HEAD TO THE HILLS
DISCOVER THE DESIGNER BARN STAY INSTAGRAM CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF
Little Red Barn owner Rachel Luchetti says the only disappointing thing about her holiday home is she doesn’t get to enjoy it more often.
While the Sydneysider and husband Gerard Cook built their dream getaway in the hills behind Noosa, the Queensland border closure means it’s holiday-makers waking to birdsong, surveying the scenery from an alfresco clawfoot bath and taking the plunge in a heated concrete tank pool.
“My husband is a builder and he did everything himself – even the tiling,” Rachel says.
“The idea was to use it as a holiday home a lot more than we can at the moment, and Airbnb it when we weren’t using it.
“It’s a long-term dream to pay it off and have it for ourselves, but we didn’t anticipate it would be so popular.
“It’s booked all the time, it’s been quite amazing.”
Rachel says the barn stay, which is around one and a half-hour’s drive from Brisbane, is booked until January – although there’s a chance local travellers can snap up some spots left by interstate cancellations.
Cosy for couples but roomy enough for a family, Little Red Barn sleeps up to seven guests across three bedrooms, with soaring vaulted timber ceilings, light-bathed interiors and some very photo-friendly features.
“People call it Instagrammable but it’s just full of the things that I like – like having a cast-iron bathtub on the veranda,” Rachel says.
“It’s straight off the ensuite and there’s a barn door so you can close it off for privacy.
“We have the concrete tank plunge pool heated all year round.
“You get those pool days that feel like summer in the middle of winter, then you can still put the fire on inside at night, or sit around the firepit.
“I love the view of the top of the canopy through farmland.
“That’s why people say Little Red Barn is better than in the photos, because you can’t capture that view in a photo.”
The semi-rural setting is 15 minutes to Noosa’s retail and restaurant scene and five minutes to the quaint market town of Eumundi.
“It’s a balance of beach and country – they call it the golden triangle,” Rachel says.
“There are a few beaches to choose from within 20 minutes’ drive and Eumundi is such a cute little town.”
Rachel recommends a visit to the town’s eponymous markets – running every Saturday and Wednesday, whatever the weather.
“Eumundi also has a really great pub,” she says.
“The Store is great coffee and to pick up some organic produce.”