Great holiday homes: the secret to their success and appeal
Welcome to the era of the Destination B&B — hosted holiday homes that appeal because of what they are, not where they are.
Marlon Law is a pioneer in the accommodation stakes. He knows that sometimes it’s not the destination that draws visitors to a property but the property itself. It’s a phenomenon gaining momentum in a landscape dominated by social media and pretty pictures, but it’s backed up by carefully considered personal touches, one-of-a-kind interior design and hands-on guest interaction by hosts. This is the era of the Destination B&B, self-contained properties free from doilies and floral bedspreads. The latest hosted homes look so appealing online we just have to stay there, regardless of where they may be.
Forget the likes of Booking.com; these lodgings most likely have their own website, reflecting their distinctive identity and personality. You might also find them on Law’s accommodation platform, Riparide, but more on that later. Let’s go back to the beginning.
As the son of Quiksilver co-founder John Law, Marlon had snow, surf and the vast Australian outdoors in his blood from day one. So when he moved from his family property near Bells Beach on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road to make a life in Melbourne in his 20s, he found himself stifled by the claustrophobia of city life. As an antidote, he would regularly return to the beauty and peace of the familial hearth, and soon the entrepreneurial part of his DNA was fired up.
What if there were other overworked city folk daydreaming about getting back to nature the way he was? Could he sell this lifestyle, this sense of escape?
He decided to erect a 4m high teepee on the property, in a picturesque spot with a roaring fire pit, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by mobs of kangaroos. The idea was he could rent it out to other stressed urbanites yearning for the kind of fulfilment that comes with going back to basics. “But I thought rather than just selling the teepee as accommodation, what if I brought the whole teepee experience to life, using a photographer and a local storyteller?”
Experience is a powerful thing, as he knew from his time working as a designer with Quiksilver. The short film Tipi Dreaming was born, and the teepee was booked solid from the moment it launched.
This was 2017, and the beginning of what is now Riparide, a hub for more than 1200 “soul-fulfilling” getaway properties in regional Victoria and NSW. Plenty are a cut above the original Bells Beach teepee in terms of comfort, and they include wooden cabins, tiny houses, converted churches and disused railway carriages. Unlike the bigger and more mainstream booking sites such as Airbnb and HomeAway (formerly Stayz), the properties that make it on to Riparide’s list fill definite criteria, such as natural beauty — perhaps a waterfall or mountain view — thoughtful, handcrafted amenities, outdoor attractions such as fire pits or al fresco baths, and maybe an alpaca or two. Like the Bells Beach teepee, many are brought to life with videos and written stories, imbuing a greater authenticity.
“Our properties are like a big, deep yoga breath,” Law says. “We want people to arrive and think: ‘Ah, that’s better.’ ”
Today’s holiday-makers are looking for much more than a roof over their heads, run-down furniture and mismatched Ikea cutlery in a crowded tourist spot. Australia’s most desirable hosted homes are becoming destinations in their own right — not necessarily because they’re the most grand, expensive or luxurious, but because their unique aesthetic and atmosphere help guests feel a million miles from their ordinary lives.
The cocoon-like Shackpalace on a cliffside overlooking Noosa was created by local designer Frank Macchia, with the aim of building a space where guests felt nurtured and relaxed.
“The dark tones and warm lighting throughout the house play a significant role in achieving this,” says Macchia’s daughter Samara, who helped to conceptualise the property’s features, including its outdoor bath and indoor meditation space. “Most people say they feel calmer as they enter the home as it has a sense of serenity, security and privacy.”
With a westerly aspect, Shackpalace comes to life in the early evening as the sun sinks over Noosa Junction, a time best enjoyed with the record player on and a glass of wine in hand.
Jenny Paul owns and runs The Old School House in Milton on the NSW south coast, two separate rustic country accommodations surrounded by veggie gardens and apple orchards, with chickens, border collies and poddy lambs roaming freely. A former Sydney advertising executive, Paul is aware she offers people not just a place to stay but an experience and sense of connection.
“If my guests want to go to Cupitt’s Winery I’ll ring ahead and make sure they’re looked after; the owner might sit down and share a glass of wine with them,” she says. “Or they love it when I take them to the orchard and we snap off a piece of asparagus or a wild strawberry and we eat it raw. I think of it like a very personal concierge service that I do, not because I have to but because I care.”
