MANOR from heaven

A grand Georgian building in the adorable village of Moss Vale, NSW, has been given a new life as a luxury retreat.

- Eliza O'Hare

“I think we should buy it!” Louella Grattan-Smith remembers declaring to her husband, Tony. They had just heard that a sale had fallen through on the building she had been admiring for decades, the old Moss Vale Municipal Council Chambers, a Georgian commercial building constructed in 1890 - and it was up for grabs again. “Literally, I think this is one of the prettiest buildings in all of the Southern Highlands,” says Louella.

Louella, a GP and psychotherapist, has two great passions in life: medicine and design. A career spent helping patients, physically and mentally, inspired an exploration of modern wellness and Eastern philosophies, with a big focus on the power of meditation. “I became very aware that how you exist in this world has an enormous effect on your physical wellbeing. I just love everything there is about what it means to be a human being. I'm fascinated by the philosophy, the psychology and the psychotherapy,” she explains.

But she also loves interiors, architecture and design. “I love the sense of beauty in architecture and interiors, so when I saw the house I thought, ‘Wouldn't it be fun to run a retreat?’ ”

It was a grand plan for a hospitality novice, but Louella doubled down and compiled a vision of all the things she'd loved whenever she had stayed somewhere special. “I wanted to be inspired by beautiful surroundings. I wanted to feel that the people there were kind - like an old friend.