Edgy urban style meets open bushland at Clifton Hill

Clifton Hill epitomises all that is appealing about Melbourne’s inner north. This serene little pocket, less than five kilometres from the CBD, has every urban advantage in beautiful heritage surroundings as well as immediate access to hundreds of hectares of bushland.

Tranquil and pretty, it is bordered by Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Northcote, which puts it at the centre of many of Melbourne’s good restaurants, bars, entertainment and retail.

Its eastern border is Yarra Bend Park – 260 hectares of natural bushland, picnic areas, playing fields and golf courses interlaced with bike and walking tracks. Merri Creek and the Yarra River wind through spectacular scenery – rocky escarpments, rolling hills and forests ringing with the lilting song of bellbirds.

Yarra Bend Park offers endless opportunities for healthy pastimes. On a mellow summer afternoon, hire a rowboat at Studley Park Boathouse and replenish your energies afterwards with a delicious Devonshire tea. Practice your stroke at the 40-bay indoor/outdoor golf driving range or your fly fishing skills at the international-standard fly casting pool. Join any of a number of sporting clubs that meet at the playing fields in the park, walk the labyrinth, have breakfast at Fairfield boathouse or hire the amphitheatre for a party.

On the western side of Hoddle Street, and about 10 minutes’ walk from Clifton House, are tennis courts, netball courts and the Collingwood Leisure Centre – a complex of pools, gyms, group fitness studio, spa and sauna.

The main shopping area for Clifton Hill is Queens Parade. This wide boulevard is strip shopping at its finest with everyday services such as banks, post office, pharmacy, greengrocer and bakery as well as delectable cafes and restaurants. Life’s little luxuries are there as well in designer clothes and shoes, the butcher who takes pride in aged beef and the store specialising in Imperial Russian antiques.

The streets of Clifton Hill are pretty with well-preserved Victorian and Edwardian homes broken up every so often by former corner stores and glove factories re-purposed into family homes.

Clifton House fits harmoniously into the suburb in all sorts of ways. In scale and appearance, it slots neatly into its immediate neighbourhood where grand warehouses of yesteryear have been sensitively converted into an enclave of stylish residences.

Designed by the award-winning Idle Architecture, Clifton House references these substantial, historical buildings in the materials used and the robust lines, but the light touch of a contemporary master is there in the skilled use of glazing, the stylish residential form and the classical sophistication. The building is designed with an eye to investment; it will look as good long into the future as it does now.

The boutique development houses 33 apartments, conceived as a sophisticated backdrop to a busy urban lifestyle.

Living areas open to wide terraces and floor to ceiling glazing draws in light and views. Quality appliances and clever joinery mean the kitchens are a pleasure to use as well beautiful and bathrooms bring together the urban drama of a white background and black fittings with warm timber joinery.

Life’s practicalities are also taken into consideration at Clifton House. The problem of storage, for example, which can be a significant issue for apartment dwellers, is solved by titled store rooms for each apartment which come with bicycle racks and shelving.

“Clifton Hill is a tightly-held suburb and this boutique development offers a rare opportunity to invest in a suburb of high returns and enviable lifestyle,” says Lucas Burton.

Across the road, Uncle Drew’s serves serious coffee and imaginative breakfast and lunches, the railway station and buses are just minutes away as is the local watering hole, the Royal Hotel.