Power, Heating and Cooling
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
The Packing House never had enough electricity. Unlike other large businesses with multiple tenants with difference businesses around them, the Packing House did not have an almost infinite amount of power available.
In fact it was quite the opposite, the Packing House could only draw a certain amount of power, and this amount was shared across all businesses located at 14 Mornington-Tyabb Road, Tyabb. Not only the main building but the Village.
Switchboard - Sub Board 4 in Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight (2015-06-07)
Load balancing and the allocation of power were one of many concerns for management at the Packing House.
Over the years from 1993 it made for many creative approaches to managing this finite resource.
To begin with at the start in 1993 the original circuit board still contained porcelain fuses, during the renovation of the building all these were upgraded to a modern switch board.
With each and every circuit being allocated an individual circuit for lighting and power, further separating out these for load balancing and safety, as well as troubleshooting in the event of issues.
Even so, the switchboard was frequently a vexed issue and source of concern, the amount of power being drawn often made the circuit board quite hot. A concern given the building's construction of timber. And that more frequently than not the dealers would not understand that there was a finite amount of power, until such time as the safety switches tripped and they would (loudly) complain about the lack of power. In 2022 Morgan & Griffin engaged electricians to thermally scan the switch board and associated elements to further identify concerns regarding the electrical safety at the Packing House.
The Packing House management was always looking for ways to curb its power usage. In 2013-2014 all the overhead lighting was switched from fluorescent mercury vapour tubes, to LED tube lighting. Which reduced both the environmental cost for using the fluorescent mercury vapour tubes but also the power cost as well. The change did alter the Packing House's overall colour temperature from a warmer white under the fluorescent mercury vapour tubes to a cooler white under the LED tube lighting.
Heating
As a predominantly wood-constructed building with loose wood shaving insulation the heating solution for Packing House had to be considered in 1993.
Methods such as wood-burning combustion heaters could not even be considered due to the extreme fire risk they posed to the building.
Gas meter on Peacock Road. (Photo: 2021-01-09)
Nor could electric heaters be used, as these would draw far too much power.
Fortunately the Packing House was within a commercially-zoned area and the western boundary was with Peacock Road; where an industrially-sized gas main runs. Mostly utilised by Melbourne Jam Manufacturing – locally simply known as the 'jam factory'.
When renovating the Packing House in 1993 gas-fuelled pot belly-style gas heaters were installed along with some upright gas heaters, as these were seen as the most cost-effective methods to heat the building. The budget was something always front of mind in that first few years of renovation and operation. Along side these were a couple of upright gas heaters where were placed around the building where more directed heat needed to be distributed around a wider space.
These heaters created pockets of heat around these heaters in the building. While not the most effective method of heating the building as a whole, each chamber had a heater that provided some solace from the cold winter days.
In 2007 the Packing House management decided for customer and dealer comfort to install ducted heating throughout Tyabb Packing House. This involved running what amounted to several hundreds metres of piping ducts under the floor of the the Packing House which ran back to 12 different Brivis ducted heaters that were all around the building. This included one notably more expensive internally fitted (externally flooed) one which heated Chamber 14 - Display, this was because the Packing House's boundary on Peacock Road was the building itself, leaving nowhere on this side for this part of the building to mount a heater.
Even after these heaters were put in place there remained some inconsistently heated areas of the building. Some chambers such as Chamber 2 - Glenburn and Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis were mostly on concrete floors, rather than the more elevated wood floors of the rest of the Packing House, which unfortunately meant the cold was felt more directly and also the heating had to be piped in from a side wall rather than the floor.
Other areas such as Chamber 21 - Pippin was in a confluence of heater ducts which meant it was often much warmer than everywhere else.
All these heaters were set by two methods; by thermostats, which were set to their hottest temperatures (because it was unlikely they would ever reach it) and then all these were wired to a set of switches at the front counter where the heaters could be turned on and off directly from there. Unfortunately this did mean that if those at the front counter turned off heaters leading up to the end of day, or because they had been informed by one dealer or dealers that it was far too hot another dealer could (and would!) come along and turn the heaters back on, sometimes leading to arguments.
Cooling
Large oscillating fan used in Chamber 1 - Tycos. (2018-01-19)
Air conditioning was something that the dealers would complain about the lack of, and it would forever be a dream. If the Packing House didn't have power available for a sly electric heater a dealer might have under their desk, or another light to add to the dozens they already had plugged in, then the Packing House definitely did not have power for air conditioning.
It was somewhat ironic that the former coolstore could not actually cool the building down in the summer.
However, it was surprising how cool the building remained through hot days, mostly down to the very thick insulation in the building it took very hot day for the building to start to get warm.
Garden in the middle open to air in 1995.
Unfortunately that meant that once the heat was in the building there needed to be suitably cool night for it to lose that heat. If there wasn't a cool night then the following day the building would still be warm.
And due to retail security concerns there couldn't be doors open in the Packing House to allow for cross ventilation from the outside, and the only space that could be opened to the outside - the garden in the middle, was roofed in the early 2000s.
For cooling large fans were positioned around the building which helped to move air around, while the doors at the front entrance were opened to allow air in that way.
On days of extreme heat (or on rare occasions very high humidity) during the 1993-2021 era, management would make the decision to close early. Usually the temperature would need to be above 32ºC. In general at this temperature there wouldn't be very many people within the building anyway, and / or a lot of the dealers would have left early by that point. Only the most dedicated remained. This closing early choice / policy changed with the new owners and a strict 10 am - 5 pm hours policy was adhered to.
Chambers
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Fire and emergency systems
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Being a building that was constructed from timber, and utilising wood shavings as insulation, which was also open to the public, fire safety was something taken seriously.
The Packing House complied when it opened with all fire regulations at the time. It was covered fully by smoke detectors which were maintained and checked on a regular schedule.
There were hose reels and fire extinguishers that could reach and maintain coverage of every chamber.
There was also an incredibly loud emergency siren located at the front entrance which droned/wailed when the door alarms were triggered. Along with this were several fire bells and alarms which contacted the CFA if they were triggered.
Internal fire doors
1993 map showing Chamber 4 leading into Chamber 10.
One more interesting fire systems at the Packing House were the large fire doors which was on the office side of Chamber 10 - Crofton and was there to (in theory at least) separate the front of the Packing House from the back of it in the event of a fire.
The doors had large counterweights attached to it, and a magnetic system holding the doors open. In the event of an emergency the doors would slam shut, sealing off Chambers 1-9 from the rest of the Packing House.
The requirement for this door came from the council, and is why the opening at the end of Chamber 4 - Newton into Chamber 10 - Crofton was blocked shortly after opening as this would have been a location that could not be automatically blocked in the case of an emergency. On the 1993 map this is shown as being open, as this map was created before this happened, unfortunately there are few photos from this era that show the opening that was then blocked up.
End of Chamber 10 - Crofton in 1993 showing the end of the space, left opening to Chamber 4 - Newton and right the emergency exit door.
Emergency Exits
Original layout of emergency exits. Chamber 21 - Pippin exit has stairs (just visible in middle of frame) (Photo: 1993-11)
As the Packing House was originally built at a level to facilitate a train coming along side for loading and unloading the height of the Packing House's floor was not at ground level. At least not on the car park side of the building. Therefore the front entrance ramp and the emergency exits needed to be built up via small platforms and stairs to allow egress in case of emergency from the building.
Originally the emergency exit from Chamber 21 - Pippin exited out one of these platforms with stairs. But in the early 2000s this was converted to a ramp leading to the railway sleeper edge of the car park to better facilitate the movement of furniture through this door, especially for Peter French Antiques the dealer in Chamber 22 - Broom Park.
The emergency exits along Peacock Road always presented something of a vexing issue for the Packing House's security. As the Packing House's boundary ended practically at the street there was no scope for a fence like there was around the other boundary sides of the property.
In the 2010s after a break in through these exit doors, secondary cages were added around the most problematic of these exit doors in an attempt to deter further break ins.
In early July 2022 in Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight the decking platform for the emergency exit facing Chamber 24 - Bartletts collapsed while being used to move furniture out for a customer. This was reported, and was fixed a month later with a new platform.
All the emergency exits at the Packing House were alarmed for security and monitoring. Although dealers could ask the front counter to disable this alarm for a certain period of time to allow the movement of goods in or out of the building.
Peacock Road
Chambers
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Internal phone system
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Early on when preparing the Packing House for retail and being inhabited by dealers the question of being able to speak with the front counter, and for customers to get assistance if the dealers were not present was considered. The Packing House was large and walking from one end and back to the front counter was at least 100+ metres.
Therefore an internal phone intercom system with phones was installed between or nearby the entrances of all the chambers in the Packing House. The phones were often utilised by dealers to have the emergency exit door alarms turned off (in order to move stock in and out of them from the car park), or by the front counter to contact dealers about something that needn’t be put over the public address system.
The phones in the chambers could only 'ring' the front counter by pushing and holding the button, which would make the front counter phone 'ring'.
From the front counter they could call or ‘buzz’ any of the phones in the Packing House. This phone at the front counter was upgraded throughout the years as more phones were added to the system.
Those at the front counter would often call the café (Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious) to order drinks or food so they would not need to leave the front counter for very long.
Chambers
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Lay-by room
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
The lay-by room was located at the front entrance end of Chamber 10 - Crofton and diagonally from the Front Counter.
It was also the location of staff facilities / staff room until 2022 when Morgan & Griffin took ownership.
From 1993 through to 2021 Tyabb Packing House Antiques management provided tea bags, instant coffee and sugar for dealers, along with a fridge, microwave and kettle in this space. During the COVID-19 pandemic these communal spaces were seen as high-risk and were removed because of an over abundance of concern.
The tap in the lay-by room. 2016-02-25
There was also a sink, with a fairly precariously placed water tap that looked like it should have been on a farm. But it was mostly functional.
The lay-by room originally was occupied by one of the largest of the gas heaters for the Packing House, before the ducted heating was installed, there was a huge one located at the front entrance. Gerard Martland used to like to stand in front of the large vent there in the winter.
The heater had come from an auction room in Sale, and probably had been used to heat a medium sized building given the amount of air it could shift, but Gerard had gotten it installed and just put the heat output through one 500mm sized vent.
There remains a blank piece of plyboard on the wall that covers up the hole where this heater vent was located.
From the 2010s the lay-by room was utilised by Silver Screen for extra storage of their movie memorabilia items, until 2022 when Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc became available to rent and Silver Screen began utilising this space for extra storage.
For a time the Packing House also offered prams, and wheelchairs, these were also stored in the lay-by room.
Likewise extra fans that were used to cool the building during the summer were also stored in here.
The lay-by room was also the home of the various trolleys and furniture dollies that were utilised by dealers moving furniture, books and other old wares either into and out of the building, or retrieving items from customer's cars from whom they'd purchased items from.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
Up until the mid-2000s the exterior door to the lay-by room was painted red (the same red as the interior), however around 2006 it was re-painted green.
The Packing House’s management (1993-2021) provided a large Stihl ‘shop-vac’ vacuum cleaner and several long extension cords for all dealers to use to keep their spaces clean, this was stored in the lay-by room.
Chambers
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Front office
1993 original map showing the “play area” where the office resides.
Listed as the "play area" on the early 1993 map the front office was located behind the front counter.
It had glass doors on either side of the office that were almost never closed, unless in the very rare situation when someone wanted to try on an item of clothing being sold near the front counter, then the doors could be closed and items used to cover the glass for privacy.
Front counter showing both entrances to office. (2021-11-28)
The office contained keys for all the dealers within the Packing House, and for the Village, as a backup in case they weren't present in order to assist customers, and in the case of the Village in case of lockout of their premises. These were all given back to dealers and traders in the Village upon Morgan & Griffin's takeover of ownership in 2022.
Inside the office was also the public address system, which was plugged into a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to maintain the announcement system during a power outage. This system allowed the front counter to address the whole building, with megaphone speakers mounted in or near every chamber. Most often it was used to summon a dealer to the front counter or to tell them to return to their areas. Or to announce closing time. But in an emergency it would be used to direct evacuation or other such processes.
The microphone for this system sat on a very flexible shelf along with a fax machine that until the NBN was connected still worked and even had a dedicated phone number for such purposes. Before email this was the only way to receive document-based information instantaneously.
The office and the doorway into Chamber 9 - Jonathon. (Cropped 360 image: 2021-11-28)
The office also contained the feed for security cameras which were installed in the late 2010s after break-ins rattled many of the dealers, especially the jewellery dealers who contributed to its installation.
Additionally the office also contained the motion sensor-based security system which had also been installed following break-ins in the late 1990s; motion sensors were installed (in some cases in awkward locations) throughout the building.
On the exterior of the office, within the front counter area was the emergency exit door alarm system, which also formed part of the security system.
Within the office were a number of shelves, up to 2021 these were used for small lay-by items, but following a complaint by a customer, and after speaking with Consumer Affairs and being made aware the specifics required it was decided to no longer offer lay-bys at the front counter. Instead it would be up to each individual dealer for have a lay-by agreement.
In late August 2019, as Sheila Martland consolidated her areas down from the side of Chamber 1 - Tycos to Chamber 9 - Jonathon a hole was cut from the front office area into Chamber 9 so that both the front counter and Chamber 9 could be monitored at the same time.
Then when Morgan & Griffin took ownership and Sheila Martland moved into Chamber 9, solely and ceased monitoring the front counter this doorway between the front office and Chamber 9 was blocked with a cupboard.
When Sheila ceased trading at the Packing House on 13th February 2022 this cupboard was removed allowing monitoring of Chamber 9 to resume from the front counter.
Following the ownership change to Morgan & Griffin the front office was utilised less for its multitude of roles that it had been in the past and was therefore cleared out and remained somewhat more empty than it had through the prior 30 years.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
The office had a fridge plus tea and coffee making facilities just for the front counter’s use. This was in addition to facilities that had been provided in the lay-by room until 2021.
Various maintenance items were stored in the office such as spare fluorescent, and then LED light globes. Plus additional tea, coffee and sugar for the lay-by room. Plus other items like spare heater vents as some were in highly-trafficked areas of the Packing House and would get damaged.
Chambers
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Front Counter
Located at the front entrance of the Packing House, the front counter had been the first point of greeting and where everyone moved past on the way into and out of the Packing House. Behind the front counter was the front office.
The counter was installed during the renovations in 1993. It was slightly raised, being at the same floor level as Chamber 9 - Jonathon located behind it.
In the early days a credit card / EFTPOS machine required a phone line and the fees charged made it a decent cost to a business, therefore the management of the Packing House provided a credit card / EFTPOS machine at the front counter which all dealers could utilise, saving them from the burden of having a machine just for their sales. Likewise cash sales for some dealers was not something they wished the manage, and something management of the Packing House also provided at the front counter.
The front counter also provided wrapping and packaging of items for dealers, so they would not need to store the often bulky bubble wrap, tissue paper or whatever else might be needed to protect small or valuable items.
The front counter also had the on/off controls for all the heaters, and light switches for Chamber 1 - Tycos, plus some of Chamber 10 - Crofton. Additionally it was the location of the keypad to disarm the alarmed emergency exit doors – something often required for moving items in and out of the emergency exit doors of the Packing House. The main internal phone which could 'buzz' any of the phones throughout the Packing House (and they in turn could 'buzz' the front counter) was located here.
