3.59 Paton House, Hillcrest 1954

Job No 78

Weatherboard Detail

Patio Detail

The Patons (pronounced Pay-ton) commissioned the house in 1954 and it was completed in 1955. They never had children and so originally the house was only two bedrooms with a sunroom/sewing room which at a pinch could be a single bedroom. Later the laundry and workshop downstairs were converted into a second bathroom and double bedroom. The laundry was moved upstairs into what was the butler's pantry.

While the south and east walls were built with Huntly brick, the north wall leading onto the patio has a vertical board and batten cladding. The street frontage is weatherboard. The wood and joinery were originally painted in a dark grey/teal colour and white detailing. Some, but not all, of the Huntly brick was plastered during the 1990s.

There is extensive glazing, with picture windows facing the street and glass doors on all rooms facing out to the patio. Two slender pillars support the living room which is cantilevered out over the garage, The flat roof originally lacked insulation, but this was subsequently remedied with the addition of an insulation layer that increased the roof height slightly.

Inside, the house has several distinctive features. The kitchen is done out in black and white chequerboard linoleum, a device calculated to make the space look larger and possibly borrowed from Plischke, who used the same technique for Paul’s Bookshop (now Metropolis Caffe). King also did work for the Pauls in association with Plischke.

The wall in the hallway has a rounded corner, designed to avoid injuries or damage when making the sharp turn from the entrance into the hallway. This is a device King used in his own home in Hamilton Parade. The doorway into the main bedroom has a lowered ceiling behind it, which creates a cavern-like effect. The bedroom itself had one entire wall given over to ceiling-height cupboards and wardrobe.

Outside, the grounds have been meticulously land-scaped. The pavers for the paths are trapezoid in shape to give an impression of greater distance, and the buttresses that support the front retaining wall have been hollowed to provide garden beds. The property is carefully broken into “rooms” by changes in levels and the judicious placement of screening.