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IDENTIFIER HOUSE Citation No N/A

Other name/s Kunciunas Residence (former) Melway ref 48 D8

Address 65 Esdale Street Date/s 1960-61

NUNAWADING

Designer/s Bolius Kunciunas Builder/s Lomax Engineering Pty Ltd

Photograph by Built Heritage, 4 February 2014

Proposed extent of HO

Heritage Group Residential building (private) Condition Good

Heritage Category House Intactness Good

Theme/s 6.7 Making homes for Victorians [subtheme: Architects making homes for themselves]

Recommendation Include on heritage overlay schedule as individual heritage place

History

Designed in 1960 and completed 1961, the house at 65 Esdale Street, Nunawading was designed by architect Bolius

Kunciunas (1924-2011) as a residence for his own family.

Bolius “Bill” Kunciunas was born on 24 April 1924 in Utena, in north-east Lithuania. Towards the end of WW2, he

relocated to Germany, where he studied at the Lithuanian-language school at Watenstadt, near Braunschweig. He

migrated to Australia in 1947, arriving in Melbourne in November aboard the General Stuart Heintzelman. After a

stint as a labourer at Bonegilla, he obtained a draftsman’s position in the Commonwealth Department of Works &

Housing. He initially worked in the Canberra office (c.1949-51), transferring to Darwin (c.1951-53) and finally to

Melbourne (c.1953-56). By 1949, he had he married fellow Lithuanian immigrant Grazina Natalija Bityte (whose

father and brother were also architects); after settling in Melbourne, the couple took up residence in Mathieson

Street, North Coburg.

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In 1956, Kunciunas applied to become registered as an architect in Victoria; over the next few years, he sat for a

number of ARBV exams and took supplementary subjects at the Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT). During

the day, he worked for leading factory architect D G Lumsden (1958-59) and subsequently in the office of Leslie M

Perrot & Partners (1959-63), during which time he was involved in the Southern Cross Hotel. It was during his stint

in Perrott’s office that he designed a new house for himself and his family.

In February 1960, Kunciunas and his wife acquired the title to a block of land at the corner of Esdale and McMurray

Streets in Nunawading (Lot 20 of Plan of Subdivision LP19124). The project evidently took some time to come to

fruition, as it is recorded that the house was completely re-designed towards the end of that year. Construction,

undertaken by Lomax Engineering Pty Ltd, was completed in 1961.

Kunciunas subsequently submitted his house design for inclusion in the range of standard plans offered by the Small

Homes Service (SHS) operated by the RVIA and the Age newspaper. Established in 1947 (with Robin Boyd as its

first director), the service offered a range of standard architect-designed plans for purchase by prospective

homebuilders who might not otherwise be able to afford to engage an architect themselves. Introduced into the

range under the code V374 (ie, a three-bedroom brick veneer house), Kunciunas’s plan was published in the weekly

SHS column on 8 October 1962, accompanied by two photographs of the prototype in Esdale Street, Nunawading

(although, in accordance with the privacy policy maintained by the service, neither the location of the house nor the

designer’s name were mentioned in the article).

In 1963, electoral rolls listed Bolius (identified as a ‘draftsman’) and Grazina (‘home duties’) as residents of 65 Esdale

Street, Nunawading. The family, which included daughters Audra and Ryta and son Davis (also to become an

architect) remained living there for over fifty years. After Bolius died on 19 September 2011, his widow Grazina

became sole proprietor of the title; ownership passed thence to the present owners in 2015.

Kunciunas’s subsequent architecture career encapsulated periods of employ in several noted city firms. After leaving

Perrott’s practice in 1963, he returned to the office of D G Lumsden. It was at this time that Kunciunas finally

completed his tertiary studies (Diploma of Architecture from RMIT was issued in December 1963); he registered as

an architect during 1964, and became an associate of the RAIA in 1965. He then worked for Godfrey & Spowers

(c.1964-69), the McIntyre Partnership (c.1970-81) and hospital specialists Health Building Pty Ltd (c.1982-85) before

returning to Godfrey & Spowers (c.1986-89) and concluding his career with a stint in the office of Hassell Architects

(c.1990-91), as project architect for work at Tullamarine Airport.

Description

The former Kunciunas Residence at 65 Esdale Road, Nunawading, is a single-storey modernist house. Occupying a

corner site, it has a C-shaped courtyard plan, with an attached carport creating an H-shaped footprint. Of concrete

brick construction (now painted white), the house has a flat roof that, on the sunny northern side, has deep eaves

with exposed beams, and bays of full-height timber-framed windows. The main façade, to McMurray Street is stark

and minimalist, relieved only by large recessed window bay to one end (with a symmetrical pair of sashes with

glazing bars in a Mondrian-like geometric configuration) and a narrower horizontal strip window. The main entrance,

which opens off the central courtyard, has another full-height window bay. The attached carport is supported on

paired timber posts, and screened by a concrete block wall.

