Eisenmenger House

Eisenmenger House gives visitors a unique glimpse into 1960s life and design, with its modernist Queensland architectural style,  cool interior and original Australian mid-century designer furniture.

Open to the public on October 13th as part of Brisbane Open House 2018, this charming and attractive example of 1960s modernist architecture was designed by architect Barry Walduck and built in 1961 for the Eisenmenger family.

Eisenmenger House is located wiithin The Stella Heights Estate, a residential subdivision dating from 1959 which contains substantially intact housing stock of early 1960s dwellings, some of which were architect designed.

Current owners, Chris Osborne and Susan Bennett purchased the house purchased the house in 2002 and quickly began a major project to restore the house to its original state, basing their restoration work on a newspaper photograph from the early 1960s.

The house is well orientated on the block with a solid western wall facing the street; this also eliminates heat and noise and maintains privacy.

The glass eastern facing wall allows the lounge to fill with natural light, catching winter sun and summer breezes, with access via large sliding glass doors and windows. It features a walkway – affectionately referred to as the “gallery” – above the back of the kitchen that leads to the bedrooms but also provides a view over the entire lounge room and outside deck area.

A range of original mid-20th century modernist decorative items and furniture, including Featherston chairs, fill the living areas.

Almost the entire back yard is taken up with a distinctive wedge or `pie' shaped swimming pool of enormous interest to guests, who can overlook it from the shaded outdoor area, covered by an extension of the original roofline, a concept created by architect Robyn Booth.

Nice to know - Eisenmenger House is characteristic of a number of smaller houses Barry Walduck designed during the 50s and 60s. Another interesting example of Walduck's architecture is St Andrew's Lutheran Church, 1 Wickham Terrace. If longevity is a key point in determining the success of a piece of architecture, the adaptive life of the modest Eisenmenger house has indeed been a triumph.

Need to know – The house is not wheelchair accessible and is not suitable for children under 12 years of age.