From 1993 through to 19th December 2021 sales for all dealers could be processed through the front counter although many in the later years processed payments themselves. For some dealers such as T. Briggs (located in Chamber 10), Jan Hearn (located in Chamber 20) and Book Browser (in Chambers 24, 25, 26) the processing of their sales through the front counter was the only option, and for Book Browser especially so as they had laid and spread out their stock in a way that meant it was very difficult to process sales a different way (as was mandated by Morgan & Griffin on 23rd December 2021).
Also from 1993 to December 2021 there was some sort of antique cash register at the front counter, which was utilised as 'the cash register', this was never just a display piece, it was functional, in as much as its drawers were used. Although there were a few different cash registers in place throughout the years as one was sold another was sourced. During 2022 the cash register was removed as sales at the front counter for dealers ceased at the behest of the new owners Morgan & Griffin, however by 2023 two cash registers resided on the front counter.
For all of her management and ownership of Tyabb Packing House Antiques (1993-2021), Sheila Martland manned the front counter, providing a familiar face to everyone visiting the Packing House. Throughout the years she had several women assisting her in this role, all were people with a multitude of experience through a huge range of industries who embraced the dynamism that working with the many dealers and challenging tasks the Packing House brought.
Part of this challenging work (from 1993-2021) was engaging with the general public and their questions from the practical 'where are the toilets?' (go around the corner, then right through the centre of the building until you get to the books, then through into the café). Through to the more complicated when people would bring items they wished to sell, identifying which dealers might be interested and calling them to the front counter. Or on the flip side knowing where to direct customers seeking a specific item, often based on very vague descriptions of what the customer may be seeking.
The front counter remained manned by the same person who’d assisted Sheila through 2021-2024 until her services were no longer required.
More information
Screenshot: "The Great Outdoors" © Seven Network Limited 2003
Just beyond the front counter was the front entrance, containing the fire panel on one side and tourism information for the surrounding area on the other.
Plastic barriers were installed on the front counter during COVID-19, as most retail did during that period.
In something of a turnaround from previous policies prohibiting food and drink in the Packing House (due to concerns around dealers’ wares), lollies and other sweets began being sold at the front counter in 2022.
The front counter featured in an episode of “The Great Outdoors” in 2003.
Facing the front counter mounted on the second entrance doors was a reflector for the infrared entrance counter. The counter had been installed in 2001 to attempt to track the amount of people visiting the Packing House. The data was sometimes poorly recorded, often on scraps of cardboard or paper, and was only some years later that it was all recorded on a spreadsheet, allowing the data to be studied in more depth. Unfortunately during the COVID-19 period both doors needed to be open for a touch-free entrance so post 2019 data was no longer recorded.
Chambers
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Garden in the middle
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
The garden in the middle was not known as a chamber number but simply known as the "garden" on the earliest of maps drawn in 1993 with chamber names on it.
It was located in the middle of the main portion of the Packing House, and seemed to have an old well, or a pond of some description in the middle of it.
By 1993 when Sheila and Gerard Martland took ownership of the Packing House, it seemed that this space had been used as place to dump rubbish into.
This area seen within the middle of the building, still open to the elements in 1995. (Photo: 1995)
The space itself seemed to have been created throughout the decades of extensions being added to the building and had become something of an open void.
It being this odd internal garden space meant for a number of years it was one of the few areas of the Packing House (aside from the front door) that could be opened to allow fresh air in, without there being security concerns because…there was no where to go.
A tree had even been planted into the former well in the late 1990s.
By 2003 it had been paved to give Chamber 19 - Packham some additional indoor/outdoor space.
And by 2006 had been roofed in, however as it was a space that was in between the various other existing rooflines of the building there were several existing gutters, not quite internal gutters in the traditional sense, but gutters that were now in an "inside" space.
At the time this was still alright, were any large rain events to happen as the space remained paved, meaning any inadvertent splashes from the gutters did not affect the internal structure of the building to a great extent.
The Dressmaker. (Photo: 2015-10-15)
In October 2015 as part of a change over of dealers in Chamber 19, this space had base board flooring added to bring it to the same level as Chamber 19, a heater vent was added and carpet was laid. Additional plastic cladding was added to mitigate splashing from the roof and gutters that still surrounded this space.
For a short period during this time a dressmaker operated from this space.
From 2006 to 2019 this space was held by the dealer who was also in the neighbouring Chamber 19 - Packham. From 2006-September 2012 this was Rustic Charm, then 2012-2015 Snook Antiques, July 2015- September 2016 French Heritage Antiques, October 2016-September 2019 Antique By Design.
Following some time while the neighbouring Chamber 19 was empty or in mixed use this area too was similar mixed use by dealers, then in 2020 Deco Heaven, located in the neighbouring Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis took on this space.
On 7th January 2022 there was a massive storm over Victoria, leading to a lot of the gutters at the Packing House overflowing with major and minor leaks throughout the building.
This area was one of the worst hit because of the gutters surrounding this space, and additionally the presence of carpet.
Over a week following this rain event Deco Heaven (who also were in the neighbouring Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis) were still trying to dry the area.
Door with ‘No Exit’ sign on it (Photo: 2014-09-19)
More information
This area was overlooked via windows from Chamber 20 - Red Delicious and via windows and a door which had once had stairs from Chamber 21 - Pippin, these were removed in the 2015 renovation.
Despite this space being roofed in, and the door not actually leading anywhere, it was still necessary to put a ‘no exit’ sign on the door, as visitors to the Packing House still attempted to utilise the door.
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 28 - Garden
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Listed as Chamber 28 - Garden, even though it's not actually a chamber. It was still listed as such on maps. This area was located between Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious and Chamber 18 - Winter Neilis.
1993; the garden area before being fenced in, Chamber 27 (café) is the building on the middle left. (Photo: 1993-03)
Originally this space was an open area, and open to Peacock Road (that was next to the Packing House), when the renovations began in 1993 it was fenced in from the side of the Chamber 27, running along the boundary through to Chamber 18. A gate was included as part of this fence as a 'just in case' measure so vehicular access was maintained to be able to do maintenance from this side of the building if the need arose.
From 1993 - 2002 it was quite large, with a large amount of grass and gardens with a raised boardwalk between the two areas of the Packing House.
The covered roof above had originally come from Leisureland Fair which had been in Langwarrin until 1992 (visible in background of this advert). The covered portion of the walkways were not initially connected to the buildings at either end due to fire safety restrictions at the time requiring covered walkways to be alarmed in the same way as interior buildings. Given the massive financial burden of opening the Packing House some creative cost cutting was initially implemented.
The garden area from above. (Photo: 1995)
In 2002 Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious (the café) was extended into the Chamber 28 (the garden), almost doubling the cafe's floor space, but losing space in the garden. It however did make the garden more usable, with additional doors and windows looking out into the garden area. Additionally the area in front of these new doors was also paved.
The back of Chamber 18, and what was listed as "storage" on some maps, an office & additional storage space for the café was created here, also looking out into the garden.
During Elixir's tenure in the café from 2003 to 2013 the garden had been allowed to take on a more overgrown appearance, therefore following their time at the Packing House a period of clean up was necessary.
Then again following The Hart of Tyabb's time at the Packing House in 2018, again the garden required a tidy up to bring it back to state that was similar to the last time the garden had some care taken of it.
By 2023, the garden again had taken on somewhat of a wild style around the pots and other elements within the garden.
More information
Chamber 24 - Bartletts had at one point had a window into the garden, the books visible in the 1996 photo in the gallery above. When Chamber 27 was extended in 2002 this window was now inside the space. The opening remained, now overlooking the cafe.
As part of the lease agreement for the various businesses that took on Chamber 27 as a café, was to maintain the this garden space as it was when they began the lease, however the garden was seldom maintained to such a standard.
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious was the tea rooms / café. It was the chamber farthest from the front counter, sitting in the corner of the building backing onto Peacock Road and being overlooked by Chamber 25 - Emporer and Chamber 24 - Bartletts, while being connected to Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis via Chamber 28 - Garden.
