The Wood House

By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc.

Harry Seidler (aC, OBE) was one of the greatest architects of any era to work in the southern hemisphere and earned a special place in the history of Modern architecture. Partly trained in an engineering school, his personal technical mastery of reinforced concrete was rare amongst his generation of designers and he laid the foundation for the baroque forms he produced that characterized his later work. Matching technical competence with sculptural flair, he was one of those few designers of his age capable of fulfilling the Modernist dream of the integration of art and modern technology. Harry was born in Vienna in 1923 of Austrian Romanian Jewish ancestry. He fled to England when Nazi Germany occupied austria in 1938. In 1940 he was interned by the British due to his Jewish heritage and the British authorities suspecting he was an enemy alien from an axis country before being shipped off to another wartime camp in Canada. after his release in 1941 he began studying architecture at the University of Manitoba with some of the greatest architectural figures of the 20th century, such as Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and the painter Josef albers who instilled in him his appreciation of Modernism, a cultural movement embracing the realities of 20th century industrial design and offering rational solutions to old problems. Once he completed his studies with honours he worked in New York City before eventually moving to Sydney in 1948. His mother rose had migrated there in 1946 and he continued to present concepts of early 20th century, also along with a house for his mother later known as “rose Seidler House” in Wahroonga that has two-storeys and includes 12 rooms. It sits on a 2.5-hectare site and has a noteworthy garden and floor plan. The result was the house still stands as one of this country’s most exquisite examples of mid-century designs. Its popularity saw Harry eventually settling in australia and becoming besieged with offers. after gaining his australian Citizenship, ten years later he married Penelope Evatt who was 15 years his junior and they had two children, Polly and Timothy. He was a founding member of the australian architecture association and in 1984 he became the first Australian to be elected a member of the Académie d’architecture in Paris and in 1987 he was made a Companion of the Order of australia, an honour which he accepted in his trademark suit and bowtie. In 1992 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and he consistently won architectural awards across the varied categories and every decade throughout his australian career lasting almost 58 years up until his death in 2006. He was also awarded five times (1951-1991) the Sir John Sulman Medals by the royal australian Institute of architects as well as their gold medal in 1976 and the royal gold medal by the royal Institute of British architects in 1996. For 50 years Harry played a vital role in international architecture. His work is widely recognised as an original and intensely creative contribution to the architecture of the second half of the 20th century. He often publicly criticised planning authorities and the planning system in Sydney and his own building designs were the subject of much derision. Many credit to Harry for introducing high-rise living to Australia, his Blues Point Tower a monolithic apartment block on the shores of Sydney Harbour has been one of the most polarising buildings in the city. The infamously prickly Harry told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2002 that “it didn’t worry him that people had criticised it and what do you expect from illiterate people, they are insensitive and uneducated so why should I take that seriously?” Now, at this stage you are probably wondering why I decided to write about Harry, well, there is a house in Nepean Avenue in Penrith that is not mentioned much, but is a heritage home called the “Wood House” completed in 1961 and privately owned. This house is of state historical significance having been designed by Harry. Wood House, built located on the top of the Nepean River embankment with views extending to the Blue Mountains in the distance to the northwest and is rare as it is the only house to be designed by Harry in the Penrith LGA. This dwelling was specifically designed and orientated to take advantage of the Nepean River embankment setting. The house is distinguished by the long linear stone wall fronting the street and set well back from the neighbouring residences with an expansive lawn forecourt. The use of the blonde brickwork, long wall planes, perforated screen walls and with a streetscape presentation is the characteristic design elements of Harry Seidler’s style of residential architecture in the post war period.

Source: First mentioned in the History Page 15/4/2021 on the Torin Building, Seidler.net.au, Paul Davies Pty Ltd -Penrith HeritageState Heritage Study review 17/6/2008.