The Block 2020: What makes Brighton one of Melbourne's most prestigious suburbs?

Those in the know say that once you live in Brighton, you never live anywhere else. It’s home to CEOs and celebrities, mansions and beach boxes – and the 2020 season of long-running renovation show The Block. 

This year’s Block sees the contestants charged with renovating five houses from the 1910s through to the 1950s – moved from around Melbourne to the bayside haven of Brighton. 

The Melbourne suburb 11 kilometres south of the city is one of its most prestigious, and houses there can fetch prices in the tens of millions. Its median house price is the third highest in the city at $2,617,500. 

Though it’s further from the CBD than other well-to-do beach ’burbs Albert Park and Middle Park, it is highly sought-after among well-heeled Melburnians. Rebecca and Chris Judd, Shane Warne and Eric Bana, along with the bosses of big companies Coles and 7/11, have all called Brighton home at one time or another. 

But beyond the wealth, celebrity and postcard-perfect visas, what is it that draws people to the area? And why do they rarely leave once they’re there? 

“Brighton gives you a certain cachet about where you live,” says local buyers’ advocate Nicole Jacobs. “Brightonites, as we call them, tend to be people who have been there for a very long time, and when they do sell, they tend to stay in the same pocket.” 

Ms Jacobs says many who live in the area aspire to be not just in the suburb, but in a particular pocket, street or even house. 

“They’ve letter-box dropped them over the years and they’re just waiting for that one to come onto the market,” she says. “If the street is an aspirational street, they really don’t care which one they buy, they just want to get in there.” 

View The Block properties for sale

House 1, Harry and Tash: 364 New Street, Brighton

House 2, Sarah and George: 362B New Street, Brighton

House 3, Daniel and Jade: 362A New Street, Brighton

House 4, Luke and Jasmin: 360B New Street, Brighton

House 5, Jimmy and Tam: 360A New Street, Brighton

Those aspirational streets tend to be found in the coveted “Golden Mile” section of the suburb – bordered by St Kilda Street, Head Street, Royal Brighton Yacht Club and the bay. 

The Block houses are on New Street – back from the beach but a stone’s throw from shopping and cafes, Ms Jacobs says. They will likely attract owner-occupiers, potentially young families from northern neighbour Albert Park looking for more space. 

“Once young professional couples start to have families, they do migrate down to us,” she says. 

Way back before the suburb was established, the area was mostly agricultural rather than prime real estate for expansive homes, Brighton Historical Society spokesperson Jessica Curtain says.

“The story of how Brighton came about is quite interesting because it was this entirely new, planned town,” Ms Curtain says. 

The story goes that in the early 1840s, Englishman Henry Dendy had an inheritance which he decided to spend on the land – purchasing it for just one pound an acre. 

“It was incredibly cheap,” Ms Curtain says. “He had this idea that he would establish this kind of manorial estate, this private township where he would be the squire and have all these people working under him.” 

But she says all didn’t quite work out for Dendy, as he didn’t have a “head for business” and his grand plans fell through. 

Many of the migrants Dendy had hired to build the estate stayed to work the land, and market gardens could be found in Brighton into the 1950s. 

“Along the bay you started to get these large houses springing up, but we also had a real working-class component further inland,” Ms Curtain says. 

She says the suburb became a seaside holiday destination and by 1860, when the railway was extended to Brighton Beach, shopping districts started popping up near the suburb’s three train stations. 

In the early 1900s, when notorious local politician Tommy Bent was premier of Victoria, he wrangled it so that the tram line was extended from St Kilda Beach to Brighton, Ms Curtain says. 

“That bought a huge amount of interest along the beachfront because suddenly it was extremely accessible,” she said. 

Then and now: Brighton Beach circa 1906/1914 (Photo: State Library of Victoria) and Brighton Beach in 2019 (Photo: Michael Dodge)

After

Before

With access to the beachfront came the trend for “sea bathing”, and along with it the now famous beach boxes which embellish Brighton Beach. 

“The first beach boxes came fairly early on, even in the 1860s there would be these little structures that were built right close to the water line – it was this modesty thing,” Ms Curtain says. “It really picked up in earnest around 1910, after the tram line was built.” 

By the 1950s, many had fallen into disrepair, and Ms Curtain says community members lobbied to restore and preserve them. 

Today they can attract prices into the mid-$300,000s and can only be purchased by Bayside residents. Long-time local agent Johnathon Dixon says they have become a major Melbourne tourist attraction. 

“They love having their photos taken in front of them,” Mr Dixon says. 

He says the main thing that attracts people to Brighton is the bay, even though there are other bayside suburbs closer to the city – but Brighton gets the sea air first. 

“Anything that’s bayside around the world is always regarded as prime real estate,” he says. 

More than just the bay views, he says it’s the amenities – public transport, of course, but the shops and cafes, the Brighton Baths, the yacht club and a big item on many buyers’ lists, the schools. 

Ms Jacobs says those prestigious schools – Firbank and Brighton Grammar – are often big drivers for where people choose to buy in the suburb. 

“Our biggest brief is, ‘We want to be able to walk to one of those schools’,” she says.

Mr Dixon says he has always encouraged people to stretch their budgets if they can to buy a piece of Brighton – and none have ever regretted it. 

“It’s a prime area for real estate – it’s always been a good investment,” he says.