The safe with original door before the renovations began. (1993-03)
Before the Packing House was renovated it had a safe in the back corner of what became the kitchen. During renovation this safe, owing to its solid concrete construction and reinforcement became the cool room for the tea room, and then café that followed.
When Chamber 27 was first opened up in 1993 it held the tea rooms, a designation that would remain on many of the signs around the Packing House.
The tea rooms originally were the same proprietor that had been previously at the Moorooduc Antiques & Old Wares where Sheila and Gerard Martland had previously been.
This tea room operator had agreed to come to the Packing House for 12 months, to transition from Mooroooduc to Tyabb before they retired.
From 1994 through to the late-2002 the 'Tyabb PackingHouse Tea Rooms' operated in Chamber 27.
In late-2002 the chamber was expanded, nearly doubling the space, covering all of Chamber 26's neighbouring wall and removing the window that had looked out into the garden, making for an odd opening overviewing the cafe. During the planning stages for this extension the local council made certain protestations concerning the heritage nature of the building. This was despite making a case against the renovation of the building as a whole in 1993, the council at that time had considered the building at its end of life and should have been torn down.
View from Chamber 24 - Bartletts through the (former window) down into café area. (Photo: 2021-01-08)
Elixir launched their new cafe on the 20th February 2003, it was launched as a licensed café restaurant (the first licensed café for the Packing House) and opened officially by Greg Hunt MP.
Prior to the launch Elixir made the chamber their own, removing the large ceiling fans which had kept the space cool on hot days and elected instead to install cinema lights (as this was the interior design trend in the early 2000s). Elixir also painted the walls a soft purple. During the latter years of their operation they added accoutrements to their operation selling kitchen-adjacenement items such as decorative kitchen items and small kitchenware from beside their counter (in front of the entrance to the toilets and the door to Chamber 28 - Garden). They operated a cafe in this chamber until 27th October 2013.
Then during the last days of October this chamber was restored and repainted. Restoring the lighting to simple down lights and fluorescent lights and removing the cinema-style lighting.
By 1st November 2013 it was freshly painted and ready for new operators.
The Hart of Tyabb opened shortly after this, with the proprietor of this business intending to make it their own. The proprietor of The Hart of Tyabb had previously operated a bakery, but wanted a business that they could use to enjoy their retirement and see their grandchildren more often.
At the start the proprietor began the café with plans of differentiation and change, for example they initially started with baked-fresh bread rolls for a number of the items on the menu.
In the initial months of operation the proprietor continued with grand plans for the café, such as implementing a costly and complicated tablet ordering system for staff / kitchen (Elixir previously had used paper and notepad).
However other plans; such as in 2016 barbecuing meats in the car park nearby or in Chamber 28 - Garden earned them the ire of those in the nearby chambers for the smell, and then the Packing House's management for the danger it posed to the building itself. The Packing House being a 100+ year old building and being composed of timber with wood shavings as the insulator had quite a cautious attitude to anything fire-related.
The Hart of Tyabb menu in 2016 (Photo: 2016-07-03)
In the latter years The Hart of Tyabb attempted some other experiments to drive or keep people in the café, one such thing, copied from the Village was to have live musicians playing within the space. Unfortunately for everyone around Chamber 27 it was not designed for acoustics, indeed later operators in the chamber would add soft furnishings and rugs to attempt to deaden the sound somewhat.
The Hart of Tyabb did none of this, and it earned them much annoyance from Book Browser who was subjected to this experiment with Chambers 24 - Bartletts and Chamber 25 - Emporer overlooking the café.
In 2018, their final year of operation cracks were beginning to show in the operation of the business.
For a day in September there was no coffee, as the only barista didn't come in and the proprietor didn't know how to operate the espresso machine, so it was tea only for anyone who visited. One dealer demanded a plunger and made their own coffee.
The Hart of Tyabb ceased trading at the end of October 2018 as their lease was not renewed.
Following The Hart of Tyabb vacating Chamber 27 the Packing House's management undertook a renovation of the café space. This renovation began immediately at the end of October 2018.
By the 3rd November 2018 the floor of the café had been re-sanded and polished with a water-based finish, leading to a lighter stain for the wood flooring than previously seen.
During this time the kitchen space also underwent a thorough deep clean.
Following the rejuvenation of the café a period of transition followed while a new café tenant was sought that properly suited the Packing House and the Chamber 27 space.
The operators of the next café began in early December 2018, initially on a trial period, which was extended throughout the following year until the end of July 2019.
This new café operator didn't have a name for the cafe, but became known as the "buffet cafe", as for a time they offered a buffet-style breakfast and lunch.
Café Nostalgia. (Photo: 2019-09-08)
The operation of the cafe during this time was something of an exploration for the new proprietors; they were first-time café operators. They had worked in the hospitality industry for a number of years, however this was the first time they were self-employed operators of a café business, and this was seen as an opportunity for learning and education. Following consideration of the future in July 2019 they moved onto other opportunities.
For August 2019 the chamber and café space was unoccupied.
That was until Café Nostalgia arrived in mid-September, promising a new menu and different styles of food. This new café operator was a mother and son team, both of whom had worked in hospitality before. They opened Café Nostalgia on the 5th September 2019.
On their first day there was great excitement, as the café space had been closed for a number of weeks between the previous café operators leaving and themselves beginning operating.
On public holidays the café was often closed leaving only the Red Rattler in The Village available. (Photo: 2022-09-22)
Unfortunately this success, and some operating frictions between the mother and son team was too much for their somewhat volatile relationship and after three days they decided to close their café. It was somewhat abrupt and unexpected when this happened.
This chamber was again quiet and unoccupied until the 17th October 2019 when The Little Pig Cafe opened.
Unfortunately this new café launched into the tumultuous years that were the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 28th November 2020 The Little Pig Cafe transitioned into the Bowerbird Cafe, which operated within Chamber 27 through until February 2023, when their tenancy ended.
Replacing the Bowerbird Cafe was a new café, which after some renovation, including a range of new commercial kitchen appliances, plus re-painting and interior design of the space to showcase a full rejuvenation it re-opened as 'The Packing House Café Galleria’ on 1st April 2023.
Men’s toilets with mis-matched tiles. (2014-04-11)
Toilets
This chamber also held the only public-facing toilets inside the Packing House. This was often the first destination for people when visiting the Packing House, making them breeze through the bulk of the building in order to reach the the café and (more importantly to them) the toilets. Although within the main building there were two sets of toilets, one for general public and one staff located in Chamber 4 - Newton.
The toilets consisted of a small vestibule area; a women's toilets (left), men's toilets (middle) and a disabled toilet (right).
When the Packing House first opened these toilets were all on a septic tank, whose outflow was out beside the Tyabb Grain Store. Unfortunately during busy periods the septic tank was not able to handle the amount of patronage the toilets saw, with the ground becoming boggy very quickly.
In the early 2000s the sewer was connected to these toilets and café kitchen (along with grease trap) mostly solving this issue. The staff toilets in Chamber 4 remained on a septic tank, the expense of connecting those not deemed necessary given the small patronage from dealers they saw.
The toilets had been changed somewhat throughout the Packing House's history, when Chamber 27 was expanded in 2002 it altered how the toilets reached, they were located down a corridor prior to the Chamber's expansion. Additionally in the men's toilets they had originally contained a 'trough'-style urinal, which was upgraded to two individual-type urinals. This necessitated re-tiling some of the flooring where the trough-type urinal had been, unfortunately there were none of the original dark green coloured tiles left from the original tiling of the toilets; leading to some mis-matched (although still green) tiles in the men's toilets.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the wall between the ‘front area’ and the ‘kitchen area’, it could be used to contact the Front Counter.
