My favorite time of the day has to be the time when the sun rises, early in the morning(though I am usually earlier than the sun).

Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is one of the most famous and unique landmarks in Australia; owing much of its fame to the distinctive feature of its neat row of colored bathing boxes (or bathing huts) fronting its sandy shores.



The area of Brighton is one of the most affluent suburbs in Melbourne; housing beautiful and grand looking homes clustered within the neighborhood.



It is not hard to understand why the rich would want a piece of this scenery as the background (or foreground) of their abodes, with the sun, sky and the sand.
To top that off, there is even the bonus of treating one's eyes to the multitude of colors in the forms of adorable little wooden huts standing in a line on this beach.


Brighton has certainly enjoyed its better days today; with its reputation and fame associated with opulence and luxury, marking one of Melbourne's most desirable addresses in this lovely suburb.

It is hard to imagine that all the features or even signs of affluence was not a part of the neighborhood in its early beginnings; from the 1840s when an Englishman, Henry Dendy purchased a piece of land on the Port Philip land, measuring about 5,120 acres (2,070 ha).
Dendy journeyed to this part, away from his homeland to start his new home which was based in Brighton Park.

He had attempted to venture into making a fortune out of the land sales but luck was simply not on his side as it was the time of the financial depression and due to the fact that the land was simply lacking in the sources of water which made it unfavorable to buyers, the sales were just slow.
Most of Dendy's ventures ended up in failures and Dendy never lived to see nor enjoy a well-lived fortune due to these misfortunes in business.

It was only in 1846 when the sales of land took on a positive turn, following the depression which quickly catapulted Brighton into the third most populated town in the Port Philip district; after Melbourne and Portland.

The rich started taking an interest in this town; with its beautiful settings by the beach and picturesque landscape, and of course basking in the sun by the sea which drew them to move into the suburb; quickly growing the population in numbers over the years.




Today Brighton is home to some of Melbourne's wealthiest; and properties here have sky rocketed high in their prices that this is just simply one of the most coveted neighborhood in this part of Australia.

One striking feature of Brighton is the Brighton Beach, as mentioned earlier, gracefully decorated with the colors of the brightly painted bathing boxes fronting the sandy shores of the beach.



There are 82 of them; and they have been standing in existence since 1862.
These are definitely not created today, but as early as the town, and it seems that the earlier batch was actually located at the end of Bay St, at the water's edge rather than this currently much publicized location.

The colorful wooden huts are just iconic and have solidly stood as crowd magnets for decades now.

They have probably been the background of many photographs; of tourists and even locals visiting the beach, with their eye-catching colors and neatly lined positions on the beach, making this the main attraction of Brighton Beach and Melbourne.



A very unique one, if I may say, though they are not the only ones in the world; with others in existence in England, France and Italy at around the same time these were built.

In fact, even Brighton actually took its name from Brighton in England.

The trend of bathing houses were believed to originate from the Victorians; following the use of wheeled bathing machines as the concept to shield one's modesty; a practice observed strictly with respects to the Victorian morality.

These bathing houses were often used for one to change in and out of their bathing costumes, storing one's belongings or valuables and even as shelter from the strong sun or wind.
These huts even extended to becoming "holiday homes" at one point in the early 20th century, though not deemed practical currently as there is no water or electricity supply and is not suitable for living, particularly for these on Brighton Beach.

The bathing boxes on Brighton Beach could be owned; by purchase though only by the Bayside local council ratepayer and subject to a list of rules and regulations to be strictly adhered to by the owners, which include non-rights to rental/sublet, living/sleeping or making this an accommodation, nor as an advertising outlet.

The bathing box could start at a selling price of AS$200,000; a price that was last recorded in 2008


It is not just any wooden hut; but considerably one that an elitist would own.


The Brighton Beach's bathing boxes are evidences of the luxurious lifestyle in this neighborhood and are simply a symbol of prestige for one to own.