{"id":884048,"date":"2026-09-08T04:42:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884048\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T04:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:42:21","slug":"julian-rose-house-restoration-how-donna-seidler-finished-her-late-husbands-dream-of-restoring-the-iconic-harry-seidler-modernist-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884048\/","title":{"rendered":"Julian Rose House restoration: How Donna Seidler finished her late husband\u2019s dream of restoring the iconic Harry Seidler modernist home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Julie<\/p>\n

September 8, 2026 \u2014 11:30am<\/p>\n

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When grief strikes, sometimes the only thing to do is whack weeds and feel the fire of a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

Donna Seidler turned to the garden first when she unexpectedly became the custodian of the 72-year-old modernist Julian Rose House in Wahroonga designed by Australia\u2019s most renowned modern architect, Harry Seidler.<\/p>\n

\"DonnaDonna Seidler has been finishing the restoration of Julian Rose House, designed by Harry Seidler. Her late husband Brian Seidler, who was Harry\u2019s cousin, started the project.Janie Barrett<\/p>\n

Her husband Brian died in March 2025 after a short illness, before he had finished his restoration of the adventurous cantilevered home \u2013 elevated 3.3 metres \u2013 that had been designed by his older cousin, Harry.<\/p>\n

Brian had spent nights and weekends \u2013 after full days as executive director of the Master Builders Association \u2013 painstakingly restoring the home with advice from Harry Seidler & Associates\u2019 principal architect Greg Holman.<\/p>\n

Related Article<\/p>\n

But Julian Rose House, which Brian had bought from previous owners years ago, was far from complete, said his widow Donna, now in her 50s: \u201cHe always told me he was close \u2026 he\u2019d been saying that for the past eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, oh my gosh, what am I going to do,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople told me, \u2018Just sell up. Don\u2019t put yourself through it.\u2019 But it was Brian\u2019s legacy. And I wanted to do it for him, for myself, and the children.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was also acutely aware that it was a home regarded as part of the nation\u2019s cultural history.<\/p>\n

It was the second of three buildings Seidler designed for the family on the compound next to bush. The first was the heritage-listed Rose Seidler House, for Harry\u2019s mother Rose and his father, Max. The third, next door, is home to Donna and her three children and where she married Brian, and where her husband grew up.<\/p>\n

The Herald reported in 1954 that Seidler had \u201cset his signature on the landscape\u201d with a series of \u201cservant-less\u201d houses \u2013 of relatively modest size \u2013 that attracted crowds, controversy and contributed to the explosion of homes in the \u201cnew style\u201d.<\/p>\n

No pressure, much, for Donna, who is neither an architect nor a builder but a human resources manager. Unsure of what to do, she realised that she could get rid of the weeds and bamboo growing up around her own home and Julian Rose house nearby.<\/p>\n

\"JulianJulian Rose House in Wahroonga, Sydney, 1950-54. The house was designed by architect Harry Seidler.Photo by Max Dupain, 1954.\u00a0Copyright Penelope Seidler\"BrianBrian Seidler at Julian Rose House in 2020 when he was restoring the home. Dominic Lorrimer <\/p>\n

\u201cI got the fire in me to get on the chainsaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also bought a long-handled motorised tree lopper, and a lawn mower.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI put all that sadness, all that grief into chopping, and opening up a space for me, and always looking at this house \u2013 knowing I had to start on it. I felt like I was cutting a path up the hill to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Brian died, the time has passed unpredictably. \u201cIt\u2019s gone in the blink of an eye, and then sometimes it feels like it\u2019s been centuries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Brian had envisaged the house becoming a place for architects to visit and learn. Donna plans to rent the home to people interested in architecture after the 10-year-plus renovation is complete sometime in the next month or two.<\/p>\n

When Donna picked up where Brian had stopped, she knew nothing about building. She started with unfinished tiling in one of the bathrooms, turning to YouTube for advice.<\/p>\n

She discovered a grout finishing tool at Bunnings that had a little ball that was perfect for the job.<\/p>\n

\"BrianBrian Seidler at Julian Rose House in 2020, examining some old images of the house. Dominic Lorrimer \"PlansPlans and photos of the house, which Brian Seidler was restoring before he died in March 2025. Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n

As she worked, she asked herself: what would Brian do? She turned to his plans, drawings and the notes everywhere in his home office. \u201cI am flying as close [as possible] to what Brian prescribed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been following the drawings. There are little arrows pointing here and there \u2026 with questions like how high that should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Brian had the Seidler eye for detail \u201cdown to every nail\u201d, which is why the restoration had taken so long. Over time, she started trusting her judgment. Brian had planned a linen cupboard next to the kitchen and an outside laundry. She overruled that, installing a washing machine and dryer inside.<\/p>\n

Small wins became moments of joy. Some original steel window handles and thumb screws had broken. Nobody makes them today so she hunted for a fabricator to make new ones to Harry\u2019s original design.<\/p>\n

The Museums of History NSW says Rose Seidler House, built in 1949, introduced Seidler and innovative modernist design ideas to the Australian public.<\/p>\n

But it was Julian Rose House, designed in 1951 and built 1953-54, that showed the public\u2019s enthusiasm for modern architecture. It was structurally more daring, too, with its elevated main floor slung from a double cantilevered steel.<\/p>\n

Architect Penelope Seidler said she was \u201cextremely happy\u201d with the result. Brian and Donna had faithfully reconstructed all the details of her late husband Harry\u2019s original design. \u201cWe were absolutely thrilled that Brian bought the house, and took on the major job of restoration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/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":"September 8, 2026 \u2014 11:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-884048","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\/884048","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=884048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}