An award-winning Tasmanian barn conversion asks for $1.25m AUD

Raw but refined. That’s how this renovated Tasmanian cottage by architects Liz Walsh and Alex Nielsen stands in Hobart.

Originally stables for a tavern, the 79 sq m building dates from 1829 and was in a dilapidated state when Walsh and Nielsen began their renovation. Their 2015 conversion scooped top prizes at the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) National Awards for Small Project Architecture and Heritage Architecture, as the pair worked hard to preserve as much of the original character of the building as possible while transforming it into a modern home.

Now, the award-winning barn conversion is on the market for $1.25m AUD.

Outside, the patinaed sandstone structure is crowned by a corrugated steel roof. Weathered wooden doors lead inside the cosy one-bedroom property, where brick and rough plasterwork are exposed and paired with polished Tasmanian oak floorboards. Rugged beams cross the ceiling overhead, while windows and pivoting glass doors are set in new steel frames that highlight the thickness of the sandstone walls.

The house is divided into two distinctive spaces: a long, low communal space housing the dining area and a tall vertical volume that shows off the full height of the building.

A mezzanine level houses the bedroom and study beneath the gabled roof, which features the restored timber shingles, while the double-height void rises above the living room below, with an all-black kitchen inset.

Pivoting glass doors lead out to the quiet courtyard. The cottage is just a 10-minute walk from Hobart’s CBD and Battery Point.

A popular Airbnb for years, 3/42 Goulburn Street is listed for sale with Georgie Rayner from The Agency, Hobart.