Heide II was designed as ‘a gallery to be lived in’, and despite the rural setting, it was strongly urban in feel both inside and in its paved approaches and courts. This reflected the Reeds’ connection to the Melbourne-based Contemporary Art Society of Victoria and the Gallery of Contemporary Art (later the Museum of Modern Art and Design of Australia). Sitting halfway down a low hill above the Yarra flood plain, Heide II is often cited as a triumph for modernist architecture, and as a house of radical art, it was a clear alternative to Montsalvat (1934–72), Justus Jorgensen’s eclectic fantasy of castle and village in nearby Eltham.
For Conrad Hamann’s full article text, see here.