Coburg Melbourne

I went round an took pictures of what I thought was an abandoned house on Walsh St. While I was taking pictures, a man (perhaps in his 60s) stopped to talk to me about the house. He was quite shy. Maybe had a French accent. We stood side-by-side, on the other side of the road to the house. He smelt a little like sweet baked bread. He told me that a little old couple lived there, that they sometimes walk down the street, with the old man walking slightly faster that the old lady. He’s never seen them, only heard about them. And he’d heard that sometimes a light is on at night.

Sometimes the plants in the front yard seem to spill onto the street – someone has trimmed them right back. I love the snail circle in the driveway. And I’ve never noticed that it was two storey before. A huge house. The TV aerial is the only thing new and in good condition.

The house would’ve been built well before the post-war Italian and Greek communities moved in. There are two of the same era on the street – but brick, and in perfect condition.