19-05-2025
Mother's Day 2025: Mother's home through the eyes of architects' children
Rose Seidler House by Harry Seidler
Above Rose Seidler House by Harry Seidler (photo: Rory Hyde/WikiCommons)
The year 1950 marked a defining moment for Harry Seidler, whose bold debut in Australia came in the form of Rose Seidler House—a home built to reflect his mother Rose's wishes. A former student of Bauhaus pioneer Walter Gropius, Seidler introduced an uncompromising modernist vision to Sydney's quiet suburbs.
The house sparked instant fascination, with design elements that broke away entirely from conventional Australian dwellings. Skylights bathed the bathroom in natural light, interior murals added vivid flair, and multiple doors lent the space an unexpected openness, all influenced by his time in Brazil. These features bewildered the building inspector, yet won the public's admiration.
More than just an architectural milestone, Rose Seidler House gave Seidler a reason to remain in Australia, where he would go on to shape the nation's contemporary aesthetic. Today, the house belongs to the Historic Houses Trust and serves as a museum, a vibrant testament to modern design and a son's love made architectural. Charles Gwathmey's Gwathmey House and Studio
Above Gwathmey Residence and Studio by Charles Gwathmey (photo: @haus_oft/Instagram)
Raised in a family steeped in the arts, Charles Gwathmey embarked on his first architectural project in 1965 with heartfelt dedication to his parents. Taking cues from Le Corbusier, he crafted a modernist retreat in Amagansett, New York, defined by its geometric clarity, sculptural forms, modestly sized windows and a masterful use of natural light.
Far more than just a holiday home, the house became a deeply personal statement—a quiet yet confident declaration of Gwathmey's emerging architectural voice. Completed in 1967, the project quickly gained attention and cemented his presence on New York's design scene. In the years that followed, his clientele would come to include names like Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.
Though his portfolio expanded considerably, the house he designed for his parents continues to be regarded as his most pivotal creation. Recently restored, the residence is now valued at $9.25 million and remains a powerful expression of his architectural beginnings.
See more: The future of architecture: 5 sustainable buildings changing the skyline Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi
Above Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi (photo: Smallbones/ WikiCommons)
Finished in 1964, the Vanna Venturi House in Philadelphia stands as a milestone in Robert Venturi's career and a beacon of postmodern design. Created for his mother, the house confidently rejected the architectural norms of the time. Its asymmetrical facade, irregular windows and split gable roof challenged conventional expectations.
Inside, Venturi replaced formal corridors and enclosed rooms with fluid spaces and pared-back divisions, an approach made possible by the creative freedom his mother afforded him. As both client and inspiration, Mrs Vanna Venturi enabled her son to explore bold, unconventional ideas.
She lived on the ground floor, as she preferred, while Venturi continued his work in the studio above until his marriage to fellow architect Denise Scott Brown in 1967. The house has since become an icon of 20th-century design. 22 Parkside (Wimbledon House) by Richard Rogers
Photo 1 of 3 The open-plan living space of 22 Parkside House exemplifies high-tech architecture and Rogers' innovative residential design for his mother (photo: Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP)
Photo 2 of 3 Night view of 22 Parkside with illuminated interior and transparent façade showcasing the seamless connection between indoor living and the surrounding garden (photo: Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP)
Photo 3 of 3 Exterior garden view of Richard Rogers' 22 Parkside House in Wimbledon with a modernist glass façade and yellow steel frame blending harmoniously with the lush landscape
(photo: Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP)
Designed by Richard Rogers and his then wife Su Rogers in the late 1960s, the house at 22 Parkside, Wimbledon, London was a tribute to his parents and a milestone in the development of high-tech architecture in Britain.
This low-slung, single-storey home is framed in vibrant yellow steel and anchored by expansive floor-to-ceiling glass panels at either end, filling the interior with natural light and softening the boundary between the interior and the garden beyond. Movable partitions allow for a flexible arrangement of rooms, while solid side walls provide a reassuring sense of enclosure. At the heart of the layout is a private courtyard, around which Rogers positioned his mother's flat and her own pottery studio.
Photo 1 of 3 The interior of Richard Rogers' 22 Parkside House in Wimbledon, London, features iconic yellow cabinetry, minimalist modern furniture, and floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the garden (photo: Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP)
Photo 2 of 3 Flexible open-plan bedroom and dining area inside Richard Rogers' Wimbledon House, designed for his parents (photo: Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP)
Photo 3 of 3 22 Parkside House in Wimbledon, London, courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP
Originally conceived as a prototype for affordable prefabricated housing, the house was designed with industrial materials and modular construction in mind. These themes would echo through Rogers' later masterpieces, including the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
Today, 22 Parkside is listed at Grade II for its architectural significance. Thoughtfully restored, the house now serves a new purpose housing graduate students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
See also: 11 breathtaking movie home interiors we wish we could live in Jerome & Carolyn Meier House by Richard Meier
Above Exterior view of Richard Meier's Essex Fells House in New Jersey, designed for his parents (photo: Courtesy of Richard Meier)
Architect Richard Meier's first private commission marked more than the start of a distinguished career. It was a personal gift to his parents, Jerome and Carolyn Meier. Designed as a single-storey modernist home in Essex Fells, New Jersey, the house carries both emotional weight and early design promise.
Meier once described the structure as 'a brick building in the spirit of Mies van der Rohe, beneath a roof reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright.' It reflects his signature use of clean lines and geometric precision, tempered by the warmth of domestic life.
Above Inside the Essex Fells home designed by Richard Meier for his parents, with open spaces, lots of natural light and minimalist details (photo: Courtesy of Richard Meier)
Completed in 1964, the house is defined by curved brick walls that wrap gently around its core, while large panes of glass look out to a neighbouring golf course. A sheltered courtyard adds tranquillity, and a concealed rooftop garden sits quietly above, almost hidden from view.
Every element, from the integrated cabinetry to the polished concrete floors, speaks to Meier's fastidious attention to form and function. Though the family parted with the home in 1980, it remains remarkably unchanged,a lasting imprint of a future Pritzker Prize laureate in his formative years.
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