To the lovers' of great design have a happy Christmas, and a very fulfilling New Year.

Roy Grounds designed 5 apartments at the front of the building with full length balconies.
One of these highly collectible apartments is now up for lease.
To make it even more desirable, the unit comes with its own Lock Up Garage. Given that there are only 8 lock up garages in the entire development of 21 units this is an apartment that is guaranteed to be snaffled up by the aesthete.
At $385 P.W all inclusive its the perfect city 'pied et terre'. Lucas Real estate in Docklands is the rental agent

A passer-by of many years falls captive to the timeless charm of Roy Grounds' 'Moonbria'.
This is her unique story...

"For the 40 years before I came to live in "Moonbria" I had passed this unique building of unusual architectural grandeur, unique to anything else in Mathoura Road or surrounds, and I wondered at the circular structure taking the height of number 68 to another level up.

Today a beautiful light beams like a lighthouse welcoming the inhabitants and visitors to the area, and this unique little pocket of Toorak we call home.

I am one of the privileged residents now, enjoying the walkways of colourful plants & a garden of sculptures exuding the peace of days gone-by, including an enormous tree in the central courtyard offering both 'Moonbria' residents (& its dedicated wildlife) some instant shade, tranquility, and respite, from the hectic urban landscape outside". It is collectively a place of friendship for all dwellers alike.

"For me 'Moonbria' is not just a way of life...it is Life!'

On glimpsing the glass turret between the trees, you know you’ve found it. At street level, ‘Moonbria’ wears its name spelled with the iron framework of its front gate. A facade of glass, yellow brick and white rendered balconies sits close to the street behind a subtly stepped white brick wall, the stepped levels of the three storey high roof line ascending in the other direction. I have come to meet Jim Occleshaw, the owner and resident of a one-bedroom apartment who volunteered to show me and James our photographer through the building and his home

Originally, Jim bought his Moonbria studio below in the 1980s, sight unseen on a recommendation of a real estate agent friend at the pub. He knew the building, having done a regular paper round past it as a boy. He lived downstairs for six years, using it for city living while having a main residence away from town. He bought the apartment above – again sight unseen – and briefly considered adding a private stairway between the two. While Jim today fulfills the role of the resident handyman, after having let downstairs to his friends he decided to sell it, and plans for a stairway were set aside.

Today the smaller apartments are relatively affordable within the broader market. One factor is that, due to its heritage status, it is not open to a developer to renovate the entire building, so this possibility is not factored into the price of units on sale. What does Moonbria say to today’s multi-residential projects? As more apartments and units are built in inner Melbourne, there is also a dissatisfaction that too many are too small or do not ‘fit’ into their own space, and that this results from capital return displacing other factors in design. Too many rooms without windows or too much space devoted to narrow entry corridors. Moonbria shows an existing example from Melbourne’s own past on how multi-residential projects can be approached, and that the quality of a small residence (40 Sqm Or 1 Imperial Square in Roy Grounds currency) is in its design, not simply its size.


The ‘Moonbria’ building is tucked away between Malvern and Toorak Roads on Mathoura Road, Toorak.
Thanks to Jim Occleshaw for inviting us into his home.
A big shout out to James Stephens & James Geer for visiting Jim @ his home in Moonbria.

All images by James Geer courtesy of Assemble Papers.
www.AssemblePapers.com.au

A local buyer will call Moonbria his home next June 2016. His  family has lived in the area for many years.

"Looking for an apartment in 2011, Moonbria was the first place I checked. It was the Elm tree that convinced me I didn't want to look any further. With little experience of Real Estate, I did visit one other property but there was no comparison. Having spent the first 25 years of my life in country Tasmania, it met my needs: quiet with no sound of traffic where I'm situated on the Eastern wing; privacy with no one on my West, North or East sides on the third floor; safety due to distance from roads and quality of other residents with similar appreciation of the building; restful views from my living and bedroom windows of the Elm into the courtyard and rooftops & gardens east facing. The warmth of the wooden parquet floor helps when its draughty, being 75 yrs old, during windy weather.
When my girlfriend first came to visit she was delighted saying, "It's like a French pension!"

Back in  1941 the Loten family  commissioned Sir Roy Grounds to build the iconic Moonbria building that we now see today.

Part of the arrangement the family had with Mr. Grounds was to design for them a two bedroom, two bathroom flat to be located on the ground floor, with a large private garden area for the family to enjoy.
This "one-off' apartment goes up for sale the month.
Its certainly unique. Complete with two separate entrances (one located off the main foyer, the other accessed through the main garden) two bathrooms and a wrap-around westerly facing garden.

Happy Moonbria residents add a splash of color and style to the outdoor setting.