Touring display - The Australian Dream? - opens at Nambucca Library
Published on 03 June 2026
Starting this week was an exciting new touring display at Nambucca Library, thanks to the State Library of NSW and its collaboration with architecture expert Tim Ross.
Based on the exhibition of the same name, the reimagined display for NSW public libraries features incredible reproductions of architectural drawings by icons like Nino Sydney and Peter Muller, archival photographs, and vintage real estate brochures, to chart the people and the buildings that have shaped as well as challenged the very idea of the ‘Australian dream’ over the years.
Nambucca Valley Council Libraries Team Leader Rowena Sierant said she agreed to host this touring display as it presented a fascinating way of un-packing a topical subject in society.
“Housing and its affordability and availability is such a topical subject in Australia,” she said.
“I’ve been fascinated with housing for many years and this exhibition is going to crack open this subject, following its theme all the way from the past to the present.”
To create this touring display, 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.
“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,” Mr Ross said.
“But that’s never been the whole story. My display shows how diverse our housing dreams really are – from prefab fibro houses to high-rise apartments – the Australian dream has always been more than a single cliché.”
Members and visitors attending Nambucca Library will have the pleasure of viewing The Australian Dream? until Friday 19 June. It will be on display at Macksville Library from 29 June to 17 July.
The display shows a rare glimpse inside the iconic Richardson House – the Sydney waterfront futuristic dream home, also known as ‘Kumale’, designed by legendary architect, the late 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 Mr Ross has described as ‘part Bond villain lair, part architectural genius’.
The display 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 postwar homeowners with ideas of 1950s domestic bliss while building her own dream home, a sophisticated country retreat at Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains.
Display co-curator Anna Dearnley said: “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.”
The Australian Dream? display also explores the future of home ownership in Australia through an evocative series of images by Paul Blackmore capturing apartment living. With housing affordability the topic on everyone’s minds, the exhibition suggests that some of the solutions may be found in past ideas.
ALL MEDIA ENQUIRIES TO:
Mr David Moloney
ACTING GENERAL MANAGER
02 6568 2555
DATE: 3 June 2026