Think you know of some of Australia’s most interesting roofs? In this week’s post we take a browse through some Historical Australian Roofs that are keeping us covered even now.

57 Darling Point Road, Darling Point, NSW

Check out this home designed by famous colonial architect, Edmund Blacket! It features pressed metal ceilings, a gabled roof, marble fireplaces and multiple living and dining rooms. The spacious home is set amidst a beautiful garden showing off views to Sydney city.

Greenoaks Cottage, Darling Point, Sydney, NSW

Perhaps the word ‘Cottage’ isn’t really the best word to describe this nine-bedroom, seven bathroom home also in Sydney’s Darling Point. It was built in mid-19th Century by industrialist and benefactor Thomas Mort. With period details, ornate high ceilings and original stained-glass windows it oozes old-world charm.

‘Balmerino’, Hawthorn East, Melbourne, VIC

If you look up luxurious homes in Australia, the ‘Balmerino’ is sure to come up. Featuring four grand bedrooms, alfresco outdoor entertaining area that offers stunning views among much more. The ‘Balmerino’ was designed and built by renowned, John Beswick, and it’s roof is an exceptional example of a near flat roof of the past, highlighting a grand Victoria tower.

‘Torresdale Manor’, Toorak, Melbourne, VIC

Built in the late 19th Century, throughout this historic five-bedroom, four bedroom home you will find antique chandeliers, bronze fittings, and marble all over. The architecture of the entire building including the roof is reminiscent of what life was like in Toorak, a century ago.

Peppermint Grove, Perth, WA

Once again built near the end of the 19th century, this home is a testament to Vicotrian-Georgian architecture as you see by looking at its facade and roof. The grand entrance, with tessellated floors, opens up to a huge lobby and winding jarrah staircase.

Elystan House, New Farm, Brisbane, QLD

Don’t worry we couldn’t leave our hometown out of the mix! Take a closer look at this beautiful historical home located in New Farm. The home conjures memories of Queensland in the early 1900s, with a massive dining hall opening on to large verandahs, six bedrooms and a large sunroom. The roof is supported by pressed metal ceilings and is characteristic of many homes for that time.

Royal Bull’s Head Inn, Toowoomba

This building is considered a historic landmark and while it is not exactly a ‘home’ per se, it was known to provide lodging to locals and travellers. With its standout metal roof, the building houses rooms that seem as if their nineteenth occupants still live there! The Royal Bull’s Head Inn is open to the public on the first Sunday of every month from 10am to 4pm.

Beaufort Bomber House, Ainslie ACT

Beaufort Homes in general we designed around the principles of the Beaufort Bomber aircraft. Like the aircrafts, they’re ‘fast, robust, and able to carry a wide and heavy range of armaments’ - meaning these houses were built for durability as well as their ease of construction. They were designed by architect, Arthur Baldwin, for the Department of Aircraft Production as part of a government scheme to alleviate housing shortages. They were designed as a module system to facilitate mass production, essentially of steel construction for the floor, walls, roof structure and sheeting, mounted on concrete foundations, with wood used for further flooring, doors and cupboards.

This particular Beaufort Bomber House in Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory, arrived in prefabricated components in March 1947 on a truck  from Melbourne; the house was completed in a whopping nine days! Today it’s still pretty much the same as in 1947, with any additions from 70s and 80s having been now removed, and it open for the viewing public on an irregular annual basis.

Image courtesy of: a.n.baldwinson & australian modernist architecture & MARS