Provider House Could Be Tassie’s Most Tranquil Stay

A tranquil setting meets functional minimalism at this Japanese-inspired stay.

Provider House may be just 15 minutes drive from Hobart’s CBD but it feels decidedly off-the-beaten-track. There are no shops or cafés within easy walking distance and the luxury three-level wooden cabin is flanked by fragrant eucalyptus and wattle trees on all sides. Neighbours? You’ll never see them.

That’s not to say that the Lenah Valley beauty is without creature comforts. In the living room is a wood-burning fireplace, soft cream lounge, state-of-the-art AV and treetop views. In the dining room there’s a table for six and a potted maple. If the weather is agreeable, you can gather outdoors next to the sunken firepit at dusk as wallabies bounce by.

A sibling to Sydney-based homewares retailer Provider Store, which stocks Japanesemade art, utensils and trinkets, there’s an impressive dedication to detail throughout the property. The steam-powered toaster turns out a finished product so crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside that you’ll wonder where such an ingenious creation has been all your life.

That same thought will probably strike as you’re slipping into the made-for-two, ryokaninspired cedar bathtub or reading by the light of a Noguchi Akari lamp. Happily, everything is available to buy at Provider, including the camel-toned Nychair X canvas armchair by Takeshi Nii. Upstairs, the three-and-a-half bedrooms – the half is an annex with a single futon – exude low-key elegance, with waffled carpets, white linen on low futons, Kyoto-made cotton bathrobes and wall-to-wall pine. In the kitchen, the shelves are stocked with Shizu Hamono knives and Hinoki chopping boards, while appliances (including that toaster) are cleverly hidden behind blackwood panels.