The tables and chairs in the cafe were provided by the Packing House’s management, providing a constant in interior design throughout the years.
This chamber could be reached via a ramp from Chamber 25 - Emperor, stairs from Chamber 24 - Bartletts, or through Chamber 28 - Garden and into Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis from there there was also a ramp. From that area that was an additional ramp from Chamber 19 - Packham into Chamber 13 - William, or a set of 2 stairs through Chambers 14 and 15 - Display and Museum into Chamber 10 - Crofton.
The ramp from Chamber 25 (which was approved when the Packing House opened, post-renovation) was often noted to be quite steep by wheelchair users and people pushing prams. Often requiring the ‘brakes to be on’ when going down and some strength going up.
This chamber was the most renovated space at the Packing House. The kitchen was renovated in 1993 in preparation for the new ‘tea rooms’, and then it was renovated again in 2002 for its transformation into a café. The floors in this chamber have been sanded multiple times and the walls painted several times also.
For most of the Packing House’s history it had been a rule that food and drink was contained to this chamber, with no takeaway drinks or food being allowed at all for concern over the other dealers’ wares in the building from food and drink. This policy was relaxed by the Packing House’s management during the COVID-19 period as at some points during that era there was no sit-down service allowed in cafés.
External links
The Hart of Tyabb via Wayback Machine - March 2018 from original
Little Pig Cafe via Wayback Machine - January 2022 from original
Bowerbird Cafe - Facebook
The Packing House Café - Facebook
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight was the space that ran from the corner with Chamber 25 - Emporer all the way up to near the front entrance at Chamber 11 - Five Crown.
From 1993 to 2022 most of this corridor was held by Book Browser.
The exception was around Chamber 11 - Five Crown, from 1993 to 2000 it was held by the dealers who rented that particular chamber; Pete and Bill Jones in 1993, then in the later 1990s Michael and Andrew McDonald, then following them Beryl Whitfield the proprietor of Rumpoles Antiques & Fine Wares for the remainder of the time until 2012.
Following that shelves were added extending Book Browser's space through all of Chamber 26.
In the late 1990s Peter French Antiques (the dealer in Chamber 22 - Broom Park) elected to block the opening into this chamber, citing "sunlight ruins furniture". The blocking of this opening from Chamber 22 into Chamber 26 also gained him additional display space for larger pieces of furniture. But decreased the ability for visitors to explore the building.
This expansive chamber held the remaining bulk of non-fiction that was not covered in the other Chambers 25 and Chamber 24.
Science and related subjects nearest to the corner with Chamber 25, medical subjects continued back towards the front entrance, finance, culture, philosophy, crime, parapsychology, books in foreign languages. Dictionaries, thesauri and sheet music located against the wall shared with Chamber 22. With crime, war and religious books against the windows overlooking the car park. Beside these was sport and music.
Followed by a gap for the emergency exit door and corridor into Chamber 21 - Pippin, then antiques, movies, craft and biographies which were on the walls of Chamber 20 - Red Delicious and Chamber 11 - Five Crown.
Following the sale of Tyabb Packing House Antiques to Morgan & Griffin and some changes they implemented such as preventing Book Browser's sales being processed at the front counter, despite protestations and explanations of the expansive layout of the books especially along this chamber, and together with the economic downturn coupled with changes in management style of Morgan & Griffin at the Packing House it led Book Browser to close down their business in December 2022.
Following their vacating the space in December 2022 this chamber remained empty until it was taken on in March 2023 when a Christmas-themed dealer took on the space, one of two Christmas-themed shops located at 14 Mornington-Tyabb Road; the other located in The Village.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others. 
More information
No.6 Chamber, 5,8000 (Photo: 2022-12-17)
This chamber had two emergency exits along its length, one at the opening to Chamber 24 - Bartletts and one at the opening to Chamber 21 - Pippin.
From the mid-1990s through to January 2022 there was replica of a ‘Coles Book Arcade’ sign on the wall above the entrance to the corner where the chamber met Chamber 25 - Emporer.
On the chamber door for Chamber 22 - Broom Park there was an original list from the building’s coolstore days for “No.6” chamber.
This chamber had a small ‘not a step and not a ramp’ between this chamber and Chamber 24 - Bartletts. Plyboard covered the difference in levels between the two, it unsettled some people not expecting this slight difference. There existed no change in level walking around the corner into Chamber 25 from this chamber.
The opening across Chamber 23 - Statesman was half covered by a bookshelf from the 2000s to 2023.
From 1993-2022 this chamber opened into Chamber 11 - Five Crown, Chamber 20 - Red Delicious, Chamber 21 - Pippin, Chamber 23 - Statesman and Chamber 24 - Bartletts. In the latter months of 2022 the dealer in Chamber 23 blocked the other half of the opening into this chamber. The dealers who occupied Chamber 20 mostly strategically blocked the openings into this chamber until 2023 with furniture.
By 2023 there remained only three openings into this chamber, with one (of two) openings accessible in Chamber 20, Chamber 21 and Chamber 24, whilst the corridor around from Chamber 25 also remained accessible.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 25 - Emporer
Held until 2022 by a second hand bookshop it was the last chamber at Tyabb Packing House, overlooking the café with a ramp down to it, and an office utilised for pricing and storage of books.
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 25 - Emporer was the last in the line of chambers in the main building. It overlooked Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious (the café) and wrapped around half of Chamber 24 - Bartletts. It also contained an office that was utilised by Book Browser for its operation from 1993 through to 2022.
From 1993 through to 2022 this chamber was the home of Book Browser, it had been one of the largest secondhand bookshops in Victoria.
From 1993 to 2021 the office had a set of traffic lights affixed to the outside. The intent at least at the start in the 1990s when the Packing House was opened was that the centre amber light (the only functional light) would be illuminated when the Packing House was open, so that there was a light that was visible along the central corridor for people to see at the other end near the front / Chamber 10 - Crofton.
Office in Chamber 1 during renovation. (Photo: 1993-05)
The office, which had originally been located in Chamber 1 - Tycos before renovations began was relocated to this area in 1993, with the sides of that office being joined together to make a single long wall of windows to display items. Book Browser, unlike other dealers priced their books on-site, so a large office was required to store books pending pricing, and then sorting and being put away.
This chamber specifically held all children's books (fiction and non-fiction), all non-fiction books on Australia, and non-fiction books on other countries of the world. Also World War II non-fiction books were along the front of the office below the windows.
At the end of the space where it intersected with Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight held travel writing, archaeology, folklore, maritime non-fiction and motoring writing, and along the exterior wall / looking out to the car park held all the gardening and plant-related books.
Following the sale of Tyabb Packing House to Morgan & Griffin, and some changes they implemented such as preventing Book Browser's sales being processed at the front counter, along with the economic downturn and changes in management style by Morgan & Griffin at the Packing House, Book Browser elected to close their business down in December 2022.
Following their vacating the space in December 2022 this chamber remained empty until it was taken on in March 2023 by a vintage dealer from The Village.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others. 
Inside the office
From 1993 through to 2022 the office within Chamber 25 was utilised by Book Browser for storage, pricing and sorting of books and other related items. Books were stored in wine boxes as these were the perfect size to lift without getting too heavy (hence the proliferation of wine boxes in the images below).
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others. 
More information
Screenshot: Postcards © 2007, Nine Network
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the outside wall of the office, which could be used to contact the Front Counter.
This chamber had a ramp leading down into Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious, although it had been passed by the council when the Packing House was opened in 1993, it was noted by people utilising wheelchairs or pushing prams to be remarkably steep.
This chamber was featured on the Nine Network tourism show “Postcards” in 2007.
Inside the office was an external door, and was one of a small few at the Packing House that had a lock on the door, this was fitted originally to allow books to be loaded into the office during non-operating hours.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 24 - Bartletts
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 24 - Bartletts, was the last of the large chambers in the Packing House main building.
This chamber also accessed through Chamber 23 - Statesmen and led into the café (Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious). It also led into Chamber 25 - Emperor and Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight.
From 1993 through to 2022 it was the home of Book Browser, one of the largest secondhand bookshops in Victoria.
This chamber specifically held all fiction books (aside from children's fiction which was in the neighbouring Chamber 25), along with non-fiction books on psychology, relationships, self help, plus journalism, media and literary analysis.
Following the sale of Tyabb Packing House to Morgan & Griffin, and some changes they implemented such as preventing Book Browser's sales being processed at the front counter, along with the economic downturn, and changes in management style by Morgan & Griffin at the Packing House, Book Browser elected to close their business down in December 2022.
Following their vacating the space in December 2022 this chamber was leased to The Guild Gallery, the art gallery from the Village as an experimental pop-up shop in January 2023.
In later 2023 it was taken on in March 2023 by another vintage dealer from The Village.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others. 
Public phone (Photo: 1994)
More information
During the 1990s there was a “gold” public phone located in this chamber, as there was less prevalent access of mobile phones in that era, and even if you had access to one due to the thickness of the insulation in the Packing House’s walls phone reception was sometimes difficult. A large red phone was hung from the ceiling of this chamber to indicate this. In the early 2000s the phone was removed and the phone box was moved to the front entrance and a wheelie bin placed inside. The large red phone remained hanging from the ceiling until 2016.
This chamber had stairs that led down into Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious, a ramp down was in the neighbouring Chamber 25 - Emperor.
From 1993-2022 this chamber had book shelves, mostly made from pine on all available floor space.
Until 2023 this chamber had some of the oldest carpet in the Packing House (along with Chamber 22 - Broom Park), it was in half the chamber and was the most heavily trafficked piece of carpet in the Packing House as it covered the path to Chamber 27 (the café). By the 2010s it was more like furry vinyl with any softness or depth having been trodden down over past 20+ years. And by the 2020s some holes had started to appear, patched in a ‘make-do-and-mend’ with fabric tape.
There was a spotlight installed in the middle of the chamber near the opening of Chamber 25, it had (up to 2022) been pointing at a cabinet that held valuable bibles and other collectable books. During Book Browser’s sale the cabinet was sold, leaving the spotlight pointing at nothing.
The floor in this section, especially on the path towards the stairs into the café had begun to collapse somewhat in the 2020s; the stumps below had started face some structural issues. Some repairs had been made in the 2020s, although there remained scope for further works.
This chamber had a small ‘not a step and not a ramp’ between this chamber and Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight, the plyboard covered the difference in levels between the two, it unsettled some people not expecting this slight difference. There existed no change in level into Chamber 25.
This chamber featured in an episode of “The Great Outdoors” on Seven in 2003.
This chamber was featured on the Nine Network tourism show “Postcards” in 2007.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 23 - Statesman
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 23 - Statesman was the second last of the large chambers of the oldest part of the Packing House's main building. It was accessed through Chamber 22 - Broom Park and Chamber 24 - Bartletts, and opened into Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight, and also had a window looking into Chamber 28 - Garden.
It was inhabited by a single dealer for the larger part of Tyabb Packing House Antiques' history.
Maas Antiques were within this space from 1993 through to June 2021 when the husband and wife owners of Maas Antiques passed away. Those who inherited Maas Antiques closed the business shortly after.
Into this space, after a clean and rejuvenation of the space moved The Cheshire Cat, moving from the section of Chamber 21 - Pippin nearest to the 'garden in the middle'. They moved into the chamber in July 2021.
Letter to dealers of 9:00 am meeting on 28th April 2021. (Photo: 2022-04-21)
Then on 28th April 2022 a meeting was held with Morgan & Griffin's representative and point of contact for the dealers at the Packing House, ostensibly to discuss advertising and other ways to attract customers, as there had been a drop off of managerial engagement following the new owners taking over. Unfortunately tempers flared during the meeting, and along with some actions in the weeks following the meeting the larger Morgan & Griffin management informed The Cheshire Cat that they had to vacate the premises.
As The Cheshire Cat, and indeed all dealers at the Packing House were on month-to-month rental agreements with no leases in place there was little recourse for The Cheshire Cat.
2022-06-18 The Cheshire Cat’s notice to customers.
Sunday 19th June 2022 was The Cheshire Cat's final trading day at the Packing House, and by the following week they had completely vacated the building. They didn't move far though, remaining in Tyabb they took a shop at 1523 Frankston-Flinders Road, Tyabb.
Following The Cheshire Cat's exit from the Packing House this space remained empty. During July 2022 Peter French Antiques and Book Browser (located in the neighbouring Chamber 22 and Chambers 24, 25 and 26 respectively) used the opportunity of empty space to present some wares for sale. For Peter French Antiques it was an extremely large table and bench seating and for Book Browser it was some random chairs that had not found their place in the amongst the books.
In late July 2022 a new dealer took on the space; Antique and Retro Warehouse, selling a range of antiques and interesting decorative items sourced from Europe along with items for interior decorating and garden settings, ranging from the mid 19th century through to 1970.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
This was the only chamber since 2002 that had a window overlooking Chamber 28 - Garden. Chamber 24 - Bartlett’s window having been renovated inside when Chamber 26 - Golden Delicious was extended.
As this chamber has never had carpet, and (as of 2023 still does not) it remains one of the best chambers with examples of the coolstore’s original white line marking, along with its numbers and stencilled notices.
As with the neighbouring Chamber 22 - Broom Park, this chamber’s floor leaned slightly towards the walls, due to the heavy fruit crates having been stacked there over its history.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 22 - Broom Park
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 22 - Broom Park was the chamber in the middle of the main building, likely one of the oldest parts of the building. It was accessed through Chamber 21 - Pippin or Chamber 23 - Statesman.
Through 1993 to 2024 it had only had two dealers within this chamber.
When Tyabb Packing House Antiques first opened this space held the "Broom Park Gallery", this made it the only dealer to actually use the name of the chamber in their business name / marketing of their space.
The gallery did not remain for more than a few years, later The Guild Gallery in The Village became to go-to location for local artists.
Into this space came Peter French Antiques, having moved from his store location on Hampton Street, Hampton at some point after 1995.
As with Chambers 11, 20, 21, 23 and 24, this chamber had an opening into Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight, which also let in a generous amount of natural light.
In the late 1990s Peter French Antiques elected to block this opening into the Chamber 26 citing that "sunlight ruins furniture", the blocking of this chamber opening also gained him additional display space for larger pieces of furniture. But decreased the amount of 'flowability' of visitors throughout the building.
Book Browser which had books in Chamber 26 also gained additional shelf space in their area as a result of this.
Like most of the older chambers in the Packing House this chamber had the original cooling pipes high up on the walls, these cooling pipes were greased to prevent corrosion. Unfortunately over the past 100+ years since their installation they had become quite dirty, although remained very greasy.
For Peter French Antiques the pipes became a vexed issue, as in extremely hot weather the grease had a tendency to melt a little bit and drip onto the floor, or in the case of his space, onto his furniture which he had often spent countless hours restoring. After a number of years of this issue in around 2008 some time was spent by him and management removing all the cooling pipes from his chamber.
As the years have worn on, the age of the building has begun to show its passage of time, especially in this chamber where the floor has sunk near the walls. This is because these areas took the heaviest of the apple crates – being where they were stacked first in the cool rooms.
In 2024 the owner of Peter French Antiques, Peter French passed away after a short illness.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the wall of this chamber nearest to the opening into Chamber 23 - Statesman, which could be used to contact the Front Counter.
Only this chamber and Chamber 13 - William have no direct natural light coming into their chambers, every other chamber has some form of natural light visible into their spaces.
