We have long been impressed by the number of creative and attractive ways people have melded Tasmanian history and guest accommodation. It’s an unsung but potent part of the state’s tourism industry. So we have created EscapeTas, a series of collaborative articles celebrating beautiful restorations, inventive architecture and memorable travel experiences.
photographer Simone Gonzales
When two Sydney-siders, Katherine Corrie and Digby Hall, met in 2018, they found a shared liking for Tasmania. It was a strong liking: Katherine was looking to buy a Hobart property to which she would one day retire from her corporate career; while Digby, an architect, had already invested in properties in Strahan.
The pair discovered a shared liking for each other as well. They got married and bought a property at Deviot which they plan to make their forever home.
Then Katherine, on a solo visit to Tasmania in mid-2021 to work on plans for the Deviot property, saw a listing for a 127-year-old cottage at the end of Corin Street in West Launceston, perched high above Cataract Gorge and South Esk River, she made an appointment to see it the next day.
It was already a strong property market, the couple already had more than enough Tasmanian property projects on their plates, and they had no intention of further investment. But the Corin Street cottage had great charm, and Katherine walked around it live-streaming images back to Digby, in covid-lockdown in Sydney. Twenty-four hours later, they owned it.
Almost as quickly, they formulated and enacted a vision for the property, which was originally a cottage for one of the workers at the Duck Reach Power Station, the first power station of its kind to be built and operated in Australia. The vision was to create a two-bedroom guest accommodation that would take guests on a journey back in time – and “back to all things slow and simple”, said Katherine.
Still living in Sydney, and still constrained by Covid, they hired a local project manager and, to help with Katherine’s interior vision, engaged Linda Richardson and Karen Hansen from Cocoon Designs in Penguin. The plan, said Katherine, was to write a bold new chapter in the life of the cottage, and to have it stand apart from other short-term accommodation offerings in the market.
The result is FLAX, a curated mix of the old and the new, with a bold colour palette, a dash of quirkiness and – as much as possible – incorporation of natural, recycled materials and re-purposed furniture.
Digby, who is registered as an architect in both Tasmania and NSDW, said, “The protection of the state heritage listing is incredibly valuable and ensures that FLAX guests experience the respectful architecture, materials and sense of place from a time when almost everything was sourced locally and made by hand.
“But of course we want some of our modern luxuries as well, and we know that FLAX has found that balance.”
Bookings for FLAX are currently available only through AirBnB.
More of the photographic work of Simone Gonzales can be seen at www.simonegimagery.com.