this is a house of neat fit to site, with three

stepped levels nesting to the gentle slope

of the foothills, and poor Dusty cannot

abidestairs,nomatterhowcivilized the

pitch and tread. The splices in plan and

section carefully articulate each zone of

living, cooking, washing and sleeping in a

subtledynamicoffluidopenplanning and

controlled communality. Dusty, however,

willsitandwaitstoicallytobecarried from

leveltolevel.Heisclearlyanineteenth-

century creature at heart.

Butthishouseispedigreedtwentieth-

centurydesign,withallthedistinctive

traits of rational, economical and elegant

accommodation. Originally only 150

square metres, it contained three bedrooms

and one each of the other vital spaces for

family life. The house was sub-contracted

and partly constructed by the owner

(“I had some energy in those days,”

C

ats are notoriously good judges of

domestic architecture. They know

thesunnyspots,thenooksaway

from draughts and the best places

to watch the action without being in it.

Dogs, it seems, may be less discerning,

ifarecentvisittooneofAdelaide’sbest

maintainedexamplesofmid-century

residential architecture is anything to go

by. The Dickson House at Rostrevor was

designed in 1958 by Graham Dickson’s

brother, Robert Dickson, just as the

emerging practice of Dickson and Platten

was establishing its refined architectural

language of regional modernism. It has

beenthecontinuousfamilyhometo

Graham,hiswifeBarbaraandtheirtwo

children since 1960. Now the children

have (mostly) moved out and Dusty the

poodle is a comparatively recent, and not

altogether compliant, surrogate child. For

says Graham), and the structure and

material palette are direct and cohesive:

besser block, exposed timber framing and

strawboard ceilings. The asbestos sheet roof

was later replaced with corrugated iron, but

the sense of the house hanging from a low

gradient roof, mirroring the contour of the

land, remains. Newell Platten describes the

design process succinctly: “We designed

inside to outside, and roof down.” (Newell

Platten, Hybrid Beauty, 2016).

The disposition of spaces (with clever

internalizing of a top-lit bathroom), takes

maximum advantage of north and south

views to the attractive surrounds and

nearby Morialta Conservation Park. Once a

semi-rural area of vineyards, orchards and

rose growers, this is one of those postwar

organic suburban developments that

still retains its bucolic bush atmosphere.

You find them in most Australian cities:

02 Original photograph

(c.1958)ofthelivingroom

prior to the addition of

themainbedroomtothe

north. Image courtesy of the

University of South Australia’s

Architecture Museum.

03 The dwelling’s structure

and materials are direct

and cohesive, with

strawboard ceilings,

besser blocks and

exposed timber framing.

02