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Ma House founder Ben Mooney walked past the two-storey Victorian where he now lives — and works — for almost a decade before he actually stepped foot inside.
On the ground floor of the commercial shopfront in Melbourne, Ben runs Ma House Supply Store, selling vintage furniture and unique objects, alongside contemporary pieces by local designers. Upstairs not only serves as his sentimental home, but also doubles as a photo shoot and events space.
It’s a wonderland of second-hand treasures — upstairs and downstairs — where everything looks like it’s been there since the building was constructed in the early 1900s. In reality, it’s a manifestation of Ben’s lifelong love of collecting ‘things’, his inimitable knack for styling, and more than two years of renovations.
‘The place was a mess. Holes in every wall. The floors were rough and raw and there was yellow paint everywhere,’ Ben says of his initial inspection. ‘But I could definitely see the potential and the idea of finally having a whole building to leave my mark on in such a good location. I think I’m always attracted to the places that are a bit rough. I could never move into something that was already done.’
It’s the same reason Ben has been a long-time resident of Fitzroy and Collingwood, where industrial warehouse conversions meet elegant Victorian terraces and graffiti-lined alleyways.
‘There’s so much history and change that has happened here, but the streetscapes stay the same,’ he explains.
With years of experience renovating his former sharehouses and apartments, Ben got to work overhauling the shopfront, changing windows and doors, replacing skirtings, patching, filling, and painting every room to create Ma House Supply Store. Six months after opening in 2022, he decided to move in upstairs.
‘I knocked out a wall between two small bedrooms to make one grand room, and in the other bedroom I made a kitchen using pieces I found on Facebook Marketplace,’ Ben says, noting everything from the taps to the rangehood is second-hand.
Reminders of the building’s past lives (it reportedly served as a video store, cafe, trophy shop, and a sculptor’s studio) still shine through in the patina of the living room walls, and the ornate period ceiling.
These lived-in quirks are the perfect backdrop for Ben’s amalgamated collection of objects from garage sales, antique dealers, and stores all over the world.
In one corner you’ll find a pair of cherished bentwood armchairs and a replica of the Mona Lisa. In another, a sculpture of the Greek god Apollo and a retro lipstick mirror from the ’70s — a complete mash-up of eras and styles that somehow work in perfect harmony.
‘Although I’m sure people would say I have a particular style, for me, furnishing a place is always a reaction to what is already there with the addition of what I already have,’ Ben says.
‘Like with everything in the shop, I always try to mix new and old. It’s not like a math equation where you must have one Alessi coffee pot for every six bentwood chairs, but about finding a way to mix together all the things you love. And I love a lot of things’.
