By Goya Dmytryshchak
One of Altona’s straw houses is on the market.
The former worker’s cottage at 169 Maidstone Street is one of only six heritage homes in Altona.
It is listed on the Victorian Heritage register as being of local significance both on its own as one of four houses in a row known as the Solomit or Straw Houses Heritage Precinct.
It was built in 1941 using a combination of straw insulation and a steel frame.
The database stated the house, designed by renowned architect Marcus Barlow, is of local historic, aesthetic and technical significance.
“The houses are significant as rare examples using a pioneering construction method that utilised unusual and innovatory building techniques as a consequence of materials shortages after the outbreak of World War 2,” the heritage database stated.
Earth Garden editor Alan T Gray has studied the history of Altona’s straw homes, which were proposed by Melbourne-based company Solomit in 1939.
Mr Gray wrote that the local Apex club demolished one of the original five straw houses to raise funds but ran into difficulty.
“The club members thought the demolition would be a ‘pushover’, but after much sweating and struggling, they eventually hired a front-end loader to demolish the house: it was too strong,” he wrote.
Vendor James-Anthony Callea, who is moving to be closer to family, said the house had been extensively renovated and extended.
“We’re definitely sorry to be leaving,” he said.
The property has a price guide of $660,000-$720,000. It will be auctioned by hockingstuart on Saturday, May 25 at 11.30am.
