28 St James Road, Heidelberg VIC 3084

What we love about this home:

This house was built by a chemist who invented a process to remove the grey ring that used to form at the top end of a toothpaste tube. He became quite wealthy and sold St James road to move to a large acreage at Research.

Number 28 was advertised in The Age for private sale, 63 years ago. Asking price was 4500 pounds and 5 pounds was accepted as deposit. At this time and until the big 10 year drought, the garden was more traditionally English with garden beds of colourful azaleas and rhododendrons. Underplantings of freesias and bluebells still exist today. It was a colourful green garden where children from Adamson street and St James road played under sprinklers and hid in the bushes, quite magical.

Lots of native birds still visit, including a kingfisher to the lily pond. It was home to the progressive dinners and cocktail parties of the local primary school. It has seen the distant hillsides change from fields to houses and charming lights at night. It was always painted a cool green, in a green garden.