Provider House: A log cabin retreat blending hidden technology with Japanese elegance
Arriving at Provider House is a bit like a Murakami novel – where the main character enters dual realities and finds magic in the everyday. It’s also the perfect location to practise the art of “forest bathing”.
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It was during the hypercolour, boomtime madness of the 1980s that Japan’s government came to a terrible realisation.
The country may have been making bank, but its workers were quite literally succumbing to “karoshi”, or death by overwork.
It was from this woeful state of affairs that the phrase “shinrin-yoku” – which translates to “forest bathing” – was coined as the Japanese government scrambled to come up with solutions.
Booming economies, overwork and forest bathing – these are all concepts I’m mulling over as I get ready to spend a night at Provider House, a cedar log cabin with heavy Japanese accents.
Amazingly, this cabin among the trees is only 15 minutes away from where I live in Hobart, hidden in the back of Lenah Valley, wedged close to the side of kunanyi/Mt Wellington, so I’ve got some time up my sleeve to prepare.
I stop in at a natural cosmetics store to stock up on some Japanese forest-bathing themed bath bombs, sexy little emerald things encrusted with gold leaf, plus a bright green mint-leaf face mask and a tub of body balm.
By this point, I’m deep into the theme. In my overnight bag slips a copy of Kafka on the Shore, by famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami.
Far be it from me to die by the ills of hard work.
I’m ready to bathe.
AN OTHERWORLDLY HIDEAWAY
Arriving at Provider House is a bit like a Murakami novel – where the main character enters dual realities and finds magic in the everyday.
The sections of Lenah Valley Rd themselves are like parallel universes, morphing from a pleasant suburbia to a semi-bush community with a deep sense of the remote.
Punctuated by a rivulet gushing with fresh mountain juice, Lenah Valley’s lesser-developed rear end is an unexpected forest oasis in what is almost central Hobart.
And at the very top of Lenah Valley Rd, just before the road becomes unsealed, is Provider House.
You’ll need a four-wheel-drive to make your way to the top of the steep driveway, but once you get there, it’s like entering an enchantment.
The rustic, cedar house is lit outside at night by lanterns – while the home glows with warmth from inside.
There are three bedrooms over three levels, including a stunning triangular attic, plus a dayroom for soaking up the gumtree views.
While the home itself is minimalist and understated, its elegance is punctuated by the subtle and stylish integration of technology and uber-modern comfort.
Think touchpad entries, kitchen appliances seamlessly hidden behind timber panellings, bathroom underfloor heating and a slick home entertainment system that transforms into fine art when not in use.
SHINTO TOWELS AND FANCY BOWLS
It actually takes several hours to discover all the special touches hidden within Provider House.
It’s a bit like an Easter egg hunt, but for adults.
Almost all of the items contained within the home are top-notch, usually Japanese-designed, and available to buy from Provider House’s mothership, Provider Store in Sydney.
For instance, in front of the fireplace is a NychairX – a special recliner built in Nagoya since its birth in 1970.
The bathroom is fitted with a large and luxurious ryokan-inspired cedar bathtub, while the bowl basin is tailor-made by well-known ceramicist Milly Dent.
After soaking in the tub with premium Provider Store shampoo and conditioner, drying off is turned into a ritual with Shinto gauze towels from Osaka, before slipping into a robe designed by Kyoto manchester store Daitou Shingu.
The kitchen knives are made from Damascus steel, while the crockery is exquisite handmade and Japanese.
Every trinket and each object, down to the kitchen scissors and on-site umbrella, is Japanese and chosen with an affection and a particularity that really does make this a special place to stay.
BACK TO THE BATHING
Whether you live in Kyoto or Kingston, or Kings Meadows, there’s one thing you’re not doing enough of – chilling the hell down.
Not “relaxing” by doom-scrolling or falling asleep, still in your make-up and bra, slowly being sedated by re-runs of The Office, but through living in the present moment, by connection to the world around us.
It’s not like we all haven’t heard this a million times – our lives of screen-based addiction and distraction are slowly killing us all.
But few of us are actually doing anything about it.
Shinrin-yoku isn’t just some naff concept.
All the studies back up the theories – that just 20 minutes a day in nature can lower cortisol, blood pressure and anxiety, improve the immune system and improve sleep.
Provider House might be one of the most gentle environments in Hobart in which to forest-bathe.
Sitting in the dayroom, which is packed full of elegant touches like Japanese art and novels, is perfect to gaze out over the native Tasmanian bushland with its Derwent wattles, boronia and native plum.
There’s also the option to sit outside in the sunken fire pit and literally breathe in the forest while the flames crackle.
You can also bathe with your ears – listening quietly to the rush of mountain water that flows freely through the New Town rivulet.
Lastly, there’s the act of actual bathing in the bathtub, which at Provider House is a sublime experience.
The following morning, washing off any residual stress under the oversized shower head is also an almost Zen-like experience.
The author was a guest of Provider House
MAKE A NOTE
Provider House starts at $500 a night, with a two-night minimum stay.
It’s located deep in Lenah Valley Rd, at the rear of kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
Nearby is the Lady Franklin Gallery, and several walking and cycling tracks.
To book, visit www.providerstore.com.au/pages/provider-house
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