From the street, the house at 9 Stuart Crescent, Blakehurst, does not look anything special.
But, interior photos and a video, which were taken when it was placed on the market late last year, give an insight into why it has just been added to the State Heritage Register.
Thurlow House was designed in 1952 by internationally acclaimed architect Harry Seidler, and is regarded as a rare and intact example of his early work.
It has been described as a set from the TV series Mad Men, which was set in the US primarily in the 1960s.
Marjorie Thurlow, who died recently, lived in it from the time it was built until a few years ago when she entered a nursing home, and it has remained largely unchanged for more than 60 years.
The property was sold in February this year for $1.75 million.
Environment Minister Mark Speakman said Thurlow House was “a fine house built during the early stages of the Modern Movement architectural period”.
“The house is also important in Seidler’s body of work because of its inventive split-level configuration and architectural form, and its adaptation to the sloping site and desire to maximise the views to the Georges River,” he said.
“Thurlow House includes elements such as cantilevered forms and open plan living spaces, which became trademarks of Seidler’s instrumental architectural style.
“But the house also contains evidence of advanced residential technology for its time, with concealed lighting and built in music equipment in the joinery.”
Mr Speakman said the listing of Thurlow House was supported by the Seidler family and the Harry Seidler & Associates architectural practice.
Other notable buildings designed by Harry Seidler include Australia Square and the MLC Centre in the CBD, the Horizon Apartments and Ithaca Gardens in Darlinghurst and Elizabeth Bay respectively, the Australian Embassy in Paris and Wohnpark Neue Donau in Vienna.
Harold Rowe, who has lived next door to Thurlow House since 1966, said Mrs Thurlow, who was known as Dolly, lived alone for many years after she and her husband separated.
“She was there up until about five years ago when she went to a nursing home,” he said.
”A tenant was in there until the house was sold this year.
“The new owner, a barrister, doesn’t live there.”
Mr Rowe said he believed the house should be preserved as “an example of what you could get away with back then, because it was built just an inch from the side boundary”.
