Space. She’s best known for her “message cakes” – playful, pun-filled layer cakes covered in lollies that reference the phrase written on top. Standouts include the “Musk be your b’day” cake appropriately covered in musk sticks, and the “You’re the berry best” raspberry

from flavours like

olate and sour cream with Biscoff and funfetti cake crunch. misstrixiedrinkstea.com

Photo: Griffin Simm

Photo: Amy Hemmings

cakes

the

Thy Caketh in early 2022 and

Broadsheet her designs have a distinct “gothic twang” to them. Holmes draws inspiration from witches, the Victorian era and similar references in fashion and architecture. She prefers traditional European flavours, using stone fruit, nuts, chocolate and various types of cheese, which she says connect her to her Viennese heritage. Order via Instagram @thycaketh

Scott

a child,

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decorate biscuits with royal icing. Now she’s known for custom vintagestyle tiered cakes in classic flavours like chocolate, vanilla, lemon and raspberry. The layer cakes are filled with lemon curd or raspberry, apple or cherry compote. Her designs are finished with intricate swirls, ruffles and hearts made from Swiss meringue buttercream. zeescott.com

eat the cakes, you can upload their photo and get an edible creation in their likeness. Or pick a hand-message cake, including one that reads “thanks a bunch” and comes complete with a painting of a bouquet. sweetbakes.com.au

SWEET BAKES Co-founder of Co Bake Space in Richmond, Alisha Henderson operates under the name Sweet Bakes, making a variety of custom cakes. Among her offerings are hand-painted watercolour-esque designs, which come in flavours including chocolate Nutella crunch, salted caramel, and gluten-free passionfruit curd and almond. While your pets can’t

ZEE SCOTT Celebrant and baker Zee Scott has celebration cakes in her blood. Both Scott’s mother and maternal grandmother were professional wedding cake makers and, when

was

her

would teach her to

THY CAKETH Artist and baker Jessamie Holmes makes some of the city’s best sheet cakes. The former 3D-motion graphics designer started selling

under

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Photo: Samantha Schultz

HOME OF THE WEEK

A timeless classic in Kooyong

Words by Maria Harris

It’s charming, with wide streets, graceful family homes and green canopies. Welcome to Kooyong, a micro-suburb of just a few streets that punches well above its size.

Tucked between Malvern, Toorak, Armadale and Hawthorn East, just 842 people called Kooyong home at the 2021 census, up a fraction from 817 in 2016.

Leura, c1912, is classic Kooyong: classy, substantial, discreet and with six bedrooms, it offers terrific family accommodation.

It is on the market for the first time in more than a generation – that’s also very Kooyong. Once families put down roots here, it is hard to prise them out.

Set beneath a Marseille-tiled roof with a tessellated-tile return verandah and pretty leadlight-framed entrance, its impressive hallway is a fitting introduction to a very distinguished home.

It is grand without being boastful. Set on about 1324 square metres, with a perfect balance of house to land, it feels very private.

Extended and renovated, Leura offers space and a sense of restrained luxury. It is a home for every stage of family life, for

entertaining, relaxing outside or playing sport. Backyard cricket, swimming or practising your putting – it’s all possible here.

The home unfolds to reveal beautifully proportioned rooms with glorious garden outlooks, high ceilings, traditional fireplaces and bay windows.

The formal sitting room has an open fireplace flanked by bookshelves and a sunny reading nook. Next up, the living room, with a welcoming window seat tucked into a bay window, opens to the dining room, which also connects to the deck.

The informal living zone basks in northern light. Three sets of double doors open the family area and a stone-finished kitchen to the wide deck overlooking the back garden and pool. Tucked away behind the kitchen is a pantry with steps leading up to the laundry.

When it comes to bedrooms, Leura offers plenty of choice.

Downstairs, the main bedroom overlooks the front garden through a bay window. A bathroom separates it from another large bedroom, which could also easily double as a study. Upstairs are four good-sized

bedrooms with built-in wardrobes and views over the treetops.

Hydronic heating, split systems, a shed, a watering system, an alarm and off-street parking for four cars are additional features.

A few minutes’ walk from Glenferrie and Toorak Road trams and Kooyong Station, Leura has easy access to schools such as Scotch College, St Kevin’s, Lauriston, St Catherine’s and Bialik College. Shopping, parks, and Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club are all nearby.

