{"id":448250,"date":"2026-01-30T22:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/448250\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T22:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:15:13","slug":"glenn-murcutt-designed-ball-eastaway-house-in-glenorie-seeks-heritage-listing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/448250\/","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Murcutt-designed Ball-Eastaway house in Glenorie seeks heritage listing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Julie<\/p>\n

January 31, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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Many people fear heritage listing a home reduces its sale price, but artist and teacher Lynne Eastaway is willing to sacrifice a higher return on her north-western Sydney property to protect a slice of Australian cultural history.<\/p>\n

Eastaway, 77, hopes the NSW government will list the home that internationally awarded architect Glenn Murcutt designed more than 40 years ago for her and her former partner, the late abstract artist and acclaimed colourist Sydney Ball. The two-bedroom home is likely to be on the market in the next two months.<\/p>\n

\"LynneLynne Eastaway is hoping her home is heritage listed before she tries to sell it. Flavio Brancaleone<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care, I don\u2019t care,\u201d she said when asked if the listing would reduce the sale price of the Glenorie property, which also includes two standalone artist studios on a 10-hectare bush conservation zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a custodian of architectural and art history. It is as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eastaway said she would be happy as long as she could fund a small city studio to work from after the sale.<\/p>\n

A recommendation for the listing of the small home clad in corrugated iron \u2013 designed by Murcutt to be as inexpensive as possible \u2013 is expected to be considered soon by NSW Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Glenorie home was built for artists Lynne Eastaway and Sydney Ball. Clinton Weaver<\/p>\n

The application describes it as \u201cseminal work in the career of internationally renowned architect Glenn Murcutt\u201d, the only Australian architect to be awarded the international Pritzker Architecture Prize. The home won NSW Architecture\u2019s Wilkinson Award for new homes in 1984.<\/p>\n

It is understood that every submission favoured the listing.<\/p>\n

The use of corrugated iron (known also as galvanised steel) would go on to become Murcutt\u2019s trademark internationally and it would influence the development of Australian architecture, the application said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"State<\/a><\/p>\n

Murcutt\u2019s designs are best known for touching the earth lightly, and the Ball-Eastaway home seems to hover above the ground. Built on a rock ledge, the site was chosen because it \u2013 along with fire retardant paint and a sprinkler \u2013 would protect the home from fire, least disturb the native bush, and allow water to run underneath.<\/p>\n

Architect Daniel North, who nominated the home for heritage listing, said it was supported on 14 slender steel columns that would leave no trace if the house were moved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site would look like nothing was ever here,\u201d said North, who, with his practice partner, architect Catherine Downie, did repairs and updates to the home last year.<\/p>\n

Downie said they pinched themselves when they got the job. \u201cGlenn is the reason I wanted to be an architect,\u201d North said.<\/p>\n

Visiting the site last year, Murcutt, 89, said: \u201cI think it is a better building now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe exterior of the home gives no clues to the wealth of art inside. Clinton Weaver<\/p>\n

Surrounded by bush, Murcutt\u2019s design couldn\u2019t be more different from those of the large new homes nearby.<\/p>\n

From the outside, the house looks a bit like a shed, except for the zigzag wooden entrance and a bright blue arch to mark your arrival. Nothing tips off the visitor to the art on the walls inside, and the views of the bush.<\/p>\n

\"LynneLynne Eastaway has lived by herself in the home for the past eight years. Clinton Weaver<\/p>\n

The house includes two verandahs, both without railings, designed to be meditative.<\/p>\n

With its view of the bush, the eastern verandah has been described as one of the most serene places in the world. Not the morning of Eastaway\u2019s interview with the Herald: she had been stung by a hornet wasp that had nested under the floor, and angry welts were rising on her legs.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe home verandahs immerse one in the surrounding bushland. Clinton Weaver<\/p>\n

Eastaway met Ball at art school when she was 25 \u2013 he was her art teacher and nearly 17 years older. They became lovers and lived in the Glenorie home before splitting up, but they remained lifelong friends.<\/p>\n

Ball gave Eastaway half the house and, when he died in 2017, he left her his half, and some money.<\/p>\n

Eastaway said: \u201cI used to say, \u2018Put it in your name, it is your house\u2019. He would say, \u2018No, no, it will all be yours\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very hard to separate from Syd, even when we had separated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were still good mates, and there was a lot of loyalty between us. Even now, I\u2019m thinking, \u2018What would he think?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The home includes Ball\u2019s large collection of chamber music, and art by Ball and many others. A bookshelf, featuring a small piece Ball made from plastic cake bases, is likely to be displayed at a Shapiro auction. Other items will be donated to public galleries.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe two-bedroom home is expected to soon be considered for heritage listing. Clinton Weaver<\/p>\n

Eastaway has lived in the house for the past eight years, enjoying watching small bush orchids flower and die, swamp wallabies overcome their shyness, and noticing how the light hits the bush at different times of day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are always looking out in the bush,\u201d said Eastaway. \u201cIt made me feel like I was a tiny speck in the wholeness of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afraid she will fall over in the uneven bush nearby, it is time to leave. \u201cI haven\u2019t got any kids. I\u2019ve got nieces and nephews \u2026 I\u2019ve seen them deal with their own parents\u2019 death, and seen how hard it is to sort everything out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NSW government announced measures last year to make owning and buying a heritage home less onerous, offsetting fears that owning one would be expensive and time-consuming. These included no longer requiring approval from the Heritage Council of NSW to install solar panels, security, fire suppression and water systems.<\/p>\n

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\"JulieJulie Power<\/a> is a senior reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 31, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-448250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}