Luxurious city pad totally Rox
This stylish Hobart apartment is the ideal place to base yourself while exploring the city but it’s also one that helps you feel truly connected to the Hobart Town of yesteryear, writes Kirsty Eade
TasWeekend
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After meeting the owner of luxe Hobart accommodation complex The Rox, Mary Brownell, it’s immediately clear she’s determined to provide her guests with a unique experience.
To sum this up in a single word, what Mary would like her guests to feel when they stay in one of her chic apartments is a sense that they’re in an “oasis”.
With The Rox located on the doorstep of the city’s happening Midtown district with its great late-night eateries, hip wine bars, cafes, craft breweries and boutique stores, Mary hopes it will offer her guests a private sanctuary at day’s end.
Which is exactly what we, as in me and my willing travelling buddy (aka my husband), experienced when we were lucky enough to enjoy a mid-week escape in late January, in one of The Rox‘s apartments set in the original part of the complex. Our apartment, The Elizabeth, is one of two suites in the older structure, which dates back to the 1880s.
This building was originally a home owned by one of the early colonial grand merchants, Alexander Ireland, before it became a schoolhouse known as Scotch College.
Mary is particularly proud of the fact she has been able to revitalise this 19th-century CBD heritage property and loves to be able to offer visitors a glimpse into the past.
And she delights in showing guests with an interest in history photos from the old school house’s days and original documents dating back to the early 1880s, such as a newspaper advertisement calling for boarders to enrol at Scotch College at a cost of between 40 and 50 guineas a year.
She says prior to the opening of the new complex in 2021, the transformation of the site, which includes two apartments in the heritage building and several in the modern Rox building, on the corner of Elizabeth and Brisbane streets, was quite dramatic.
Following its early life as a school, the site had various iterations before eventually becoming a Godfreys’ vacuum cleaner store, and before the latest renovations, which began in 2018, ended up being quite dilapidated.
“We wanted to preserve as much of the original fabric as we could and a lot of that fabric had been hidden behind various later, ill-thought-out, horrible additions,” she says.
However, she says with help from Vos Construction & Joinery and Core Collective Architects, she was able to pull off a “fabulous revitalisation” of the heritage building.
“We pulled up layers and layers of plaster to reveal the old bricks and discovered beautiful, wide, wooden floorboards underneath concrete tiles and reinstated the original arched windows,” she says.
It’s the old schoolhouse, located down a laneway away from the busy, bustling city streets, that combined with its thick walls, helps give The Elizabeth a haven-like quality.
Even though we were staying in the heart of the city, once we were ensconced inside the original walls it felt quite secluded and you couldn’t hear a peep from the city noise and traffic outside.
Despite what Mary describes as an often “gruelling process” at the time of the renovations, I think she has absolutely nailed her brief and achieved a remarkable revitalisation.
The Elizabeth is a multi-storey apartment you enter via a modern vestibule with a sleek timber staircase that takes you up to the main living area, which contains a laundry/utility room, small but convenient bathroom and the main lounge/dining and kitchen area.
The living space has been meticulously designed and appointed and is adorned with the works of Tasmanian designers, artists and potters.
The modern, stylish, black, matt contemporary kitchen cabinetry melds beautifully with the brass light pendants, cane barstools and natural timbers and finishes off the rest of the room.
The earthy, neutral tones of the interior palette, which includes a linen-covered sofa, an abundance of scatter cushions, sheepskin-covered armchairs, soft lighting and ornaments set against raw exposed original red bricks, illuminated by the light from the arched windows, all add to a perfect blend of old and new.
Inclusions such as the built-in timber bookshelf handmade especially for the space by a local designer, and the dining tablesourced from New Norfolk’s Drill Hall Emporium, are both classy additions.
A selection of beautiful Tasmanian coffee table books – such as How Wild Things Are, by chef Analiese Gregory; The Commons, by the Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans; and The Great Properties of Tasmania, by Kimbal Baker and Richard Allen – are laid out for perusing, and are also a nice touch.
Once you’ve checked out the living space, the sleeping quarters – which includes two bedrooms and a bathroom – can be found up another flight of stairs in a spacious mezzanine floor overlooking the main living area.
Here in the bedrooms, the stylish, neutral interior colour palette continues, with the comfy beds decked out in fawn and white coloured gingham-patterned linens, timber pendant lighting, soft plush bedheads and cosy warm woollen blankets.
A skylight with a handy blockout blind adds welcome light during the day while offering the option to shut out the city lights come time for sleep.
During our stay, we found the apartment to be a great place to relax after work, to catch up with friends and as a base from which to eat out at a couple of excellent eateries including the Korean restaurant Kalbi, which is a short walk away in North Hobart, and the popular Italian favourite Cultura which is equally close by in the other direction, in Liverpool St, in the city.
On our way home from dining out as we headed back to our apartment, I couldn’t help but look around me and marvel at the beauty of Hobart, with its convict-built sandstone churches, pubs and inns that blend in beautifully with the architecture of the modern buildings and think that just like The Rox, the ever-evolving river city offers the best of both worlds.
This was definitely no ordinary stay and I think Mary has absolutely accomplished her original mission with this sophisticated accommodation offering.
She has created a tranquil city retreat that is not only a fabulously stylish place to spend a couple of nights in the heart of the CBD but also one that helps you feel truly connected to Hobart Town of yesteryear.
The author was a guest of The Rox.
MAKE A NOTE
The Rox, is located at 160-162 Elizabeth St, in Hobart’s happening Midtown district.
Accommodation at The Elizabeth apartment, which sleeps four people, starts from $500 a night, with a two-night minimum stay.
Dining out: There is a broad selection of restaurants to choose from while staying at The Rox in both the city and along North Hobart’s famed restaurant strip.
If you wish you can also dine in at the intimate 12-seat dining experience, Omotenashi, which offers seasonal Tasmanian fare, prepared by revered chefs Lachie Colville and Sophie Pope, and is located on the ground floor of The Rox, next to the Lexus showroom.
Due to high demand, advance bookings are essential.
To book or for further information call directly on 0448 439 537 or go online to hello@therox.com or theroxhobart.com
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