After 2023 when the carpet was removed from Chamber 24 - Bartletts, this chamber now has the oldest carpet in the Packing House, having been laid in 1995.
This chamber featured in an episode of Seven’s “The Great Outdoors” in 2003, with Ernie Dingo speaking with Peter French in this chamber.
External links
Tyabb Antique Centre (Peter French Antiques) via Wayback Machine - December 2020 from original
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 21 - Pippin
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 21 - Pippin was somewhat of an intersectional chamber. It sat between Chamber 20 - Red Delicious and Chamber 22 - Broom Park, but also the ramp that led down to Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis, and it was one of the main accesses to Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight (the long corridor looking out to the car park). Additionally the emergency exit door in Chamber 26 was also utilised by several dealers around this space to bring in items, making this chamber quite a thoroughfare.
It was also another of the complicated spaces at the Packing House owing in part to its 'middle walkthrough' status it had been mostly divided into three sections throughout much of the Packing House's history.
Long space against Chamber 22 wall. (Photo: 2022-06-16)
Essentially there were three areas; the space located overlooking the 'garden in the middle' area and space leading to the ramp down to Chamber 18.
The long space leading to Chamber 26, which was against the wall of Chamber 22.
The square enclosed room in the other corner of the space, against the wall of Chamber 20.
The square enclosed room (Photo: 2020-11-06)
From 1993 through to September 2019 the space overlooking the 'garden in the middle' was held by Maas Antiques, who also held Chamber 23 - Statesman for that period.
Following this in October 2020 The Cheshire Cat took on this space, selling chalk paint, stencils, stamps, transfers & decorative finishes, bespoke furniture, gifts, decor and other "vintage, magical and creative" items.
They vacated this space in July 2021, moving into Chamber 23 - Statesman.
After this the space became used by various dealers such as Items of Interest and Peter French Antiques to showcase some of their lesser-seen items for a new audience.
Overlooking garden in the middle (Photo: 2019-09-25)
Then in 2022 when Morgan & Griffin took ownership of Tyabb Packing House it became available for rent, however these dealers continued to use this space.
The long space leading to Chamber 26 had been utilised by a furniture and small items dealer Michael Greet through the 1990s. From the mid-2000s Items of Interest, also known as John Virtanen Fine Art occupied this space.
The square enclosed room against the wall of Chamber 20 and Chamber 26 was also utilised by Items of Interest, until mid-2009 when Dogs Republic joined this space, sharing the floor space with Items of Interest while the art work remained on the walls.
When in 2010 Dogs Republic moved to the larger Chamber 5 - Brammley, Sheila Martland moved some of her items into this space.
In April 2017, Sheila Martland consolidated her spaces / items to Chamber 9 - Jonathon, moving out of this space.
Into this space The Wren Collection moved in 2017, they had been in a section of Chamber 8 - Democrat, specialising in an eclectic mix of both new and vintage treasures. By August 2019 The Wren Collection had ceased trading at the Packing House.
Through until late 2019 the space remained un-leased, and was used by Sheila Martland as overflow sale space for items that did not fit into Chamber 9 - Jonathon.
In January 2020 Karingal Hub Pets opened a pop-up store within this space. Unfortunately due to the lockdowns that were frequent during the COVID-19 era in 2020, by the latter part of the year they had vacated their pop-up store at the Packing House.
In the latter portion of 2020 Antique By Design had taken up this space.
Then in August 2021 David Calleja Trading took on this space, having briefly had Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the wall between this chamber and Chamber 20 - Red Delicious, could be used to contact the Front Counter.
This chamber featured in a 2003 episode of Seven’s “The Great Outdoors”.
In 2007 this chamber featured on Nine Network’s “Postcards”, which featured dealer John Virtanen being interviewed.
Door with ‘No Exit’ sign on it (Photo: 2014-09-19)
This chamber had one of three ramps that could be used to access Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious (the café), here via Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis. The others were located from Chamber 13 - William and Chamber 26 - Emporer.
This area overlooked the ‘garden in the middle’, and had once had stairs down into the garden area with a door. During the 2015 renovation of the garden space the stairs were removed.
Despite this space being roofed in during that renovation, and the door not actually leading anywhere, it was still necessary to put a ‘no exit’ sign on the door, as visitors to the Packing House still attempted to utilise the door.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 20 - Red Delicious
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 20 - Red Delicious was the second chamber after entering the main walkway through Chamber - 12 Snow.
Originally it looked out into the garden in the middle and also had light coming in from Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight; the chamber and corridor running along the car park.
From 1993 through to mid-2010 Page Antiques held this space selling imported antique furniture.
In mid-2010 Julian Phillips Trading took on this space, they sold English continental furniture and interesting related items. In September 2019 they decided to shrink their space down to the quarter of the chamber overlooking the 'garden in the middle' area.
On 18th September 2019 Jan Hearn Antiques moved from Chamber 11 - Five Crown into this chamber, taking on the remaining side of the chamber.
On 1st March 2020 Julian Phillips Trading vacated the space they had held and Jan Hearn Antiques took on the whole of Chamber 20 - Red Delicious.
In late-July 2022 Jan Hearn, the owner of Jan Hearn Antiques passed away after a short illness, and her business ceased trading at Tyabb Packing House Antiques.
In late 2022 Antique By Design (who also held the neighbouring Chamber 11 - Five Crown) took on this chamber as well. They set about making the space their own; putting up curtains blocking views into Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight and most of the light coming in from the windows as well.
In 2023 Circa Antiques had taken on this chamber, featuring antique furniture, curios and other unique items.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the wall between this chamber and Chamber 21 - Pippin, could be used to contact the Front Counter.
This chamber had a number of openings, two into Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight, one into Chamber 11 - Five Crown, one through from Chamber 12 - Snow and into Chamber 21 - Pippin. Although through the years several of these have been blocked, often leaving only Chamber 12 and Chamber 21 accessible from this chamber.
This chamber and neighbouring Chamber 21 appeared on "Coxy's Big Break" - Season 7, Episode 19 - Yarra and Maribynong first broadcast - 20 June 2009 on Seven.
This chamber was featured on the Nine Network tourism show “Postcards” in 2016, featuring an interview with Julian Phillips.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 19 - Packham
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 19 - Packham (also erroneously written as "Pakham" on early maps for the Packing House) was located down the ramp from Chamber 13 - William, along from Chambers 14, 15, 17 and opposite Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc. The last of which was also utilised as part of this chamber’s space by some dealers.
This space was known by those at the front counter, and other dealers around the Packing House as "the blue room" owing to the blue colour that the walls were painted in the latter years. It was also for a long time the only chamber that had access to the "garden in the middle" area.
From the mid-1990s through to September 2012 a dealer – Rustic Charm (also known as Arjuna Mahogany Furniture, Really Rustic and Rustica) was within this space, selling vintage furniture. In September 2012 they moved to Chamber 10 - Crofton.
In September 2012 Jenny Snook of Snook Antiques expanded their space, they had previously had Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc from 2010, they specialised in antique furniture and unique items. In July 2015 Snook Antiques moved their business closer to the city and ceased trading at the Packing House.
In July 2015 French Heritage Antiques joined the Packing House taking on this chamber, they had previously operated an antique shop in Mentone, which closed in mid-2014. They sold imported French antique furniture and other antique items. In September 2016 they ceased trading at Tyabb Packing House owing to a dissatisfaction with the operating environment and restrictions based on power usage.
In October 2016 Antique By Design, who had been in Chamber 10 - Crofton moved into this chamber, they specialised in Hollywood-era design, decorator and vintage designer pieces. On the 18th September 2019 Antique By Design moved to Chamber 11 - Five Crown, taking on a more prominent chamber being closer to the front entrance.
In August 2019 Chamber 19 became something of a clearance space for dealers with Unique & Antique (who predominantly occupied Chamber 3 - Granny Smith) taking half the space for larger furniture and Antiques & Old Lace (trading as Silver Screen), with furniture and other random items taking up the space.
