Tasmanian singer-songwriter Ange Boxall’s homestead revival in Swansea
When Ange Boxall found her dream house — a 200 year-old possum-infested Georgian homestead in Tasmania — she knew she and husband Mike would have to go for broke.
While searching for an ideal property, Tasmanian singer-songwriter Ange Boxall was given a porcelain candle holder in the shape of a white two-storey house.
The next day she received an emailed real estate alert that the dream house she and husband Michael Travalia once looked at was back on the market.
“With some trepidation Mike and I knew it felt right and we were not letting this beauty get away from us again – we had no idea how we’d make money living here and what we’d do but we knew in our hearts that we could make this work. We went for broke and haven’t looked back,” she says.
Soon after, they started on the renovation of 200-year-old rambling Georgian homestead Riversdale, near Swansea, overlooking Freycinet National Park. The property includes an original flour mill and large barn.
“It is a white two-storey house just like the porcelain candle holder my bestie had gifted me in 2014,” she says.
Today, Boxall, Travalia, a design consultant, their daughter Hattie, and their “hilarious, extra-long sausage dog, Lioneld”, known as the unofficial mayor of Swansea, live there.
“I remember we moved in on the first day of winter, without a stick of furniture and only one open fire to huddle around – some resident possums were swiftly evicted and that’s where it all began,” she says.
“Mike is very capable on the tools, having renovated a few properties in London and bit by bit we fixed things, adding and repairing what a modern house requires, without compromising the integrity of the old house. We were mindful and respectful of its original, simple Georgian look and feel.”
The house was built circa 1835-38 with four bedrooms on the first floor, two main living rooms, a good working kitchen, bathrooms upstairs and down, seated entry way, and a wide-open corridor leading to the staircase.
It is surrounded by a walnut farm with a garden full of old English trees and plants, once painted by former resident Louisa Anne Meredith – a work which now hangs in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
The main road is lined with an impressive tunnel of elms, plane trees and Oyster Bay pines that star especially in autumn.
The upstairs area of the convict-built red brick mill didn’t have any original features, including the interior walls and flooring, and had been partially destroyed by a fallen tree some decades earlier and partially rebuilt in the early 1990s. After its repairs, it will be used for celebrations, weddings, workshops and conferences.
There are many things Boxall loves about where she lives.
“I walk on the beach year-round and love it if it’s sunny and blue, or ominous and moody.
“In the evening we often sit around an outdoor fire, sipping delicious local pinot noir, sharing yarns and laughs under a wide dark sky, full of stars,” she says.
“We have four seasons and it always feels like there’s change, something exciting around the corner.
“I also love that Tasmania is small and so well connected – there are many entrepreneurial people who either come from this island or have chosen to move here with fabulous ideas in tow. There are always celebrations around our produce, food, wine, and spirits – we are passionate about celebrating the island.”
Her new album, Skipping Stone, recently debuted at No.1 on the ARIA Country Charts and No.7 for all Australian Albums.
Boxall also founded and runs ECHO – East Coast Harvest Odyssey that weaves together immersive sensory experiences around the traditions of harvest, old and new and she and Travalia have co-founded The Splendid Gin.
Rural views, magnificent sunsets and beach and river walks are features of their nearby Air BnB @ShawShackTas, another place to switch off and savour the landscape.
