Homes

Christopher Graf + Glenn Francis

I must say we’ve been coming across an awful lot of ‘tree change’ stories recently. From Tamsin Carvan to Matt and Lentil, and recently, Adrian Thia and Craig Mutton, variations on this theme seem to be popping up time and time again around here – it’s enough to make you totally re-think your living arrangements!

Today’s gem is central enough to commute though. A unique Edwardian home in Croydon, just 35 minutes from Melbourne, this is home to fashion designer Christopher Graf and his partner Glenn Francis, an IT analyst.

Written
by
Lucy Feagins
Supported by Dulux

The home of fashion designer Christopher Graf and IT specialist Glenn Francis in Croydon in Melbourne, on the edge of the Yarra Valley.  Above, living room, featuring a hand made cedar model of an American home on the coffee table, and French antique furniture and ornate gilded mirror. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living room detail. An old 1950’s pinball play field hangs on the wall in the background. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living room. Magnificent stone fireplace (one of 4 in the home). Hand made cedar model of an American home on the coffee table (this lights up!). The coffee table is made from a panel of oak parquetry from the floor of a French Chateaux. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Eclectic mix of Natural History paraphernalia on the living room mantlepiece.  Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Christopher’s office (detail). Old wooden model of an American barn sits spot-lit in a niche at the bottom of the stairs. Another massive ‘Flintstones’-style stone fireplace is the centrepiece of this room. Carved plaster artworks by Ian Russell hang over the mantle.  The office is painted in multiple blocks of pastel colours to reflect the branding for Christopher’s silk scarf label. This room has amazing views out to the garden… ‘it’s a joy to work in here’ Christopher says. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Dining room detail.  Massive hand blown coloured glass chandelier was once the centrepiece of the Christopher Graf store in Chapel Street. The original oak staircase leads downstairs to the office.  Walls are painted in Dulux colour ‘Grassy Knoll’ (‘we liked the name and JFK reference’ says Christopher). Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Bear Cave. Floor to ceiling niches on either side of the fireplace hold collections of vintage toys, nic-knacks, vintage anatomical parts, childhood books, tin robots etc

The ‘Bear Cave’ (TV room).  Vintage deer head purchased 17 years ago hangs on the rustic stone fireplace. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

TV room details. Floor to ceiling niches on either side of the fireplace hold collections of vintage toys, nic-knacks, vintage anatomical parts, childhood books, tin robots and more. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Main bedroom. Andy Warhol Marilyn print from the USA. Japanese pharmaceutical mascots ( SATO and SATO-SAN ). A massive vintage Union Jack flag is draped across the bed. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Main bedroom detail. Vintage cow’s head mask. Metal Empire State Building (which lights up!). Vintage pink shooting star neon sign. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Christopher (left) and Glenn (right) at home, with their much loved pup!  Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Spare Bedroom (referred to by Christopher and Glenn as ‘The Oriental Wing’!). Christopher’s collection of vintage ventriloquist dummies sit on the bed (he 30 in total). ‘We often joke they are to deter people from wanting to stay overnight’ says Christopher!  Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

View from the terrace with spectacular views towards the Yarra Valley. The house sits about 210m above sea level – the highest point in metropolitan Melbourne. A vintage French iron outdoor setting sits on the terrace. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Christopher and Glenn’s home is on half an acre of lush sloped gardens, looking out to the Yarra Valley. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Old cedar garden shed known as ‘The Boat House’. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

The front lawn. Cape Cod sun chairs.  Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

View of ‘The Hamptons’ (as Christopher and Glenn has affectionately nick-named their house!), built in 1910. View from the front lawn. A 75 year old yellow rose climbs up to the terrace. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

View over ‘The Hamptons’ from The Observation Deck looking out to the Yarra Valley and the mountains beyond. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Path leading down to the front gate.  Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Writer
Lucy Feagins
28th of January 2015

Today’s very special home is in Croydon, where I must admit I had never visited prior to this shoot, but which I was delighted to learn is only 35 mins from the CBD – basically a hop, skip and jump from the end of the Eastern Freeway, halfway to the Yarra Valley.  It’s a slightly surprising place to find fashion designer Christopher Graf and his partner Glenn Francis, an IT analyst, who previously lived in St Kilda, but when they saw this house, their decision was made.

‘We found the house for sale online’ says Christopher. ‘We’d been looking to move for several years, and looked at many properties.  It was love at first sight – we bought the property within 5 days’.  Christopher and Glenn purchased the property they now affectionately call ‘The Hamptons’ (!) in April 201, and by August the pair had packed up their city life and moved in.

Amazingly, there were very few renovations or structural changes necessary here. The pair made minor cosmetic changes, including painting the dining room (Dulux ‘Grassy Knoll’), and giving Christopher’s downstairs office a lift with multiple pastel hues to complement his design aesthetic and business branding.  Though he had a high profile store on Chapel st in South Yarra in the late nineties (I remember it well!), these days Christopher works from this colourful home office, where he designs a range of beautiful limited edition silk scarves, (currently sold at famed local fashion boutique Christine, in Melbourne’s CBD, and at MONA Museum, in Hobart Tasmania).

With an unmistakably quirky, almost cartoon-like aesthetic, Christopher has delighted in decorating this beautiful, rambling Edwardian home in his distinctive style. His collections of vintage toys, including over 30 somewhat creepy ventriloquist dolls are totally mesmerising!  Sentimentally, he is also very fond of the handmade signage from his old store on Chapel Street.  Now displayed in the main bedroom, these cheerful illuminated signs are on remote control, and with the flick of a switch light up with almost a thousand little light globes.  Also from Christopher’s old Chapel Street boutique is a beautiful hand blown coloured glass chandelier, which now hangs in the dining room.

Other unexpected treasures have been more recently acquired.  ‘My most recent Trash and Treasure ‘find of the century’ is a huge retro dairy cow’s full head mask made of fibreglass, paper-mache and cloth’ says Christopher gleefully!  ‘All I can imagine is that this was made to advertise milk or butter at country show grounds back in the 1960’s. A total gem’.

Despite the generous proportions of this home and it’s joyfully decorated interior, what really is the most defining feature of this house is it’s position – sitting on top of the highest hill in metropolitan Melbourne (approx 210 metres high, Christoper tells us), with amazing views out towards the Yarra Valley and mountains beyond.

‘The house was built in 1910, and at the time was the only house on the hill’ says Christopher. ‘What we love most is the totally serenity. With half an acre of sloped beautiful, old & historical gardens, it’s a peaceful and private retreat’ he continues.  Indeed, the gardens here are truly remarkable – sprawling both above and below the house, they are lush, leafy and beautifully kept, navigated via a sweet zig-zagging garden path which winds from very the top of the property, above the house, to the lowest point at the bottom of the garden.

Above all, this is a home that surprises. From the lolly-coloured walls of Christopher’s study, to the quirky collection of vintage toys and ephemera, to handmade props and signage, it’s a cheerful space that perfectly reflects the creativity and eccentricities of its owners.  ‘I guess our aesthetic is best described as ‘layered memories’ but with a twist and a kick’ says Christopher.  ‘At the end of the day our style all about juxtaposition – mixing the eclectic with the sentimental, the practical with the unpredictable’.  Couldn’t have put it better myself!

Master bedroom detail. Hand made signs and window displays from the store Christopher Graf had in Chapel Street, South Yarra, from 1994 – 2000.  To the right, a cluster of vintage NYC skyscrapers made of cardboard. Photo – Sean Fennessy, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

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