Kooyong

4 Moralla Road

$7 million-$7.7 million

6 2 4

Auction: 11.30am, April 20

Agent: Jellis Craig, Michael Armstrong 0407 063 263

Hover your camera over the code to see Domain listings in Kooyong

WHAT THE AGENT SAYS

“A ‘once in a generation’ family home with a beautifully balanced floor plan and so much space – it would just be such a privilege to live here.”

NEED TO KNOW

This property was last sold for $811,000 in September 1994, and the highest recorded price for Kooyong (past 12 months) was $8.55 million for 13 Moralla Road in December 2023.

RECENT SALES

$6.705 million

9 Moralla Road, October 2023

$3.056 million

20 Avenel Road, September 2023

$5.7 million

7 Mernda Road, June 2023

Michael Armstrong Jellis Craig

better together

Educating girls and boys together for 32+ years. A conveniently located inner-city co-ed Catholic Secondary College providing an affordable, caring education where your child is known.

Book a tour today to find out more.

We lift students higher

A Heart to Heart With Directors Jessie Oldfield and Adam Murfet

Words by Sanam Goodman · Photos by Amy Hemmings

They met on a film set and were best friends before falling in love. Now the Heartbreak High directing duo own a film production company together, have a kid, and live in a home in Princes Hill designed by an influential contemporary jeweller.

essie Oldfield and Adam Murfet’s love story begins like many good love stories do – as best friends. A taxi trip and a Lionel Richie concert four years into their friendship in 2010 was the turning point when, as Murfet puts it, “everything changed”.

“I think it was Jessie who made the first move,” Murfet recalls. “We were in a taxi on Brunswick Street, heading from Black Cat to Enoteca, a wine bar. I was babbling about something and then I felt Jessie’s hand on my leg. And I looked at her, and she looked at me, and it was never the same again. We sealed the deal a few months later at the Lionel Richie concert at Hanging Rock.”

The pair first met on the set of a mutual friend’s short film, having both completed film degrees. Oldfield says there was an instant connection. “We had this amazing creative relationship where we’d meet up all the time and talk about our ideas, our films, music we love. We pushed each other in the most beautiful way.”

Post-Richie, the natural next step in their relationship was to travel, road-tripping across the USA. Hours spent in the car talking to each other helped them “work out what they wanted to do”. The pair got back to Australia and, shortly after, founded their film production company, Certain Kind of Light (CKOL, for short).

“We knew we didn’t want to work for someone else,” Murfet tells Broadsheet. “We didn’t want to give ourselves to other people – we just wanted to give ourselves to each other and create things.”

Film wasn’t always a likely career for Murfet. He grew up as a horserider, aiming to ride equestrian at the Olympics, but a fateful wrist injury left him unable to continue. So, he decided to study film at the Victorian College of the Arts.

For Oldfield, things were a little different. “I grew up dancing, singing and acting, inspired by my mum, who’s a dancer,” she says. “I got elected as drama captain in high school and directed a play, and I will never forget that moment and the feeling I got directing. There was a light in me that ignited.”

In the early days of CKOL, the pair predominantly produced fashion films. They slowly started to get noticed, winning a $5000 grant from Vogue to make a film for Sydney highfashion designer Carl Kapp. The marketing manager of Country Road happened to be in the audience at the gala dinner where the film was screened.

“She wrote down our names and called us the next day, telling us she wanted to make

a short film for the 40th anniversary of Country Road,” Oldfield recalls. “We created a film about a young city girl – played by Isabel Lucas – who goes back to a wool farm and just experiences life on the farm. It was a huge moment for us, and Country Road ended up having their biggest month of sales ever.” (The commercial also won them an Australian Directors Guild Award.)

Then Murfet’s friend Mark Bonanno, part of the comedy troupe Aunty Donna, approached the pair with the idea for Why Are You Like This , a sketch comedy about three “insufferable” housemates who ruin people’s lives with their modern-day moral codes. Murfet and Oldfield were hesitant

looking for directors to bring cult favourite Heartbreak High back to life, CKOL was an obvious fit. The production process proved incredibly tough, with Covid, lockdowns and actors needing to self-isolate when infected, forcing rewrites on set and constant adaptability. Coincidentally, the pair also had a six-month-old son to look after. They became very good at thinking on their feet, Murfet says.

