Strathroy and smiley happy people - Watch this video.

Strathroy is was built in 1882 and is a striking and intact example of the small mansions in gardens built all over Kew and Hawthorn in the Victorian Italianate style.  When it was first built, its net annual value was 50 pounds. 

The house was built for John McCutcheon, one of the top executives of the Commercial Bank. It is now known that he was one of the land boomers, engaged in speculative high risk activities, which were sometimes partly funded by the bank's assets.  He was insolvent when he died, although this was kept secret. 

It is now for sale (through this agency).

Here are some other external shots of the beautiful garden and pool.

As is often the case with these houses (picky me) I don't like their interiors much, even though they are clearly very expensively fitted out, so I haven't included interior shots. The interior also loses major points for me for the plasma TV in the bathroom, and the fact that every single coffee table is Very Ugly.

A relatively new approach to the sale of these large mansions is the You Tube video, prepared at vast expense by the real estate agents, for the international market of wealthy bankers no doubt falling all over themselves for this piece of heaven in Melbourne.

Before I show you this magical little video, some context. Here is a sample of the kind of clothes worn by ladies when Strathroy was built:

(from costumes.org)

And here is what we wear now, when we stride around our beautiful mansion:




Isn't it just something else? You realise of course that these people are pretend people - a pretend wife in pink or leopard print silken mini dress, pretend children combing their hair, pretend hard working husband coming home at night, pretend cocktail party, pretend platter of sushi (oh so that's what those people eat) and so on.

Anyway, kudos to the owners for preserving a lovely home.

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