{"id":859342,"date":"2026-08-18T06:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T06:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/859342\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T06:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T06:50:12","slug":"neil-clerehans-influential-fenner-house-listed-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/859342\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Clerehan\u2019s \u2018influential\u2019 Fenner House listed for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 1964 Fenner House, considered by architect Neil Clerehan as his \u201cmost important work\u201d of the period, has been listed for sale. <\/p>\n<p>Located on Domain Road in Melbourne\u2019s South Yarra, the three-bedroom house was designed for retired pastoralist Clive Fenner and his wife, and is recognised as an early and influential example of townhouse design on a confined suburban site. In 1967, the home received the Royal Victoria Institute of Architects (RVIA) Single House Medal. <\/p>\n<p>It was added to the <a href=\"https:\/\/architectureau.com\/articles\/clerehans-most-important-work-gains-heritage-status\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Victorian Heritage Register in 2016<\/a>, with the heritage assessment noting its emphasis on privacy, restrained detailing, and minimal building materials and finishes. <\/p>\n<p>The house spans a single level above a garage. A blank, windowless facade provides privacy from Domain Road, while the interior is organised around two courtyards and a rear garden. This arrangement, together with floor-to-ceiling glazing, brings northern light into the main living spaces and creates visual connections between rooms. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Floor-to-ceiling glazing brings northern light into the main living spaces and creates visual connections between rooms.\" class=\"['full'] full blur-up lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29145332037abe176753c1199b5d0ac4.jpg\" height=\"485\" width=\"728\"\/><\/p>\n<p>View gallery<\/p>\n<p>Retaining much of its original character, the home\u2019s material palette is simple, with exposed concrete brickwork used throughout alongside timber ceilings and joinery. Stained rather than painted finishes were used to emphasise the materials\u2019 natural qualities. <\/p>\n<p>The house reflects Clerehan\u2019s interest in \u201cliving patterns\u201d and a restrained approach to architectural expression. As he explained in 1984: \u201cI was and still am intrigued with living patterns, actual and possible, and the architectonic expression was and is to me only a frame for patterns. Therefore, I\u2019ve never produced intriguing forms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Expressions of interest for Fenner House are now being accepted.\" class=\"['full'] full blur-up lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8a905ec3ac87dd34d3cc90b204fe1948.jpg\" height=\"485\" width=\"728\"\/><\/p>\n<p>View gallery<\/p>\n<p>Clerehan designed several houses with a similar approach, including his own family home, <a href=\"https:\/\/architectureau.com\/He went on to design a number of houses that applied similar design approaches \u2013 one of which was his own family home, Clerehan House II, located around the corner from the Fenner House.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Clerehan House II<\/a>, located nearby.<\/p>\n<p>The heritage report of Clerehan House II notes, \u201cThe resourceful use of space on this confined site and the engaging sequence of rooms make this an exemplary townhouse design for Melbourne comparable to the courtyard houses of American architects Mies van der Rohe, I M Pei, Eliot Noyes and Philip Johnson.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Expressions of interest for Fenner House are now being accepted. For details, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshallwhite.com.au\/property\/228-230-domain-road-south-yarra-1942376\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 1964 Fenner House, considered by architect Neil Clerehan as his \u201cmost important work\u201d of the period, has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-859342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}