Nestled in amongst some of Melbourne’s most sought after real estate areas are the tiny suburbs you didn’t know existed.
It’s a vagueness that real estate agents have dined on for decades.
God only knows how many times a property has been advertised as resting on the fringes of Brighton, when it’s actually closer to the heart of Moorabbin.
Hidden in the official suburb boundaries of Melbourne are details of our city’s tiniest and most obscure locales, including some you might never have heard of, and others that are a lot smaller than you think.
Here are some of Melbourne’s smallest suburbs by geographical area.
Gardenvale
Gardenvale is Melbourne’s smallest suburb by area. Picture: Google
The little neighbourhood of Gardenvale, surrounded by Brighton, Brighton East, Caulfield South and Elsternwick is officially the smallest suburb in Melbourne, covering just 16ha and measuring about 400m long.
That means it would take less than ten minutes to walk from one end to the other, and well under an hour to walk the whole perimeter of the suburb.
By comparison you would have to be in good shape to walk around neighbouring Brighton in less than an afternoon.
Nearby Gardenvale Station is technically in Brighton but despite its tiny size, Gardenvale is home to a park, a section of Elster Creek, a large Masonic building and a small car dealership.
About 1000 people call the tiny suburb home.
Ripponlea
Ripponlea curiously doesn’t take in its namesake Rippon Lea estate. Picture: Google
This well-known patch between Elwood and Caulfield is a lot smaller than many Melburnians realise.
Officially, Ripponlea is a tiny Dorito-shaped wedge bordered by Brighton Rd, Hotham St, Oak Grove and Albion St.
Ripponlea Station sits near the small suburb’s northern extremity, but strangely the Rippon Lea historical estate, for which the 29ha suburb is named, sits just outside the boundary in neighbouring Elsternwick.
Still, the pint-sized suburb is home to the famous Attica restaurant on Glen Eira Rd.
Travancore
Tiny Travencore is bordered on its eastern side by Moonee Ponds Creek. Picture: Google
Hidden in Melbourne’s north west, this obscure and funnel-shaped 42ha suburb borders five other postcodes including Parkville, Flemington and Ascot Vale.
Much of the tiny suburb is taken up by the Travancore Park adjacent to the Moonee Ponds Creek, which serves as Travancore’s eastern boundary.
A long section of the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail passes through Travancore, which has a population of about 2100 people.
St Kilda West
St Kilda West isn’t just Port Phillip Bay. Picture: Google
Logically you would think the area immediately west of St Kilda would be very wet and inhabited only by penguins and flathead.
But the tiny area of St Kilda West is a real suburb sandwiched between St Kilda proper, Middle Park and Albert Park.
Although it contains just a smattering of residential streets, including some trendy coffee haunts, 52ha St Kilda West also takes in a fair chunk of the picturesque Catani Gardens on the foreshore just north of St Kilda Pier.
Princes Hill
The tiny suburb of Princes Hill rests between Carlton North and Brunswick. Picture: Google
The charming suburban pocket of Princes Hill is bordered on three sides by Carlton North, and by Brunswick on its northern boundary.
Just 40ha in area and with a population of about 2000 people, it takes in the western end of Pigdon St and includes Princes Hill Primary School.
Immediately to the west of Princes Hill is Princes Park, the traditional home of the Carlton Football Club.
Cremorne
People often mistake the Nylex Clock for Richmond instead of Cremorne. Picture: Google
The inner suburb of Cremorne is home to the Nylex Clock, an icon of Melbourne pop culture that is often described as a Richmond landmark.
70ha Cremorne also includes East Richmond station and, technically, parts of the first six platforms of Richmond Station that lie on the east side of Punt Rd.
If a footy fan walks from the MCG to the Cricketers Arms Hotel, then to the eastern side of Richmond Station’s Platform 1, they will have passed through four separate suburbs: East Melbourne, Melbourne, Richmond and Cremorne.
Kooyong
Kooyong boasts the Kooyong Classic, which is actually held in Toorak. Picture: Google
Aside from being the name of a federal electorate the Liberal Party wishes it could hang on to, Kooyong is a real but tiny 50ha suburb nestled between Malvern, Toorak, Hawthorn and Hawthorn East.
As aloof and leafy as it gets, Kooyong is synonymous was the Kooyong Classic tennis tournament.
However the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, regarded by many as the “spiritual home of tennis in Australia”, sits just outside the technical border of Kooyong, in neighbouring Toorak.