MERCHANT BUILDERS - THE BACKGROUND

Merchant Builders was a house building group based in Melbourne from 1965 to the mid 1980's. Merchant Builders, along with the Sydney based company Pettit and Sevitt, brought Modern housing, at an affordable price to the Australian suburbs.

These two enterprises were unique in their field and since their demise, due to economic and social shifts, were largely forgotten until recently. Over the last few years real-estate ads proclaim the names "Pettit and Sevitt" and "Merchant Builders" and go on to point out their virtues.

Recent advertisement for house for sale

So what is it that makes these houses interesting and desirable?

What was the origin of the ideas that lead to the development of Merchant Builders?


Australian culture has often followed Americas, and it does in this case...

Driven by a growing affluence and optimism, in the 1950's and 1960's, the Post War American Dream spawned a new field in the mainstream house building industry - "Modernism".

Initially championed by the American publication "Arts and Architecture" in its "Case Study House" program, modernism was presented, demonstrated and publicised.

The Case Study program engaged selected notable architects to produce a design for publication, often, through various means, the designs went on to be built and published to promote the agenda.
Later and at a larger scale Eichler Homes, a California based building company, took up the cause and built multiple large estates consisting of these new modern house types. The book "Eichler / Modernism Rebuilds the American Dream" covers the history and projects of this company in great detail.

Australian architects and housing industry entrepreneurs were aware of the trends developing  in the US and so a similar phenomena developed here. A detailed history can be found in the publication "Designer Suburbs - Architects and Affordable Homes in Australia".

While there are similarities between Merchant Builders and Pettit and Sevitt there are distinct regional differences. Pettit and Sevitt was aligned with the Sydney "nuts and berries school", much of the architectural design was done by Ken Wooley with some contributions by others such as Harry Siedler. Merchant Builders owe more to the Melbourne school with ideas emanating  from influential architects like Robin Boyd and Fredrick Romberg. The architectural design for Merchant Builders was undertaken by a core group consisting of Terry Dorrough, Graeme Gunn, Peter Carmichael, Barry Gray, Leo De Jong and interior designer Jane Faulkner. Other architects made contributions, such as Daryl Jackson and David McGashan.

Below is an early marketing brochure explaining the company and its product, interestingly, the house we are renovating is the first one depicted, The Terrace House T1.  The first version of this house was designed in 1965 by Graeme Gunn and was in a group of three houses built for the first Merchant Builder's display village in Glen Waverley.