“We’re so grateful for those hardships,” he says. “Heartbreak High was so successful despite those challenges, and we just felt so empowered by the experience. Like, we made a global hit in the middle of Covid and raised a child at the same time.”

“We knew we didn’t want to work for someone else. We didn’t want to give ourselves to other people –we just wanted to give ourselves to each other and create things.”

at first, having only produced fashion films, but eventually agreed.

“The ABC ended up giving us $70 , 000 to turn the mini-web-series episodes into a pilot episode,” Murfet explains. “The series screened on ABC Me, then it was taken to Netflix in America and they bought it within minutes.”

Looking back, Murfet says the leap to filming the comedy series was key to the pair’s transition from commercial directing to longform directing. “It’s very hard to break into the long-form world when you’ve only done commercial directing. We’ve become such strong storytellers now, and I don’t know if that would have happened if we only did commercial directing.”

It also meant that when Netflix went

“She worked with a Danish architect with the limited space available to create a home that’s quite expansive,” Murfet says. “There’s not a single centimetre that has been wasted: everything opens, there’s storage everywhere. It feels like a little jewellery box.”

Custom sliding doors at each end of the home open up to create a distinctive indooroutdoor feel, welcoming breeze and sunlight inside. There are no door handles, toilet roll holders or anything protruding out of the cabinets – a purposeful design choice by Funaki.

The couple have brought their own style to the home that pairs with Funaki’s minimalist aesthetic. They have a projector instead of a TV, and the lounge room is fitted with a beckoning day bed and comfy armchair. Handmade trinkets from their travels, favourite books, gifts from friends and decor pieces they’ve collected from the likes of Memphis design collective pioneer Ettore Sottsass adorn their custom-made bookshelf.

“It’s an introverted-extroverted space,” Murfet says. “You get a good sense of the clean lines and minimalistic vibe, then there will be a splash of colour. Even more so now that we have a toddler.”

Life at home looks like playing music and dancing in the living room with their threeyear-old son. The afternoon sun hits the space and their crystal suncatcher projects a rainbow across the walls. “There’s something really magical about our experience at home with him,” Oldfield says. “When we’re at work we’re so busy, so we’re really present with him at home.”

As for how they juggle life with a toddler and running their own film production company?

Murfet says the newly released second season is even bigger and better. “We had so much fun making season two. Everyone is so sure of their characters, and the crew is such an exceptional bunch of humans. There’s a lot of tension in the story, a lot of drama and a lot of laughs.”

Although they had to temporarily relocate to Sydney, toddler in tow, to film Heartbreak High , home for Murfet and Oldfield is in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Princes Hill. At 80 square metres, it’s a fairly compact two-storey, two bedroom home designed and once inhabited by the late Mari Funaki – one of Australia’s leading contemporary jewellers. “It has a really beautiful energy from her and her vision,” Oldfield says.

“Jessie is a superhero,” Murfet says, glancing at Oldfield. “It’s very challenging to raise a child, and it’s very challenging to work on a Netflix production, but it’s even more challenging to do both at the same time. She just didn’t miss a beat and worked round the clock to get it done.”

“I’m so proud of myself for doing it,” Oldfield adds.

While both admit to an anxiety that parenthood would make their jobs harder, they say it’s done the opposite – bringing an extra layer of vibrancy and deeper meaning to their work. Plus, they say, they’re more productive than ever.

“There’s a beauty that exists when we’re working together as a creative duo and as partners,” Oldfield says. “We’re constantly pushing each other to be better, and that just creates something so magical.”

LIKE A LOCAL

Surrey Hills

By Vivian Tang

At its core, Surrey Hills is simple. Pint-sized, polished and proud of its family feel, the suburb has built an identity on quiet, wholesome living.

The newly renovated Union Station is a big plus for accessibility and convenience. For a pick-me-up before your morning commute, grab a rich brew or lunch on-the-go from sleek cafe Sips & Stories. For extra variety and full-bodied caffeine, find the neon-lit Steam Coffee Co. Or venture further into Union Road Village for a classic dine-in brunch at Reunion Cafe & Dining.

