Perth Voice Interactive

FINALLY a little good news for Brookman Street, with a new owner starting restorations on the badly dilapidated old house at number 4.

The area, along with nearby Moir Street is heritage-listed as “conservation essential,” as it’s a one-of-a-kind precinct of affordable housing from the late 19th century.

The previous owner of number 4, Norman Ioannopoulos, was fined $9000 for letting it fall into disrepair after Vincent council took him to court, one of the first prosecutions under the new Building Act.

Mr Ioannopoulos told the Voice at the time he’d planned to fix the house but had been waiting on rare materials—matching the historic architecture was difficult, he said, and he wanted to get it right.

“You don’t restore a Ferrari and put Volvo doors on it,” he’d said.

Meanwhile, several nearby neighbours renovated their near-identical houses.

Now the place has changed hands and new owner Andrew Crocker has started renovations and tuckpointing work was well underway when we dropped by Tuesday.

Back in 1990, number 4 Brookman was named as one of the two most intact and “grandest dwellings” in the street.

by DAVID BELL