By Everett Potter

If location is everything in real estate, Saffire Freycinet won the grand prize. This intimate resort at the edge of Freycinet National Park overlooks Coles Bay and a jagged pink granite mountain range called The Hazards. It’s situated in eastern Tasmania, that wild Australian island with the same exotic name cachet as Zanzibar and Timbuktu.

If it were all about the location, it would be a standout. But wait, there’s more, as they say. Architecturally, the lodge is one of the most distinctive buildings to be found anywhere in Australia, packing a bigger visual punch than a dozen rivals combined. Described variously as a massive manta ray spreading its wings or a spaceship that has miraculously landed in the Tasmanian bushland, it is a vast curvilinear structure. A wall of windows provides a panoramic view of the bay and The Hazards … continue reading