You’ll also find a slim but worthwhile selection of gourmet grocers in the area, including the very first Coles Local. The family-run Chatham Food Store is a go-to for artisanal products and quality produce, its corner store charm accentuated by a black-and-white-tiled deli-style interior.

Just like its neighbouring suburbs, Surrey Hills has its share of parkland. Head to heritage-listed Surrey Gardens for a scenic walk – the beige rotunda, Art Nouveau artwork and vintage lampposts are nods to its early-20th-century origins. Or if fitness indoors is your preferred pick, sprint towards the area’s local Body Fit Training gym for up-tempo HIIT classes.

Fittingly for the suburb’s quiet appeal, a night out in Surrey Hills is primarily low-key and food-centric. As the name suggests, Old Kingdom Peking Duck’s signature duck is the ultimate crowd-pleaser – served plump with glistening crisp skin. If you’re after something for the later hours, settle into Burger Burger. The single Wagyu-patty smash burger is particularly comforting with a side of satisfyingly golden-crisp onion rings.

Want booze? Try The Hills, a relaxed yet reliably refined wine bar from the team behind Toorak Cellars, Milton Wine Shop and The Alps. The venue’s appeal is in its intimate feel, aided by the dark timber flooring and crackly wood heater, making it a snug fit for the Union Road strip. Choose from a rotating wine list – featuring fresh and approachable classics by the glass and around 200 options by the bottle – alongside charcuterie and rustic woodfired pizzas.

NEED TO KNOW

Surrey Hills is known for elegant early 20th-century homes – often adorned with beautiful gardens and mature trees – which lend the place a tranquil, leafy ambiance. Additionally, newer apartment buildings accommodate a diverse range of residents.

Average Age

42

Median Weekly income

$2,503

Clockwise from top: Surrey Gardens, Steam Coffee Co, Il Sogno, Historical mural and outdoor seating, photos Amy Hemmings

WHAT THE AGENT SAYS

Heavyside

“Surrey Hills’ rich history is encapsulated in classic period architecture. At the heart of the suburb is Union Road, which boasts a new train station and amazing cafes.”

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICES

Median price houses $2.25m

Top: Grovedale Park, photo Amy Hemmings. Right: The Hills pizza and interior, photos Pete Dillon. Below: Union Road, photo Amy Hemmings

Tim Heavyside

THE COLLECTION

Wabi Sabi by Fenton & Fenton x Antipodean

Words by Gitika Garg

Photos by Jedd Cooney & Dave Kulesza

When done well, cross-brand collaboration marries the best of two worlds. Case in point: eclectic interiors retailer Fenton & Fenton’s partnership with newly founded Aussie fashion label Antipodean – known for its painterly prints and colourful embroidery.

Wabi Sabi – a capsule collection of homewares and ready-to-wear fashion – is the second team-up for Fenton & Fenton creative director Lucy Fenton and Antipodean designer Dani Milojevic, who previously worked together on their Life in Colour print.

A year in the making, the range leans into the Japanese phrase it’s named after – which embraces the art of imperfection – by playing with natural fabrics, raw details, hand-finished touches and mismatched motifs. Find playful kimono dresses, bomber jackets, silky pants and bath robes among quilted sheets, cushions, armchairs, tablecloths and vintage glassware.

It’s so interesting to see fashion and homewares come together. What aligns both of your brands? LF: It’s an interesting intersection and I hope it’s something that we can continue to see more of because these worlds don’t collide as much as they could. Our brands are very aligned in terms of inspiration – we’re both inspired by our love of colour and travel. But then also in the production, Dani works a lot with factories in India and so do we at Fenton & Fenton. We’re both quite boutique and want to have things that are produced in limited numbers – buy once, buy well type of thing.

How did you translate the concept of Wabi Sabi through the collection? DM: I was listening to a podcast and heard “wabi sabi”. I Googled it and a few phrases came up that just stood out to me. It meant embracing the beauty in imperfection and I feel that you could really apply that to life, interiors, clothing.

LF: I love the concept so much because it’s all about finding joy in the little moments. In Dani’s pieces you find those little hidden things, rough seams and it looks unfinished, but that’s how it’s meant to be – it actually takes a lot of work to get that. We also love introducing vintage pieces in our collection and mixing old with new.

How was the process of designing the collection?

