Pod house sells
A MELBOURNE buyer has snapped up a striking modernist house in Newtown despite having no plans to move to Geelong until he saw the property three weeks ago.
Richmond Jones paid $660,000 for 2 Ardlui Drive in an “off the cuff” purchase at auction on Saturday after finding himself intrigued by the unusual mid-century design.
The funky 1969 house is architecturally significant because it was among the first buildings outside Melbourne to use thin shell reinforced concrete.
Mr Jones said he planned to live in the three-bedroom house, which sits front row to the Barwon River.
He said he only stumbled upon the property on the advice of a friend who was house hunting in the region.
“I had a look and I thought, ‘this is really interesting’,” Mr Jones said. “Three weeks ago I was not even thinking about living in Geelong and here I am. “I always do stuff off the cuff.” Whitford, Newtown agent Peter Fort said curiosity about the house had attracted many people during the campaign.
“It’s an iconic property in Newtown, everybody knows the house, people have driven past this property and admired it,” Mr Fort said.
Among the crowd on auction day were Beryl and Fred Ford, the sister and brother-in-law of its designer and builder George Edward Seiffert. Mrs Ford said her brother built the house for 1100 pounds, with the distinctive curved roof of one pod poured in two halves.
“He was just 50 years ahead of what was going on in this world,” she said.
She later became caretaker of the house after her brother asked her to look after it for six months — which turned into 33 years — while he went America.
The design incorporates two pods, one with an open-plan living area and another with three bedrooms and a bathroom.