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Boyd 2 House for sale

media release 22 june 2007
Robin Boyd Foundation to sell Robin Boyd House II
The Directors of the Robin Boyd Foundation announced today their decision to auction the Robin Boyd House II in South Yarra and have appointed real estate agent Bennison
Mackinnon Carmichael, who have recently sold some other high profile Robin Boyd designed properties.

The auction date will be on Saturday 21st July 2007 at 1pm, and the marketing program will commence from the 30th June 2007.

The house designed and built by Robin Boyd in 1958 and now owned by the Robin Boyd
Foundation, was recently awarded the highest accolade of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, the 25 Year Award and its cultural heritage significance was recognised by inclusion of the house on the Victorian Heritage Register.

The Directors decision to sell the property resulted from the Foundation’s inability to attract major funding partners to support the rollout of the Foundation’s various learning and activities programs and to replace short tem debt funding used to purchase the Robin Boyd House II in December 2004.

The Foundation over the last 12 months has directly approached a wide range of corporates, individuals and philanthropic organizations, as well as the Government. In addition a media based expression of interest campaign was implemented. Despite these various initiatives, insufficient levels of financial support has been received to support the Foundation’s objectives.

Continuation of the Foundation’s learning activities and events programs, which have
received very positive support to date, would be dependent on the Foundation’s ability to
obtain acceptable access rights to the property with the new owner.

ROBIN BOYD FOUNDATION

25 YEAR AWARD

Comments

  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    The Age was trying to gauge interest from Melbourne architects on whether they mind that this house is about to slip into private hands. Strangely they couldn't find too many passionate souls. Maybe because the house is so hard to get near that people only know it from photos - and this is while it's still in National Trust ownership.

    John Denton, careful not to speak as government architect, spoke as.. himself I guess. "It's very disappointing that such a unique time capsule … should slip out of public control. I hope that whoever buys it will respect it."

    THE AGE 26.06.07
  • dharma bum
    edited January 1970
    Are any butterpaperers going to the open-for-inspections?
    A post of some interior photos [especially showing some of the lesser-documented spaces] would be much appreciated by those interested folks who live outside of Melbourne.
    Cheers.
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    There are no public inspection times, they don't want any riffraff soiling the carpets. But there are a stack of photos on the real estate sites, such as this one:

    http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006523326#

    I just had a look at the other properties the National Trust owns and is not selling - they don't seem to have anything modern at all amidst the grand old mansions:
    http://www.nattrust.com.au/trust_properties

    Unlike the Historic Houses Trust of NSW which at least has the Rose Seidler house on its books, alone representing the 20th Century.
    http://www.hht.net.au/museums/rose_seidler_house/main

    I guess the argument goes that most of the these 19th century properties were picked up for a song a long time ago. Paying high real estate prices to save crumbling and modest mid-century houses seems a bit beyond the will of the trust membership.

    By the way, here is Heritage Victoria's lengthy Statement of Significance:
    http://tinyurl.com/2edhsx
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    The Age's Gabriella Coslovich upped the volume today in the debate about the sale of the Boyd II house. Having done a good ring around, she guesses the reason that the National Trust has to sell the house it bought three years ago, is because it is relatively skint. It receives $246,000 a year form the Victorian State Government, a little different from the $17.7M the Historic Houses Trust receives from the NSW government.

    THE AGE 03.07.07

    Meanwhile, student Nic Dowse had started up a boyd-house-saving-blog at http://saveboydhouse.blogspot.com/ .
  • cneil
    edited January 1970
    We happened to come across an open for an inspection Saturday afternoon, it was an amazing house to look through. The house is experimental in all senses from the unconvential entrance to the planning of the spaces right through to the detailing of the "catenary" roof. We don't think there's a lack of passion for the Boyd House II we saw a number of architects taking a squeeze and all felt a great sense of lost opportunity to have it publicly owned.
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    Just noticed, just in a nick of time, that the auction will not take place tomorrow morning. Refer realestate.com.au. I wonder what is up?

    ===========
    LATER:

    "STOP PRESS: 20th July 2007

    The Proposed Auction Sale of Robin Boyd House II on 21st July has been halted pending further discussions on keeping the property in public hands. "
    http://www.nattrust.com.au/trust_properties/affiliated_properties/robin_boyd_foundation
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    I hate replying to myself, but...

    I have been scanning the web and can't find any news on the status of this house for almost a month. Very odd. While looking, I did at least discover this site, which has been put up by the owners of 666 Riversdale Road (Boyd House 1). It gives their perspective on recent controversial events - and has some plans and drawings. Bit cheeky to take that domain name though.

    http://www.robinboyd.com.au/
  • dharma bum
    edited January 1970
    Good news, people. The house is now back on the market.

    http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/boyd-house-goes-back-on-market/2007/09/11/1189276720823.html

    I'm sure it will be much better off in the hands of some Macquarie Bank funds-manager looking for a bit of cred to fill that void-in-the-soul after seeing a spread on modernism in the Fin Review glossy supplements. It appears the blue-rinse Camberwell/Balwyn Victoriana-set were at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it anyway.

    You know it's what Boydy would have wanted.
  • mark_melb
    edited January 1970
    In The Age today

    Boyd house too good to lose
    WITH billions of dollars collected by the Victorian Government through taxes on house sales in an overheated market, combined with the $947.5 million from poker machines in just one year alone (The Age, 12/9), it is short-sighted in the extreme if the Robin Boyd House II in South Yarra is not bought by the state. Seen from the perspective of the state's capacious coffers, the property's estimated selling price (in the $2 million-plus range) is negligible. The property, of unparalleled architectural renown, designed in 1958 by the late Robin Boyd, deserves state protection. A rare opportunity exists for the State Government to urgently acquire this innovative modernist heritage property, or forever regret its loss to all Victorians.
    L R, Brighton East

    For goodness sake. RMIT's Transition Magazine many years ago did a special issue on Boyd's work. There were many, many examples of far more important work 'for the people' that had been demolished and will continue to be because it is not seen as 'important' because it was not 'expensive' enough.
    Real Estate in Melbourne, as it is elsewhere, comes down to Markert Value. If it is important enough 'some Macquarie Bank funds-manager ' will snap it up and pick it up off it's footings and have it down at Point Cook in an instant. Then redevelop the land using .............. the current 'future hero'.
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    Today's auction was postponed yesterday for the second time - amid plans to keep it in public hands. The exact public hands are the State Government (contribution unknown, but possibly up to $2M), and the Architects Registration Board ($460,000). Well who knew the ARBV had any money?! Glad they found some though. Everything's conditional on the Robin Boyd Foundation figuring out how to make a buck so we'll have to think up some novel uses for the house - RAIA South Yarra branch perhaps.

    THE AGE 22.09.07
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