A weekend with Tim Ross is a tempting proposition. For starters,
he looks a bit like Russell Crowe, all manly and rumpled in an
old brown jacket that “resembles the carpet from Star City Casino”
(his words) and skinny jeans. He’s pretty funny, too.
But it’s his house that’s really swoon-worthy – a low-slung
modernist construction in Sydney’s Hunters Hill, with stone
feature walls and plenty of glass panes, as well as a kidney-shaped
pool and crazy paving. He bought it four years ago and it’s a party
house, for sure, but he’s not getting out the Jatz just yet. In fact, he
ripped out the bar that originally stood in the far corner of the
downstairs room (the three-bedroom home is mostly laid out on
one level). “I thought I’d spend too much time with my friends in
the smallest and darkest corner of the house,” he says.
And then there’s his lovely wife, Michelle Glew – a Jemima Khan
look-alike with willowy limbs and caramel hair. They married last
February, in the Boyd Baker House in Bacchus Marsh,Victoria –
a ’60s gem by influential Australian architect Robin Boyd.
“When we first met, we didn’t hit it off at all,” Tim admits. “Five
years later, we turned up at a mutual friend’s wedding. I was trying >
(Above left) In front of the original timber wall panelling (featuring an
old school clock) sits a Grant Featherston chair, bought in New Zealand
during a tour, and a Brionvega television atop a Danish sewing cabinet.
The side cabinet (above right) that plays host to Tim’s vinyl collection
and ARIA award – given to Merrick and Rosso in 2003 for Best Comedy
Release – was a roadside find. The 1960s art glass sitting on the speaker
was a wedding present from Tim’s mum. (Right) An Arne Vodder
sideboard is one of Tim’s favourite pieces. “You don’t see a lot of his
work. I’ve had it in different places in the house, even the bedroom.”
On it sits a white West German vase and a 1968 painting of Melbourne’s
Collins Street; behind that is an 1890s Parisian poster.