LF: From the beginning, Dani had a series of a different prints she had drawn up and we sat down together and chose the one that resonated the most for Fenton. We both then went away and created our collections separately using the same artwork.

Can you tell me a bit more about the Antipodean pieces? DM: I always choose natural fibres. All of our India pieces use certified dyes which are good for the earth. Usually, I design my hero print first which was Wabi Sabi. There are physical patches on the print that have been topstitched and frayed back. I feel like people aren’t bringing that level of detail and intricacy into the print world for apparel. The other prints have elements of nature – it’s all just random motifs but somehow it works.

What about the Fenton & Fenton range? LF: We used a lot of 100 per cent linen. Our range includes napery where we’ve drawn elements out so it’s not all using the same hero print. We’ve got a range of bedding, some limited-edition art prints printed locally and upholstery using some of our current chair models. We’ve also tied in vintage pieces which have always been a part of the Fenton & Fenton DNA. There are retro decanters, a vintage armchair and other small artefacts.

What was your inspiration behind the collections? DM: We [both] definitely leant into a Japanese theme. You’ve got cranes in the artwork flying through an ombre sky. [For me], a common theme throughout every collection is designing from a place of escapism.

How would you style the pieces in your home and wardrobe? LF: It’s all about layers, definitely. You could have it really pared back and be clean-line or go full maximalist and layer everything, and either way works.

DM: Multi-wear is really important when I’m designing as well. You can wear the mesh [Gathered] top underneath the mini dress or you could layer it over the top of the Wrap dress and wear it open.

See more at fentonandfenton.com.au and antipodeanlabel.com

Hawthorn

13 Mary Street

$5.4 million-$5.65 million

4 2 2

Private auction: April 27

Agent: Abercrombys, Simon Curtain 0405 385 285

With its polychromatic facade of classic Hawthorn bricks, this Victorian home is typical of the historic – and prestigious – Grace Park Estate. On the market for the first time in five decades, the spacious home melds period features with modern living (the sparkling white kitchen, for example, has two wall ovens) while presenting opportunity for renovation. “[The] old-world style garden is both stunning and relaxing,” the agent says of the desirable north-facing rear aspect.

52 BLACK STREET, BRIGHTON

COMPRISING 5 LUXURY RESIDENCES

Call now for a private viewing opportunity.

Kelgend Winters

0439 434 449

kelgend @ pbandco.com.au www.fiftytwoblack.com.au

Kew

4/27 Howard Street

$4.57 million

3 3 3

Private sale

Agent: Kay & Burton, John Bradbury 0413 262 655

For those wanting the space and grandeur of a prestige home in Kew and the lock-up-and-leave convenience of apartment living, the new Sequoia building offers a luxurious foot in each camp. The large-scale, low-maintenance, homes were designed by architect Nicholas Day. This ground-floor unit has 277 square metres of living space and a further 250 square metres of wraparound John Patrick-designed gardens, with EV charging in the basement garage.

Brighton East

12 Lubrano Street

$3.25 million-$3.5 million

5 4 2

Auction: 12.30pm, April 20

Agent: Gary Peer, Nikki Janover 0412 496 545

Established gardens create an arresting vista through the ground-floor windows, popping against the white stone kitchen and timber flooring throughout the open-plan living room of this Hampton-style house. In the backyard are a solar and gas-heated pool, plus a covered al fresco area with a built-in barbecue and heaters. Luxe touches in this immaculate, turnkey home include integrated appliances, a sound system, automated irrigation and ample storage.

OPEN FOR INSPECTION

Words by Kay Keighery, Richard Cornish & Shae Wiedermann

Hawthorn

Residence 1/496 Glenferrie Road

$2.6 million-$2.85 million

3 2 2

Expressions of interest

Agent: RT Edgar, Richard Nowak 0418 383 774

This brilliant transformation of a classic solid-brick 1930s house into a charming, modern home combines high-end finishes inside with the extraordinary use of living space outdoors. The ground-floor sun deck and pergola lead through a Georgian entrance to a sunny, open-plan kitchen, dining space and living area. Upstairs are three large bedrooms –one with an en suite – and it’s topped with a rooftop terrace offering sunset city views.