In December 2020 Silver Screen began moving in some of the largest of their movie figurines, creating a feature space for these larger items in this chamber.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
Screenshot: "Coxy's Big Break" S07E019, WTFN
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the wall between this chamber and Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis, and facing Chamber 17 - Winter Cole which could be used to contact the Front Counter.
Until the 2015 this chamber had the only access to the garden in the middle via two doors.
This chamber appeared on "Coxy's Big Break" - Season 7, Episode 19 - Yarra and Maribynong first broadcast: 20 June 2009 on Seven. It featured dealer Greg Chilvers of Antiques & Old Lace and Silver Screen (from Chamber 12 - Snow and Chamber 13 - William) leading the interviewer around from Chamber 13 into Chamber 15 - Museum. The window of Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc is also visible on the right of frame.
External links
Snook Antiques via Wayback Machine - March 2022 from original
Silver Screen - Facebook
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis (also known as Pakham Winternelis) was located opposite Chamber 17 - Winter Cole, beside the doors that lead to Chamber 28 - Garden, along the walkway for Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious, and down the ramp from Chamber 21 - Pippin. According to the original map for the Packing House this was erroneously named as "Pakham Winternelis", the signs present in the chambers for some time showed it as "Winter Nelis".
Originally when the Packing House first opened it was an enclosed chamber, with the only way out through the café or back into Chamber 19.
Then in 2002 this space was expanded into what had been a storage area (as is marked on the original 1993 map of the Packing House). This storage space was halved, expanding Chamber 18's space and creating office space for the new café that was also being expanded at that time.
A ramp was also created into Chamber 21 - Pippin.
From when the Packing House opened to the early 2000s, Syber Antiques held this space, selling a combination of furniture and china antiques.
In August 2006 Deco Heaven joined the Packing House, becoming one of the largest dealers dedicated to Art Deco in all shapes and forms. Stocking furniture, silver plate, cocktail paraphernalia, clocks, jewellery, writing and desk accessories, glass and ceramics, radios and telephones of the Deco period, kitchen and dining items and many other miscellaneous products, and an extensive range of bakelite.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
This chamber had an internal phone mounted on the wall between this chamber and Chamber 19 - Packham, and facing Chamber 17 - Winter Cole which could be used to contact the Front Counter.
This chamber had one of three ramps that allowed access to Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious (the café), the others were located in Chamber 13 - William and Chamber 25 - Emporer.
From 2015 this chamber also opened into the garden in the middle, prior to that there was a bay window overlooking the garden in the middle space.
This chamber, the neighbouring Chamber 17 - Winter Cole and the nearby Chamber 13 - William and Chamber 12 - Snow are some of the few chambers with a full false ceiling. During the initial renovation of the Packing House the ceiling was deemed to be in too bad a condition to repair it, or have it on display, thus a false ceiling was hung.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 17 - Winter Cole
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 17 - Winter Cole was the last chamber that had its main wall along Peacock Road, it also had an emergency exit door to Peacock Road.
It also shared a wall where there were doors that led to the Chamber 28 - Garden and the walkway to the café. It was opposite Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis and accessed from Chamber 19 - Packham.
For the 1990s and early 2000s it contained a part of Syber Antiques' business along with Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis, they dealt in china and furniture.
From 2006 Deco Heaven joined in the neighbouring Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis specialising in Art Deco items. Chamber 17 held their related business; Retro Heaven specialising in mid-century small items and smaller furniture, spanning into the 1970s.
It was often noted by the Deco Heaven that this space was one of the dustiest owing to the emergency exit door being beside Peacock Road – an unsealed road, and this space being closest to the jam factory opposite and therefore having trucks often driving and slowing down and turning close to this space.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others. 
More information
Screenshot: "Coxy's Big Break" S07E019, WTFN
This chamber appeared on "Coxy's Big Break" - Season 7, Episode 19 - Yarra and Maribynong first broadcast: 20 June 2009 on Seven. It featured dealer Greg Chilvers of Antiques & Old Lace and Silver Screen (from Chamber 12 - Snow and Chamber 13 - William) being interviewed sat in this chamber.
This chamber, the neighbouring Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis and the nearby Chamber 13 - William and Chamber 12 - Snow are some of the few chambers with a full false ceiling. During the initial renovation of the Packing House the ceiling was deemed to be in too bad a condition to repair it, or have it on display, thus a false ceiling was hung.
External links
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling
Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc
Chamber 1 - Tycos | Chamber 2 - Glenburn | Chamber 3 - Granny Smith | Chamber 4 - Newton | Chamber 5 - Brammley | Chamber 6 - Rome Beauty | Chamber 7 - Stewart | Chamber 8 - Democrat | Chamber 9 - Jonathon | Chamber 10 - Crofton | Chamber 11 - Five Crown | Chamber 12 - Snow | Chamber 13 - William | Chamber 14 - Display & Chamber 15 - Museum | Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc | Chamber 17 - Winter Cole | Chamber 18 - Winter Nelis | Chamber 19 - Packham | Chamber 20 - Red Delicious | Chamber 21 - Pippin | Chamber 22 - Broom Park | Chamber 23 - Statesman | Chamber 24 - Bartletts | Chamber 25 - Emporer | Chamber 26 - Sheppards Delight | Chamber 27 - Golden Delicious | Chamber 28 - Garden | Garden in the middle |
Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc (or Byrre Bosc on some maps) was located off of Chamber 19 - Packham. It had a large fogged window that faced Peacock Road and a frosted window on the front of the space facing Chamber 19 that enclosed it slightly.
During the time from 1993 to 2023 it had been used as both part of Chamber 19 and as a separate chamber space.
Through the 1990s this chamber was utilised by Sheila Martland for her kitchenware and related antiques and old wares.
In the early 2000s Rustic Charm, which was also in Chamber 19 - Packham was also within this space.
In 2010 Jenny Snook of Snook Antiques took on this space, specialising in antique furniture and unique items.
By September 2012 Snook Antiques had taken on the neighbouring Chamber 19 - Packham, while also maintaining this chamber. In July 2015 Jenny Snook moved her business closer to the city and ceased trading at the Packing House.
In August 2015 Paisley Collectables took on Chamber 16 - Beurre Bosc, selling an eclectic mix of treasures, small antiques and vintage wares. In early-October 2016 Paisley Collectables moved to Chamber 10 - Crofton.
Following this in 2020 Sheila Martland took this space on again, utilising it to showcase antique furniture and other larger antique items.
In July 2021 this chamber was cleared in preparation for new dealer David Calleja Trading to take on the space, unfortunately this was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and a week later (another) lockdown of Victoria occurred. David Calleja Trading ultimately took on a section of Chamber 21 - Pippin. <More info: Statement From The Premier of Victoria (lockdown) 15 July 2021>
In 2022 Antiques & Old Lace (trading as Silver Screen) took on Chamber 16 as their secondary storage space, vacating from the lay-by room at the front end of Chamber 10 - Crofton where they had stored a lot of their larger bulkier items for many years.
Note: Images have dates written in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format, as there is a mix of mediums of images with some having more exact dates than others.
More information
Screenshot: "Coxy's Big Break" S07E019, WTFN
This was the smallest single chamber at the Packing House. Although dealers in the past who’d held portions of Chamber 10 - Crofton did have smaller sections of that space, this was the only single (and partially enclosed) small space at the Packing House.
This chamber appeared on "Coxy's Big Break" - Season 7, Episode 19 - Yarra and Maribynong first broadcast: 20 June 2009 on Seven.
External links
Snook Antiques via Wayback Machine - March 2022 from original
Silver Screen - Facebook
Other obscurities
Front Counter | Front office | Lay-by room | Internal phone system | Fire and emergency systems | Power, Heating and Cooling