The Barn at No.3/42 Goulburn St, Hobart. Picture: Supplied
When historic Hobart property The Barn took home multiple prizes at the 2015 Australian Institute of Architects’ National Architecture Awards, its creators were praised for their restraint.
And when the time came to sell late last year, their agent took a similar approach.
Architects Liz Walsh and Alex Nielsen won the top prize for Small Project Architecture, the Nicholas Murcutt Award, and an Award for Heritage for the “brilliant solution” that overwhelmingly demonstrates that “less can be much more”.
For The Agency property partner Georgie Rayner less is more was the way to capture the imagination of buyers.
“My focus was slow and emotional, allowing the features and the Tasmanian character to shine. Slow social media. Slow-moving images. Anything that helped capture the experience of being there, that was imperative,” she said.
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“There was less focus on factual copy, and more on emotional copy. How does being in the property make you feel? That was important.
“It was a collaborative approach, too, from the high-quality photography to styling pieces from Luc to an independent assessment of its potential earnings from Little City Group.”
Goulburn St’s The Barn was the No.1 most-viewed Tasmanian listing on realestate.com.au among the units, apartments and townhouses for sale in the past 12 months.
Given the level of attention it attracted, this result came as little surprise to Mrs Rayner.
“I was inundated with inquiries from local and interstate buyers, and it attracted global interest, too,” she said.
“To represent a property such as this that is so quintessentially Tasmanian and so steeped in incredible history and character, was a pleasure.
“It was so affectionately architecturally designed. At the core of their design, they wanted to leave as much of the original character of the property as possible. Their work is utter magic.”
Mrs Rayner said time and again people were left speechless at inspections.
“The feeling it evoked, they would silently take it all in,” she said.
While the buyer demographic it attracted was broad, ultimately The Barn was purchased by someone keen to continue its successful run as a short-term accommodation venture — for now, at least.
“The buyers are from interstate. In the future they may spend a lot more time in Tasmania,” Mrs Rayner said. “They might live in The Barn, but for now, it continues as an Airbnb.”
Meanwhile, the next most viewed unit was No.2/704 Oceana Dr.
Its striking modern design features full glass frontage to take in panoramic river views.
The two-bedroom property was listed in the $725,000-plus range, but it is now under offer.
Affordability can play a role in a property’s popularity, and in Bellerive there were a few unit listings for as little as $415,000 and up to $695,000-plus that came in third and fourth on the realestate.com.au list.
Rounding out the top five is a completely different type of offering, a no-expense-spared three-bedroom luxe apartment in North Hobart.
No.1/1 Burnett St spans 503sq m and features bold architecture and refined finishes, aptly described as “the epitome of elevated living”.
It is on the market with South Property Group priced at “Offers over $2.2m”.
Tasmania’s most popular house of the past 12 months was a 1860s home in Harrington St, described as a fixer-upper.
LJ Hooker agent Ant Manton told the Mercury it needed “a lot of love and attention”.
“It offers a dream inner city location and good bones,” he said.
No.260 Harrington St, Hobart sold for $505,000 in December.
TASMANIA’S MOST VIEWED PROPERTIES
HOUSES
1. 260 Harrington Street Hobart
2. 128 Bicheno Street Clifton Beach
3. 3-5 Swan Street North Hobart
4. 91 Lansdowne Crescent West Hobart
5. 56 Auburn Road Kingston Beach
6. 14 William Street Perth
7. 98 Frederick Street Launceston
8. 15 Batchelors Road Nicholls Rivulet
9. 19 Kirra Road Roches Beach
10. 275 Horners Road Elderslie
UNITS
1. 3/42 Goulburn Street Hobart
2. 2/704 Oceana Drive Tranmere
3. 2/33 South Street Bellerive
4. 1/160 Clarence Street Bellerive
5. 1/1 Burnett Street North Hobart
6. 1/83 Lachlan Parade Trevallyn
7. 11a Cook Crescent Mayfield
8. 1&2/107A Wildor Crescent Ravenswood
9. 12/270 Stanley Highway Stanley
10. 10/78 Box Hill Road Claremont
Source: realestate.com.au
