From early beginnings when construction workers lived in tent cities and humpies to the present day where architecturally-designed homes boasting high-tech features are scattered throughout the capital, the homes of Canberrans have undergone dramatic change.
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An exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery aims to tell the stories behind the doors of 10 of Canberra's most distinctive homes in the hope of revealing the broader historic context.
Home in Time is inspired by a book written for the centenary 100 Canberra Houses: A Century of Capital Architecture, by Tim Reeves and Alan Roberts, which surveyed Canberra's domestic culture from 1913 to 2013.
Thanks to the generosity of private lenders, some of whom live in the 10 homes chosen from the book, the exhibition draws together about 60 objects and pieces of furniture alongside photos and plans to expose the social history of the time and give context, CMAG's senior curator of social history Dale Middleby said.
"We've included public housing, architecturally designed houses, owner-builder houses, tents – the whole gamut of what people call home," she said.
"It's been a real eye-opener. I've really enjoyed looking much further into the book. An exhibition allows you that deeper insight."
Among the objects included is a pot-belly stove borrowed from an oregon timber cubicle originally used to house construction workers in Canberra's early days before it was purchased in the 1930s to be used as a cubby house at Calthorpes' House where it still remains.
Another piece is a dolls house replicating a timber cottage from Ainslie, complete with furniture.
The 10 homes chosen for the exhibition reflect the chronological sections of the book including Canberra's domestic culture in 1913, the depression and war, post-war, public service inundation, and new approaches to architecture.
Middleby said the homes in the show were selected for their significance, quality, interest and variety.
The diverse line-up includes the Aboriginal tent embassy, Currong and Northbourne flats, and Canberra's only Beaufort Steel home constructed in Ainslie in 1947, reflecting the post-war housing shortage and the "explosion" of prefabricated kit homes.
In telling the personal stories Middleby said the exhibition reveals Canberra's residential history.
One story is that of retired public servant Harry Tazewell, a long-time resident of the soon-to-be-demolished Currong flats who died earlier in the year.
"He was very much an active Canberran with many outside interests as well as his day job as a clerk of petty sessions," Middleby said.
"His story is one of interest… there's an opportunity in an exhibition like this to talk about the personal side of the people who actually inhabit these houses not just the architects and craftspeople who built them."
Home in Time is on at the Canberra Museum and Gallery from Saturday, December 12 to Thursday, March 24. A floor talk with 100 Canberra Houses author Tim Reeves and CMAG's Dale Middleby is on Tuesday, December 15 from 1pm to 2pm.
