You’ll be surprised how these new Tasmanian villas were created

The villa

Sativa House, Tassie Hempcrete Houses at Harvey Road, Bruny Island

Check in

Inspired by statistics showing 75 per cent of travellers want to travel more sustainably, my husband and I rent a Tesla from Hobart Airport and make an off-grid getaway to Bruny Island. We’re heading for Sativa House, the first Airbnb in Tasmania built from “hempcrete” – a unicorn sort of material made from the cannabis plant, and rendered with horse manure. It is fireproof, mould-proof, vermin-proof, insulating, and even regulates air quality by absorbing humidity. The plant grows up to six metres in 100 days, making it far more renewable than wood.

Getting to Bruny requires a 45-minute drive from Hobart to the ferry at Kettering. There’s a brief moment of embarrassment when the shiny EV won’t move (user error with the starter card), but once I adjust to the lack of engine noise it’s a hiccup-free, 40-minute drive past farmland and ancient gums to the Bruny Island village of Alonnah. I was worried about the Tesla but it still has over 70 per cent charge when we plug it into the villa’s charger. I find the key in a lockbox as a dusk fog starts to swirl.

The look

Sativa’s exterior has a modern industrial style, with pale grey walls and a simple boxy silhouette. Inside, the grey polished floors could use another rug but are balanced by warm timber accents on kitchen benches and upstairs. The squashy tan sofa with its coloured throws swallows up two tired travellers. There are nods to hemp everywhere – cannabis prints on the walls and hemp toiletries in the bathroom. Most walls are rendered, but owner Andi Lucas has left some raw to show the spongey, straw-matted texture of hempcrete.

The room

I’m an instant convert to hemp linen sheets – soft, breathable, and with a comforting weight that sends me straight to sleep. Two queen bedrooms upstairs would fit two couples, while the downstairs living area includes a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, and laundry. A single reverse-cycle air conditioner keeps the house surprisingly warm, and the hemp insulation lives up to its reputation when we turn it off at night. Coffee, tea, books on hemp and design, board games, Wi-Fi and Netflix are all provided. The stresses of mainland life vanish for two simple days tucked away on this island off another island.

Food + drink

We’ve pre-booked a breakfast hamper from Hamperlicious on Bruny, a masterstroke that means farm-fresh eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, butter and sourdough bread are waiting for us on the kitchen bench when we arrive. Alonnah itself has one pub, Hotel Bruny, a 15-minute walk downhill. Further afield, Bruny’s foodie highlights include Get Shucked Oysters and the award-winning Cheese and Beer Co. The quirkiest stop is “Bruny Bakery” – simply an old Kelvinator fridge or two full of wood fired sourdough that relies on an honesty system of cash (or direct deposit) for bread each day.

Out + about

In the morning we stomp the three kilometre bushwalking trail along Alonnah foreshore, which starts just steps from Sativa House. The beaches of Adventure Bay are 15 minutes’ drive away, but as surfers we’re drawn to Bruny’s southern shore at Cloudy Bay. Eight-foot Southern Ocean steam trains roll in, too wild even for the locals. We make do with the smaller rollers at Two Tree Point, where Captain Cook landed in 1777. Coastrider Surf Academy delivers boards, wetsuits, and hoods to our door and we last an hour in 10-degree water before gratefully thawing on the Tesla’s heated seats and steering wheel.

The verdict

Saving the planet isn’t always comfortable or practical, but Sativa House manages both. This cosy hideaway turns out to be the perfect recharge point for sceptical humans, as much as electric cars.

Essentials

From $355 a night, pets welcome. Book via Airbnb

Our rating out of five

★★★★½

Highlight
Owner Andi Lucas and property manager Rae Smith provide invaluable locals’ tips and contacts via text and email.

Lowlight
Nespresso machines probably aren’t sustainable due to pod litter – but they’re a comfort I miss.

The writer travelled as a guest of Tassie Hempcrete Houses at Harvey Bay and Discover Tasmania. See discovertasmania.com.au

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