Julian was a 1949 graduate of The Kent School in Kent, Connecticut and went on to graduate as a mechanical engineer from the School of Engineering at the University of Virginia in 1954. He then graduated from the United States Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and later attended the United States Navy flight training programs in Pensacola, Florida, and San Diego, California. Julian spent five years with the United States Navy as a naval aviator.

After military service, Julian returned to Savannah and joined the stock brokerage firm Johnson, Lane, Space, Smith & Co., Inc. He rose through the ranks to lead the firm’s underwriting department and eventually retired as Executive Vice President.

He met his wife, Mary Foy Space, at the firm, and they married in 1976. She worked for over 25 years at Johnson, Lane, Space, Smith & Co., becoming one of the first female registered stock brokers in the country in 1964, and later retired from Johnson Lane in 1985.

Throughout his life in Savannah, Julian was active in a variety of civic and social organizations including the Georgia Historical Society, the Savannah Benevolent Society, the Savannah Yacht Club, and the Society of Colonial Wars. He and his wife attended Independent Presbyterian Church.

Julian B. Space died on July 23, 2004, age 73, at Memorial Health University Medical Center. He and his wife, who died May 25, 2011, at age 86, are buried in Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.

In 1999, Julian and Mary Space established the Julian B. Space Fund at the Georgia Historical Society, ensuring in perpetuity that their shared commitment to history education will continue.