Grimwade House, Rye

Grimwade House
Grimwade House, Rye is located in Melbourne
Grimwade House, Rye
Location of the house
in Greater Metropolitan Melbourne
Interactive map of the Grimwade House area
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeHouse
Architectural style
Modernist pavilion
Location28–54 Dundas Street, Rye, Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates38°22′27″S 144°49′01″E / 38.374255°S 144.816946°E / -38.374255; 144.816946
Year built1961–1962
Completed
1962 (1962)
ClientGeoffrey Grimwade and family
OwnerGrimwade family
Technical details
Material
Floor area2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft)
Grounds3.79 ha (9.4 acres)
Design and construction
ArchitectDavid McGlashan
Architecture firm
McGlashan and Everist
AwardsVictorian Architecture Medal (1963)
Official name
Grimwade House
TypeRegistered place
Designated14 May 2009
Reference no.H2209
HO345
Category
Residential buildings (private)

Grimwade House is a house located at 28–54 Dundas Street in Rye, on the Mornington Peninsula, in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia.

Built in 1962 on the traditional lands of the Bunurong people, the house was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 14 May 2009 in recognition of its architectural and aesthetic significance;[1] and was also identified for a future addition to a non-statutory list by the Victorian branch of the National Trust.[2]

History

The Grimwade House was constructed in 1961–1962 for Geoffrey Holt Grimwade CMG[3] (1902–1961), his wife and their four daughters. Grimwade was a highly influential Victorian business leader, whose family was associated with Cuming, Smith & Co., Drug Houses of Australia, and Commonwealth Industrial Gases, later, ICI Australia. Grimwade was one of the founders of the Institute of Public Affairs, served on the boards of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and other organisations, and was described as one of the ablest businessmen of his generation.[4]

Grimwade's untimely death in 1961[4] prevented the house becoming his retirement home, and was subsequently owned and used by his wife and daughters[1] and their families.

Opened to the public for the first time in November 2025,[5][6] the ten-bedroom house, with parking for ten cars, was listed for sale in January 2026, with expectations of between A$11–$12 million.[7][8]

Other Grimwade family homes

Other holiday homes and estate on, or near, the Mornington Peninsula, also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, owned by members of the Grimwade family include Coolart estate inclusive of a Victorian Second Empire mansion, built by the Hon. Frederick Sheppard Grimwade MLC who owned the estate between 1895 and 1905, subsequently purchased by the Victorian Government and managed by Parks Victoria as a homestead, wetlands, nature reserve, and historic house museum;[9][10][11] Marathon, in Mount Eliza, built from 1914 by Major General Harold William Grimwade CB CMG VD and owned by the family,[12] until the family subdivided the 12-hectare (30-acre) estate in the 1950s and sold the Federation Arts and Crafts house and gardens in mid-1992;[13]: 28, 95  and Westerfield, in Frankston South, built from 1924 by Sir Russell Grimwade CBE, set on 45 hectares (110 acres), also completed in the Arts and Crafts style.[14]

In the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield North, the Hon. F. S. Grimwade built Harleston in 1875 in a Victorian Filigree style, located on the corner of Balaclava and Orrong roads later called Grimwade House and acquired by Melbourne Grammar School in c. 1911 – c. 1918, subsequently used as a preparatory campus.[15][16]

Description

Grimwade House was built as Geoffrey Grimwade's retirement home that could also serve as a holiday house. Set on 3.79 hectares (9.4 acres) at Rye,[7] located on a sandy ridge about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from Port Phillip Bay, the house is hidden from view by the extensive natural bush of melaleucas and casurinas.[1]

The 2,000-square-metre (22,000 sq ft)[7] house was designed by David McGlashan,[a] of McGlashan and Everist, in the Modernist pavilion style, on a three-metre (ten-foot) module. The house comprises five flat-roofed pavilions, linked by covered ways, which create a variety of sheltered outdoor courtyards between the wings. The walls are constructed of vertical western red cedar boards weathered to natural grey, rubble limestone quarried on the site, extensive floor to ceiling glass and sliding panels, with the main bedroom wing having a generous breezeway with flywire panels on one side. The main wing has vermiculite ceilings and clay tile floors, while the other wings have Stramit (a wheat straw board) ceilings and vinyl floor coverings. Rattan blinds are used throughout the house. Apart from lawn and areas paved with stone and clay tiles immediately around the house, the site has retained its natural bushland appearance.[1]

The house, which shows the influence of Japanese architecture,[17] is designed to sit comfortably within the natural bush landscape. It shows a creative and radical approach to siting, form, planning, and use of materials. Its separate pavilions are sited to create different sheltered courtyards or outdoor rooms, and to provide for maximium flexibility and privacy. The paved area extending in clay tiles from the main living area into the garden helps to blur the distinction between inside and out. The sunshading allows winter sun to penetrate but excludes summer sun, and natural ventilation is abundant, with a large fly-screened breezeway linking the living and main bedroom wing.[1] McGlashan, the architect, also designed a large part of the original furniture including tables, benches, and sofas.

The Grimwade House was published in Architecture in Australia in 1964, following the awarding of the Victorian Architecture Medal for 1963. It led directly to other commissions for McGlashan and Everist, including John and Sunday Reed's house at Aspendale, and then Heide II, and established the architects' reputations as designers of beautifully-sited, elegantly minimal houses, with a distinctly Australian character.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ David McGlashan was Geoffrey Grimwade's son-in-law.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Grimwade House, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2209, Heritage Overlay HO345". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Grimwade House (NTA-V list: Property No B6050)". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  3. ↑ "Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) entry for Mr Geoffrey Holt Grimwade". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 January 1960. Retrieved 12 August 2026. Member of the Board of the Commonwealth Bank.
  4. 1 2 Poynter, J. R. (2006) [1996]. "Grimwade, Geoffrey Holt (1902–1961)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Zielinski, Caroline (16 November 2025). "Ten mid-century modern Melbourne homes that transformed the way we live". The Age. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "DA Tour: Grimwade House, by McGlashan and Everist". DOCOMOMO Australia. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Capone, Alesha (6 January 2026). "Mornington Peninsula: Heritage-listed Grimwade House for sale". Herald-Sun. Retrieved 12 August 2026 – via RealEstate.com.au.
  8. ↑ "Grimwade/McGlashan House". Kay & Burton. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Coolart, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0759, Heritage Overlay HO118". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Coolart (NTA-V list: Property No B4683)". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Coolart Lagoon and Wetlands (NTA-V list: Property No L10043)". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Marathon, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0946, Heritage Overlay HO126". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Graeme Butler & Associates (July 2013). Mornington Peninsula Shire Thematic History (PDF). Shire of Mornington Peninsula (Report). Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Westerfield, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2200, Heritage Overlay HO5". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Grimwade House, fmr Harleston stables, outbuilding, garden, gate and Picconia excelsa tree (Glen Eira City local government list), Heritage Overlay HO54". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "Former Harleston (NTA-V list: Property No B0010)". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  17. ↑ McCartney, Karen (2007). 50/60/70: Iconic Australian houses: Three decades of domestic architecture. Sydney: Murdoch Books. p. 108.
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