The detached slab-like letter box, in matching concrete brick, appears to have been designed by the architect as part

of the overall scheme.

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Comparative analysis

Modernist houses in Nunawading

While noted pockets of post-war modernist houses exist in some parts of the City of Whitehorse (eg Vermont and

Blackburn), such buildings are less well represented in areas such as Mitcham and Nunawading. In the master-list

of places compiled for the City of Whitehorse Post-1945 Heritage Study, only thirteen modernist houses (dating from

1955 and 1966) were identified in Nunawading. Twice as many were identified in Vermont, and four times as many

in Blackburn (a number that increases further if one includes Blackburn North and Blackburn South).

Of the examples listed in Nunawading, two are confirmed as demolished: one at 6 Lasiandra Street (Norman

Brendell, 1958) and another at 116 Springvale Road (J S Gawler, 1959). Another in Lorikeet Street (Clarke, Hopkins

& Clarke, 1965) was not located. Several others, including those at 10 Alern Court (Kevin Pethebridge, 1965) and 15

Tasman Avenue (A Reigers, 1966) can only be considered as representative examples rather than especially notable

ones. The house at 65 Esdale Street is one of the more sophisticated examples of modern domestic architecture in

Nunawading, along with the two examples at 359 Whitehorse Road, (J W Rivett, 1955) and 58 Diosma Street

(architect unknown, c.1958). Of these, the former was recommended for an individual HO with a full citation

prepared for the City of Whitehorse Post-1945 Heritage Study, while the latter was deemed to be a high priority for

further investigation.

Architect’s own houses in Whitehorse

The phenomenon of architects designing houses for themselves was identified as a notable sub-theme in the

supplementary thematic environmental history contained in the City of Whitehorse Post-1945 Heritage Study. Many

of these architects were drawn to the developing outer fringes of the present-day municipality, where vacant land was

plentiful at the time.

Thus, we have architects such as David Chancellor, Alan Niven and Stephen Dorling building houses for themselves

in Box Hill South, Stuart Macintosh and Julian Serpell in Mont Albert North, Conrad Theodore and Gerritt Hartland in

Forest Hill, and Charles Weight in Box Hill North. Architects appear to have been less attracted to older established

areas such as Nunawading; apart from Kunciunas’s own house in Esdale Street, the only other example identified in

Nunawading was John Gawler’s own house at 116 Springvale Road, since demolished.

Some of these resident architects were well known as sole partitioners (eg Conrad Theodore) or as eponymous

members of partnerships (David Chancellor, Charles Weight, Llew Bawden, Les Brock) while others (eg Stuart

McIntosh, Gerritt Hartland and Kunciunas himself) worked for larger firms or the public service. However, it does not

follow that lesser-known practitioners were any less capable of producing fine architecture when designing their own

houses – which often represents their only private commission under their own name. While Kunciunas is hardly a

household name in the canon of Melbourne’s post-war architects, he clearly had immaculate modernist credentials,

and his own house (designed during a long stint in the high-profile office of Leslie Perrott) is considered to be on par

with other architect’s own houses recommended for heritage overlay in the City of Whitehorse Post-1945 Heritage

Study, which includes those of David Chancellor, Charles Weight and Howard Hodgens.

The fact that Kunciunas’s own house was added to the range of standard range of plans offered by the Age/RVIA

Small Homes Service adds further resonance to its architectural significance. It was unusual, but not unprecedented,

for architects to do this: eg Ken Hardcastle’s own house in Ashburton and Gerd & Renate Block’s own house in

Montmorency.

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The work of European emigre architects in Whitehorse

While the work of European émigré architects is famously well represented in certain parts of Melbourne such as

Caulfield, St Kilda, Toorak and Kew, it is rather less well represented in what is now the City of Whitehorse. There

are a number of key non-residential examples such as the Mount Scopus College in Burwood (1953-61), co-

designed by two of Melbourne’s leading European migrant architects, Czech-born Ernest Fooks and Russian-born

Anatol Kagan. On his own, Fooks was responsible for later buildings at Mount Scopus (1961-70) and additions to the

Forest Hill Shopping Centre (1974). Conarg Architects, founded by Romanian-born Grigore Hirsch designed the

former Mirama Shopping Centre at 517 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham (1958; since remodelled), while Dutch-born

architect Hank Romyn designed a kindergarten at Larch Street, Blackburn (1960).

Smaller-scaled private residential commissions by European migrant architects, comparable to the house at 65

Esdale Street, are rare in the City of Whitehorse. Only four other examples have been identified to date.

Interestingly, all of these were designed by migrant architects who, like Kunciunas, did not maintain their own sole

practice but worked in larger firms. As such, they represent rare private commissions undertaken under their own

names. Yet more interestingly, three of the four places were the architect’s own residence. German-born Klaus

Veltjens designed his own house at 29 Naughton Grove, Blackburn (1964), while two Forest Hill houses, at 16

Nandina Street (1958) and 6 Andrew Street (1959) were built as the residences of Lithuanian-born Jurgis Zalkauskas

and Dutch-born Gerritt Hartland, respectively. Zalkauskas went on to design a house at 2 Windouran Drive, Mitcham

(1960), for his friend and fellow Lithuanian, Jonas Masanauskas.

While other local examples of émigré modernism can be deemed representative of prevailing modernist tastes to a

greater or lesser degree, none is as evocative of authentic European modernism as Kunciunas’s own house. With

its functionalist box-like expression, planar walls, tight planning, full-height windows and horizontal strip windows, it is

far more analogous to the houses of such émigré architects as Harry Ernest and Walter Pollock (whose work in that

particular vein does not appear to be represented in the City of Whitehorse). At the local level, Kunciunas’ house is

complementary to a small number of similarly hard-edged modernist houses (eg Charles Weight and Stuart

McIntosh;’s own houses, respectively in Box Hill North and Mont Albert North) by architects who, although not

European migrants themselves, still felt the pervasive influence of International Modernism. The most pertinent local

comparator would be architect Les Brock’s own house at 38 Laburnum Street, Blackburn (1958). Markedly similar in

its European-style minimalism, this fine house has regrettably been demolished.

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

Erected in 1960-61 as architect Bolius Kuncianus’s own residence, the house at 65 Esdale Road, Nunawading, is a

single-storey flat-roofed modernist dwelling of concrete brick construction (now painted white). It has a C-shaped

courtyard plan with full-height window bays to north and south sides, a starker façade to the east (McMurray Street)

with smaller window bays, and an attached flat-roofed carport with timber posts and a concrete brick screen wall.

The significant fabric of the place is defined as the exterior of the entire house (including the attached carport and its

screen wall), and the detached slab-like letter box in matching concrete brick. The landscaped setting is not

considered to be significant.

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How is it significant?

The house at 65 Esdale Street, Nunawading, satisfies the following criteria for inclusion on the heritage overlay

schedule to the City of Whitehorse planning scheme:

Criterion A: Importance to the course or pattern of our cultural or natural history

Criterion E: Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics

Criterion F: Importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period.

Why is it significant?

It is a particularly fine and intact example of an architect’s own house, a sub-theme that has been identified as being

of significance in the municipality in the post-war era (Criterion A). Its high degree of intactness is consequent the

fact that the Kunciunas family retained ownership of the house from completion in 1961 until its recent sale in 2015.

The fact that the house was subsequently introduced to the standard range of plans available through the Age/RVIA

Small Homes Service adds a further layer of architectural interest. The proliferation of SHS dwellings has been

identified as a noted sub-theme in the municipality’s post-war development. While certain parts of the City of

Whitehorse are known to have been epicentres for houses built to SHS designs, this house represents the more

unusual phenomenon whereby an architect’s own house was submitted and accepted into the range. (Criterion A).

The house is significant as a notable (and notably intact) example of a house in the hard-edged modernist style,

evidenced by its stark rectilinear massing, flat roof, tight planning and carefully-considered fenestration that includes

full-height window walls and a horizontal strip window. There are few notable examples of this style in the City of

Whitehorse. (Criterion E).

While houses in this style are intrinsically rare in Whitehorse, this one stands out as the work of a European émigré

architect. As such, it represents an ever rarer local example of authentic European modernism in Whitehorse.

Architecturally, it is the most sophisticated of the very small number of houses in the municipality known to have been

designed by émigré architects. (Criterion F).

While modernist houses proliferate in certain parts of the municipality, and particularly in the former fringe areas of

Box Hill South and Vermont, this house stands out as one of very few notable examples in Nunawading. With its flat

roof and stark expression, it remains an eye-catching element in a streetscape (and indeed contiguous streetscape)

otherwise dominated by more conventional hip-roofed or gable roofed dwellings. (Criterion F).

References

Certificate of Title, Volume 8271, Folio 483.

Jack Clarke, “House of the week: V374”, Age, 8 October 1962, p 10.

Documentary and oral information provided by the Kunciunas family, April 2016

Identified by

Built Heritage Pty Ltd

Citation prepared by Simon Reeves (Built Heritage Pty Ltd), 13 April 2016

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Additional photographs by Ian Coleman, council heritage advisor

April 2016