What happens when you let architecture nerd Tim Ross loose in Australia’s oldest library? The result is The Australian Dream? – a fascinating new exhibition at the State Library of NSW.
Tim Ross spent a year scouring the State Library’s archives with co-curator Anna Dearnley to unpack the myths and history of Australian homes. The exhibition highlights everything from drawings by icons like Nino Sydney and Peter Muller, to archival photographs and footage, and vintage real estate brochures.
“My passion for architecture runs deep, so it’s been a real pleasure teaming up with Tim Ross during our Year of Architecture,” said State Librarian Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon. Together, Tim and Anna foraged into the Library’s incredible collection to uncover stories that are surprising and deeply human.”
“The Australian Dream? is a must-see for anyone curious about how we’ve built our homes – and why the idea of home still matters so much today,” said Butler-Bowdon.
“For a long time, we’ve been told that the Australian dream means a quarter-acre block, a Hills Hoist, and a Holden in the driveway. But that’s never been the whole story,” said Tim Ross.
“This exhibition shows how diverse our housing dreams really are – from prefab fibro houses in the suburbs to inner-city high-rise apartments, from tiny terraces to sprawling waterfront mansions – the Australian dream has always been more than a single cliché.”
The exhibition charts the people and the buildings that over the years have shaped as well as challenged the very idea of the “Australian dream”.
Exhibition visitors will get a rare glimpse inside the iconic Richardson House – the waterfront futuristic dream home, also known as “Kumale” – designed by the legendary late architect Peter Muller – through stunning Max Dupain images.
The home’s owner, famed inventor of the Victa Mower, Mervyn Victor Richardson, built his fortune on the suburban dream but chose to live in this grand residence that Tim has described as “part Bond villain lair, part architectural genius.”
The exhibition also features the little-known story of Beryl Guertner, the first editor of Australian House and Garden and original style influencer. During her career, Guertner fuelled the aspirations of post-war homeowners with ideas of 1950s domestic bliss while building her own dream home, a sophisticated country retreat at Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains.
“Magazines like House and Garden were incredibly influential in shaping how our homes looked at the time. Beryl Guertner was a champion for the DIY movement. Her magazine would feature sets of house plans by respected architects – so you too could build your own well-designed house in your spare time,” said exhibition co-curator Anna Dearnley.
The exhibition also explores the future of home ownership in Australia through an evocative series of images by Paul Blackmore capturing apartment living throughout Sydney. With housing affordability the topic on everyone’s minds, the exhibition also suggests that some of the solutions may be found in past ideas.
“Architects like Nino Sydney and construction groups like the Vandyke Brothers were trying to find interesting ways to bring affordable housing to the market back in the 1950s and 60s. Some of these ideas still hold-up, like prefabricated building materials, smaller footprints and more shared spaces,” says Tim Ross.
The Australian Dream?
State Library of NSW, 1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney
Exhibition continues to 15 March 2026
Free entry
For more information, visit: www.sl.nsw.gov.au for details.
Images: Wyldefel Gardens, Potts Point, c1936 – courtesy of State Library of NSW | Richardson house, Kumale, Palm Beach, 1958, photo by Max Dupain – courtesy of State Library of NSW