Luxury boutique hotel in the NSW Southern Highlands
The finer things in life are on offer at these stylish lodgings in the leafy Southern Highlands.
Sophia and I are getting along marvellously. She’s light and bright, blessed with loads of charm and style. Our relationship has been a hit from the start. I’ve done all the talking and cooing. She has listened quietly and politely in the background. Sophia’s my new best friend and, full disclosure, she is a suite. Inanimate, sure, but she breathes life and colour and warmth.
Sophia is one of eight accommodation options at the recently opened Moss Manor in the NSW Southern Highlands. As the name heralds, the exact locale is Moss Vale, a pretty heritage town where sturdy trees and high hedges are ablaze with the fiery palette of autumn. The petite property is on Throsby St, just off the Argyle St main drag, and a stroll from many attractions. The facade carries its 1890 establishment date on the parapet and there’s an imposing gravitas to the architecture that harks to its incarnations as town hall and shire council chambers. But where filing cabinets, strong safes and standard-issue furniture once reigned, Moss Manor owner Louella Grattan-Smith, a former medical professional turned hotelier, has created a boutique hideaway that has just hit the radar.
It’s rare to enter a realm where every detail and design moment has been so carefully considered. I can’t detect a false note. And, thanks to generous fellow guests, I commune briefly with Sophia’s coterie, which go by names such as Ruby, Bea, Ivy and Daisy. Each has an ensuite (saucy Sophia boasts a full-sized tub; a veritable altar to the art of bathing) and all feature Two Good Co’s bath and body products (cedarwood and cinnamon is the perfect cold-weather combo).
This mix of sleeping quarters varies in layout, decor and size. Consistent, however, is a richly layered style that reminds of Firmdale Hotels’ Kit Kemp and Soho House’s Linda Boronkay. Both London-based designers have inherent instinct for a look that could be called country house modern. Think: limed floors topped with quality mats, ricepaper lanterns, contemporary chintz, big beds dressed in soft white linens, busy tablescapes of collected treasures, and a confident union of old and new pieces.
Louella, however, is no mere acolyte of such fabled doyennes. Moss Manor’s additional selling point is a focus on original art, displayed in such abundance as to create the sense of being in a gallery where you can also eat, drink, sleep and lounge about, if desired, in fluffy white robes. Thanks to a collaboration with Campbell Robertson-Swan, director of Defiance Gallery in Sydney’s Paddington, art by leading artists such as Peter Godwin and Joe Furlonger are on display; the latter’s works on paper and gouache are particularly stunning. All are amply arranged, about 50 in all, including a Kyle Murrell oil and gouache on board titled Satan’s Square, which could well be an accidental indictment on my consumption of afternoon tea slices. In tune with the ethos of an “art hotel”, pieces are all for sale.
Unlike absent owners who may occasionally arrive by helicopter to ensure the brass doorknobs are properly polished, Louella is a local and hands-on. Manager Martine and staff Caroline (Caz) and Esther are also full of knowledge about weekend markets, where to dine, shop, procure the best pastries and coffee, sip fashionable cocktails. This energetic trio takes turns to serve breakfast (with remarkably good “fire shots” of turmeric, chilli and ginger) and afternoon teas in Moss Manor’s ultra-contemporary rear pavilion, appropriately known as Glass, with a bank of full-length windows and the long, low lines of a Japanese ryokan, a feel enhanced by the precisely planned garden site, its crepe myrtle and weeping cherry tree both as improbably pretty as postcards. Sydney architect Luke Moloney describes this new jet-black steel wing as “a modestly proportioned pavilion of sustainable materials, deferential in scale to the historic building, but with similar strength of form and line”. He saw “an opportunity to treat the extension as a sheltered platform offering views over the landscape ... towards the historic Moss Vale railway bridge and the roofscape of the town beyond”.
It’s in this light-filled space that guests gather and ease into conversations about travels and life. The angular sharpness is softened with potted palms and flowers; sink-into sofas are festooned with cushions. The dark grey walls show off the statement art. And there are clear collaborations with Southern Highlands providers on grazing platters and breakfast plates piled with the likes of Stephen Hodge’s freshwater high-country trout (cold-smoked and brimming with flavour). Cherry Tree Hills wines are from nearby Sutton Forest and eggs come fresh from the chooks at Caz’s Rockaway Farm.
When not communing with Sophia, I spend a lot of time watching the leaves of the weeping cherry tree flare as the sun shifts and dips and sipping Moss Manor’s signature tea. It’s a soothing brew of jasmine flowers, rose petals, apple, pink peppercorns, cinnamon, coriander seed, raspberry leaf and ginger. The blend is known as Happiness. What could possibly be more apt.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Moss Manor
IN THE KNOW
Moss Manor accommodation categories are Manor, Garden and Moss; from $450-$650 a night, with wine tasting on arrival, breakfast and afternoon tea. Seasonal specials include two-night midweek stays with a third night free. Also available as a “whole house takeover” for 16 guests. Italian food supremo Stefano Manfredi will host a Truffles Weekend as chef in residence, July 21-23, featuring in-house dining experiences, plus truffle hunt and lunch at Robertson Truffles.
MORE TO THE STORY
■Suzie Anderson Home is a spread of 10 individually styled rooms brimming with furniture, collectibles and accessories on Argyle St. Diagonally opposite is its new spin-off, Old Bank Atelier, a fragrant, dimly lit den featuring Cire Trudon candles, and brands such as Frezoli lighting, Libeco Belgian linens, Luminox watches and Simple Co menswear and accessories.
■Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, just outside Bowral, sits high above rolling countryside and cul de sacs. Director Megan Monte is at the helm, overseeing permanent acquisitions, children’s programs and travelling exhibitions in this imaginatively repurposed dairy and veterinary clinic at Retford Park, a National Trust of NSW property donated by the late James Fairfax. Next in line is Once More with Feeling (June 3-August 13), showcasing Karen Black, Georgia Spain, Cybele Cox and Michelle Ussher.
■ Just beside Ngununggula, Hearth by Moonacres is a cottage-style cafe with top-quality coffee, pastries and light fare for breakfast, brunch or lunch. The produce comes direct from Moonacres Farm at Robertson, which supplies top Sydney spots such as Lankan Filling Station and Firedoor.
■Highlands Brewing and Taphouse on Argyle St is a convivial spot for lunch. Casual fare covers generously filled burgers, including a superior mushroom option with roasted portobello, haloumi, lettuce and truffle mayonnaise. Local lagers and ales are on tap and a covered porch faces the street, ideal for customers with pooches at heel.