Paul even makes her own muesli, raw honey from her beehives, and jams, all of which she covers with handmade labels. “I want everyone who stays with me to feel nurtured,” she says.
Properties such as Paul’s that go this extra mile are set to become the rule, not the exception, as we emerge from the COVID-19 reset, says Sarah Andrews. She transformed a rundown one-bedroom cottage into the exquisitely pretty Captains Rest in Strahan, Tasmania, using little more than her own know-how and a keen eye for beauty and comfort. The place is routinely booked out months in advance, and Andrews says most guests choose to stay with her for the accommodation first and foremost, rather than its location.
She also runs a business called The Hosting Masterclass in which she teaches hosts how to maximise the appeal of their holiday homes through design, and by telling their personal stories effectively online.
“Once upon a time hosted homes were great because they were cheap. Now they’re great because they’re great,” she says. “Post 2020, people will be motivated to look for even more meaning and connection with where they stay. The era of ‘any old house will do’ is done. And that’s a good thing.”
More to the story
A selection of other fabulous hosted homes.
The Little Black Shack, Great Mackerel Beach, NSW
“No cars, no roads and no shops” is the deliciously isolationist promise of this absolute-waterfront 1930s fisherman’s cottage on the NSW Central Coast, a
10-minute ferry ride across Pittwater from Palm Beach. Owners Jamie and Ingrid Kwong have filled their low-impact hideaway with rustic treasures such as cabinetry and bedframes made from salvaged timber, a hand-built stone fireplace and furnishings of soft leather and linen. The couple suggest guests make the most of the tranquillity and spend days lazing in the hammock, cooking in the wood-fired oven or simply gazing at the sea and the stars.
Coldwater Cabin, Central Highlands, Tasmania
In the remote Tasmanian Central Highlands on the edge of the Great Lake sits this moody one-bedroom cabin, painted in pine-forest green and filled with offbeat details such as thylacine sculptures, original tapware and old timber floorboards that owner Jennifer Hillhouse says gives it an “Aussie shearing shed” feel. Hillhouse and her French husband, Jean-Charles “JC” Lehuby, bought the tumbledown cottage in 2018 because he wanted a cool-climate escape from their Brisbane home. It’s a wish that is granted when snow and winds whip across the lake in winter. Every room has views across the water, giving guests the sense they’re in the depths of a true wilderness, and if you can drag yourself away from the cabin’s cosy walls, the region is known for birdwatching, bushwalking and trout fishing.
The Cottage at Conondale Station, Conondale, Queensland
The beige and white cattle are practically part of the decor on this 930ha working beef farm in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. But it’s not just the setting that’s pretty. Inside you’ll find a wood-fired heater, dried native flower arrangements, neutral linens and even matching Conondale Cottage robes. Families are welcome; little kids will love the tyre swing in the yard. If requested in advance, owner Maree Duncombe can stock you up with nearly all the provisions you’ll need, including fresh eggs, sourdough from Maleny Hot Bread and platters of regional produce.
Grayling’s Gift, Goldfields, Victoria
Husband-and-wife team Shane and Annie Brereton have converted this 140-year-old church in Victoria’s Pyrenees region into a storybook-pretty, beautifully styled couples’ getaway using mostly recycled materials. Guests are encouraged to switch the city off altogether; in fact the poor mobile reception is seen as a feature rather than a disadvantage because it encourages full immersion in a good book, birdwatching or a long soak in the claw-foot bath.
Dune House, Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Kangaroo Island is layered with generations of meaning for Richard Young and wife Emily, as both spent happy childhood summer holidays here, fishing, snorkelling and making friends with wildlife such as kangaroos and seals. Like sister property Hamilton House, Dune House sleeps six and overlooks the dramatically beautiful Emu Bay. It’s the perfect place to get all the generations together; book both to begin a family ritual.
The Seamstress and the Sailor, Geraldton, Western Australia
This 75-year-old, three-bedroom beach cottage on WA’s rugged coastline is filled with indoor and outdoor treasures, including salvaged antiques, hammocks, yoga mats and bikes with cane baskets attached, perfect for two-wheeled foraging excursions. Your host is owner Anne-Maree Hopkinson.
■ theseamstressandthesailor.com