Fusilier Cottage: Open House Hobart
Open House is an annual architecture program that opens some of Tasmania’s most unique and interesting buildings to the public, including private homes and historic buildings in Hobart (nipaluna) and Launceston. The event is organized by the Architects Institute of Australia, Tasmania.
Fusilier Cottage has featured in the Open House Hobart program each year since we opened in 2020.
In the first year, 2020, covid restrictions made it impossible to open our house to the public. So, we went online providing a virtual tour to interested participants.
In 2021 Open House Hobart took place on 13-14 November. What a weekend! Nearly 500 people looked through the cottage over two three-hour sessions. The architects were on hand to meet visitors and answer their many questions, as were we, the owners. Our cottage has certainly created a lot of interest in the community!
https://openhousehobart.org/buildings/virtual-tour-hampden-road-house/
In 2022 we opened once again, on 13 November. The weather was a bit grim on that weekend, but more than 200 people visited over two hours in between rainstorms on a blustery Sunday.
https://openhousehobart.org/buildings/fusiliercottage/
Fusilier Cottage in Battery Point was built in the late 1830s for Angus McLeod, a Scottish musician and soldier. McLeod taught music from his home and also made it the headquarters for his Quadrille Band, which entertained crowds of Hobartians. Like McLeod, we combine business and family under the one roof. In 2018, we commissioned Tasmanian architects Bence Mulcahy to design a contemporary extension. The project involved repairing the existing cottage, creating office/retail space and visitor accommodation, and designing a new extension for the family’s living area.
Here’s what the architects had to say about our lovely cottage:
The bluestone and sandstone cottage is full of Georgian charm, and its generous garden which opens to the street makes it a popular local landmark. The extension supports these unique characteristics: the new building is set within the garden, is smaller in scale than the cottage, has a flat roof, and is positioned so that views of the cottage from Hamden Road and Waterloo Crescent are protected. The facade of the new extension is designed to give guests the opportunity both to remain private and to open their home to bustling Battery Point. Glass doors and timber screens can be used in various combinations to change how the cottage interacts with the street and garden.
Open House invites locals to be a tourist in their own city. Put it in your calendar for next year. It’s usually on a weekend in mid-November. Get out your camera and photograph the buildings and spaces you walk past every day; take a peek at how others live, work and play; and see how the city’s infrastructure works. Look up, look inside, climb a bell tower or descend into a basement, and take in the incredible views from different vantage points around town.
If you missed out on Fusilier Cottage at Open House, why not book a couple of nights for a ‘stay-cation’? Tassie has it all – and in these covid times, it’s not a bad idea to holiday at home!