Fraternal Twins
It was a welcome surprise to hear from Martina Roos, owner of an immaculately conserved Lend Lease in Sydney’s Killarney Heights. With its concrete pillars, the Lend Lease Safari was of more substantial construction than the Beachcomber, and in 1963 the base price for a Safari was £6 200, compared with £4 995 for a […]
The Beachcomber Story
It was a full house at Mark Tuckey to hear the story of Nino Sydney’s Beachcomber house. From the first drawings, through to its four distinct house designs, Helen Thurloe revisited early marketing campaigns, as well as photos that showed the excitement of the home fairs in the 1960’s.
Talking Beachcomber in Newport
The Beachcomber House is the first architecture talk in the 2018 MMJDESIGNTALKS series, in association with MARK TUCKEY. The Beachcomber is the most distinctive of the many project homes designed by architect Nino Sydney for Lend Lease Homes in the 1960’s. A kind of ‘Budget Bauhaus’, it was popular all over Sydney, especially in the Northern […]
Humble Holiday Home
To celebrate the summer of 2017, Stephen Lacey wrote a great overview of the Beachcomber story. In his article, published in Domain, Stephen says: You might not recognise the name, but there’s little doubt you’ll recognise the house. The Beachcomber, designed in 1961 by modernist architect Nino Sydney, can be found up and down the […]
Heritage Award for Website
In April 2017 the National Trust awarded the Beachcomber House website its Heritage Award for Tours and Multimedia. From the judges; The project is a website devoted to documenting and conserving a significant expression of Australian mid-century modernism: the Lend Lease Beachcomber project home. www.beachcomberhouse.com.au is a community hub for residents, historians, journalists, architects and […]
National Trust Heritage Award
A lovingly maintained Beachcomber II was awarded a National Trust Heritage Award in 2015. The award, for Conservation and Built Heritage, recognised the efforts of Billy Gruner and Sarah Keighery in restoring their original Beachcomber in Sydney’s Blue Mountains.
Streets of Your Town
The aesthetics of our suburbs was explored in the two-part series, Streets of Your Town – From Modernism to McMansionism. Screened on ABC TV in November 2016, it’s a journey around Australia with comedian, broadcaster & architecture enthusiast, Tim Ross. Beachcombers feature (briefly) in both episodes.
House & Garden 1972
Designed to Keep Costs Down was a series covering ‘What Project Builders Offer You’ in Australian House & Garden in 1972. The first piece featured twelve Lend Lease Homes, and is an excellent overview of the costs of its homes and fittings, as well as the many design options available. Best of all you can snap up a […]
Rescue Mission
An original Mark I Beachcomber in Sydney’s northern suburbs seeks a new home. Its current owners are redeveloping the site in May 2017, and are hoping that their vintage Beachcomber can be rescued and re-used by someone who’s after a 1960s classic.
Spot the Beachcomber
This is a kind of party game, with some wishful thinking thrown in. At its heart, it reflects that most people with a taste for affordable 60s Bauhaus would prefer a Beachcomber. Perfectly understandable.