Ashburton

25 Beatty Crescent

$1.8 million-$1.9 million

4 2 3

Auction: Noon, April 20

Agent: Shelter, Steve Koutsantonis 0400 128 495

There’s oodles of earthy appeal going on here. From the clinker-brick construction to the timber door and window frames to the solid timber floors, the home presents sturdy character and a great floor plan for family living. The lounge adjoins a sitting room, while the open-plan hub gives on to a study. Traverse the rear courtyard for a separate studio and bedroom with an en suite, and a kidney-shaped pool basking in a north-facing embrace.

Toorak

11 Bruce Street

$2.3 million-$2.5 million

3 2 2

Auction: 12.30pm, April 20

Agent: Marshall White, Richard Mackinnon 0414 822 579

A corner block in a refined location coupled with northwhere-it-counts orientation creates advantageous fundamentals for this extended and updated Edwardian home. Enter across the front porch for a hall heralding three bedrooms (two with fireplaces and the other with an en suite) a bathroom-laundry combo and an open-plan living area that marries with a sunny deck. Take the steps from the deck to the lower-ground level of double garage and ample storage space.

Elwood

4/30a Ormond Road

$1.2 million-$1.3 million

2 2 1

Auction: 11am, April 20

Agent: Chisholm & Gamon, Torsten Kasper 0428 454 181

Close to Elwood Beach, this ground-floor flat was once part of the former St Bede’s Church. It has retained some of that character, with cathedral ceilings and original leadlight. The addition of some contemporary details makes it an easy space in which to live: a Gaggenau appointed kitchen, a fully tiled bathroom and intercom entry. The loft-style main bedroom sits upstairs with an en suite and walk-in wardrobe, and downstairs a second bedroom has access to the courtyard.

Brighton

101/1 Bryson Avenue

$2.55 million-$2.65 million

3 3 2

Private sale

Agent: Nick Johnstone, Bert Geraerts 0418 514 090

Close to Church Street and Brighton Beach, this first-floor apartment has character in its curved feature walls, wide oak timber floors and neutral tones. The main living area has a spacious open plan, including a marbletopped kitchen and sun-filled living room that joins to a north-west facing terrace.

Balwyn 1/89 Yarrbat Avenue

$2.3 million-$2.5 million

4 3 2

Auction: 3pm, April 20

Agent: Belle Property Armadale, James Annett 0422 930 845

This new two-storey residence combines modern amenities with timeless appeal. European oak herringbone floors, a timber staircase and floor-to-ceiling windows give a feel of both warmth and light. The kitchen is a chef’s playground with a large living and dining area, and glass sliders to a deck.

Windsor

74 Earl Street

$1.6 million-$1.7 million

3 2 1

Auction: 10.30am, April 20

Agent: Marshall White, David Stringer 0419 950 201

With concertina doors and a servery window uniting the kitchen, dining and living hub and a cool deck, this pad is perfect for indoor-outdoor enjoyment. Extended and renovated with professional finesse, it’s a family-fit find in a serene location close to parks, trams and all the Chapel Street action.

Impressively situated on a highly-prized 711m2 allotment (approx.), this weatherboard charmer presents outstanding possibilities in a standout, blue-chip Balwyn pocket!

Wrapped in leafy garden surroundings, a picture-perfect façade reveals a character-filled interior that combines three bedrooms and three living areas with exciting prospects.

Central to esteemed secondary and primary schools, and the offerings of Greythorn and Belmore Village’s, it’s just minutes from Koonung Creek bike trail and pubic transport.

Eltham | Greensborough | Diamond Creek | Doreen morrisonkleeman.com.au

Hover your camera over the code to view live listings on domain.com.au

A

Auction Sat, 27th Apr at 12:00pm

ESR ESR: $1,600,000 - $1,760,000

Contact Alvy Buffon 0412 674 461

Office 03 9431 2444

Web www.morrisonkleeman.com.au

44 Elizabeth Street, Malvern Entertainers Residence, Lifestyle Location a b c e

16 Devorgilla Avenue, Toorak Executors’ Auction Saturday 4th May at 11:00am a b c

Time to

sell in 2024

the prime oppor tunity to prepare your home for a

Now is the prime opportunity to prepare your home for a successful 2024 sale.

Begin by discovering your home’s true worth with an updated appraisal, revealing its current market value and providing valuable insights to maximise your sale’s potential.

Arrange a specialist appraisal with the Marshall White team today.