Surrounded by the pristine bushland of the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga is Rose Seidler House, a New South Wales heritage-listed residence. This house-museum, located at 69-71 Clissold Road, is one of the purest examples of mid-20th century modernist residential architecture in Australia. Designed by Harry Seidler and built between 1948 and 1950, the building is not only an impressive work of architectural art, but also a story of history, creativity and love of innovation.
The story behind the creation of Rose Seidler House
It all began in 1948 when Harry Seidler, a world-class architect, arrived in Australia with the intention of building a house for his parents, Rose and Max Seidler. The family purchased 6.5 hectares of land for 500 Australian pounds, creating a vision of a family residence in a natural setting. The house was named in honour of Rose, who was actively involved in the project, making key decisions on the development. The first construction work began in 1948 and by 1950 the house was complete. Two other buildings on the estate were also soon built – the Marcus Seidler house and a third house named Rose House. In the 1950s, the estate was known as an enclave of modernist architectural thought, attracting the middle class looking for modern housing solutions in a natural setting. In the early 1990s, the estate was leased to the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales (now Museums of History NSW) for use as a public museum.
Architecture and design by Harry Seidler
Rose Seidler House is a modernist house with two storeys, comprising 12 rooms. Built from natural bush stone, concrete, wood and glass, it blends harmoniously with the surrounding landscape. The uniqueness of the building lies in the maximisation of usable space and the possibility of any arrangement of the interior layout. All rooms, with the exception of the main bathroom, offer expansive views of the Ku-ring-gai bush, allowing the indoor and outdoor spaces to intermingle. Harry Seidler incorporated many innovative features into the design, such as sliding walls and minimalist interiors based on contrasting textures and colours. The interior design incorporates elements designed by the likes of Eames and Saarinen, which adds a unique artistic touch to the house.
The garden as an extension of the house
The garden surrounding this iconic modernism was the expression of the creative vision of Rose Seidler, a recent immigrant from Europe. It combined typically suburban plantings with a unique combination of a terraced citrus orchard and ornamental plants. The woman particularly valued the opportunity to grow plants that were unavailable in Vienna and England, such as plumeria rubra, oranges, wine magnolia and Queensland fire tree. There are three distinctive features on the property: areas of preserved native bushland, modern landscaping on the driveway and around the house, and rough stone retaining walls and a ramp.
Cultural heritage and historic value of Rose Seidler House
The completed Rose Seidler House immediately caused a sensation. The house had glass walls, an asymmetrical composition, cubic shapes and a flat roof. It was architecture not seen before in Australia. The building was awarded the RAIA’s Sir John Sulman Medal in 1951, one of the most prestigious awards in Australian architecture and the first of five to be won. Today, Rose Seidler House is both a fine symbol of modernism and a testament to the changes in post-war housing. Listed as a New South Wales heritage site in 1999, the house is a living history lesson, showing the development of technology and design in the 1940s and 1950s.
Source: State Library New South Wales
Photos: Katherine Lu
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The house in 1951 and today Photographer Marcell Seidler (State Library of New South Wales), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons and Rory Hyde, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons