Pittwater Life July 2017 Issue

Northern Beaches Living
Life’s a Beachcomber
Cover Story
When local writer Helen
Thurloe first spotted
the house she and her
family would call home for the
next 20-plus years she had no
idea of its place in Australian
suburban architectural history.
“All we knew was that the
house felt good to be in,” she
said. “After living in a doublebrick
semi in the inner-west, it
felt deliciously weightless.
“It felt like we were in the
trees and the sky.”
Helen is the proud owner of a
Beachcomber.
Designed for
Australian conditions
as rectangular
homes elevated
on stilts with big
panels of floor-toceiling
glass, these
1960s Bauhaus-style
Lend Lease project
homes are now
highly sought-after,
with many people
hungry for information
about where to find them,
their history and how to maintain
or renovate them.
Timely then that Helen’s
thirst for knowledge led her to
research ‘The Beachcomber’
and to develop a website that
celebrates these modern Australian
homes. *
Helen explained at the time
of its release, The Beachcomber
was an “audacious modernist
structure”.
“It excited new home buyers
with its vast windows onto a
shaded sun-deck, while also
featuring quality architectdesigned
fittings and fixtures,”
she said. The popularity of The
Helen Thurloe has lived in her Beachcomber for almost 25 years; the Avalon Beach resident won
the Multimedia gong at the recent National Trust Heritage awards for her resource website.
Beachcomber
throughout the
1960s saw it
evolve into four
versions (Marks
I, II, III & IV) and
there were numerous “copy-cat”
designs by other home builders,
Helen said.
But Beachcombers haven’t
always been admired.
When Helen and her husband
bought their home in Avalon
1995 it had been listed by a
number of agents and on the
market for a long time.
“It wasn’t a popular style
of home to purchase in the
1990s,” she explained. “When
we moved in, a neighbour told
me he called it ‘the television
set’, because it looked like a TV
on legs (this no longer makes
sense with wall-mounted LED
screens but you know what he
meant)… a little bit ‘Jetsons’.”
The features of the home that
first appealed to Helen – the
aspect (the house is perched
high on the block and positioned
to look across the valley
to the ocean) and the clean,
rectangular lines expressed in
the sheltered sundeck and the
10 roof beams with highlight
windows set between them to
always let a slice of light in and
out – stand true today.
Built in 1963 Helen’s home
is both elegantly proportioned
and well built – she and her
family love its sense of space
(despite its small dimensions),
and its practicality.
“On hot days the breeze can
flow right through the house,”
she said. “The carport and the
enclosed space under the main
house are also very handy.”
Any drawbacks?
“The flat roof means there
is no cavity for electricals, so
there are no ceiling lights,”
Helen said.
“Because of its lightweight
construction, it can be cold in
winter, but at least there’s not
too much of it to heat up!”
Eleven Beachcombers were
built in Avalon and there are at
least a dozen more in Pittwater,
from Palm Beach to Warriewood
and from Elanora Heights to
Bilgola.
* Helen’s 12-year labour of love
was recognised recently at the
National Trust Heritage Awards
when her website beachcomberhouse.com.au
took out the
Multimedia Award, the judges
commenting: “Mid-century modern
gets a great advocacy tool
in this website. It is informative
and a great resource which will
no doubt grow.” – Lisa Offord
32 JULY 2017
Celebrating 25 Years