The heart behind the retreat
Our Story
The Beginning
It started with the land
Before the homestead. Before the pavilion. Before the first booking or the first review — there was just the valley. Fourteen acres of rolling green, a creek running through the middle, and a feeling that hit you the moment you turned off the sealed road. This land was not looking for developers. It was looking for people who would listen to it.
The Property
14 Acres of Possibility
The Upper Orara Valley sits behind Coffs Harbour, where the coastal ranges give way to something quieter. When we found this land, it had everything — elevation, privacy, water, native forest, and a silence so deep it changed the way we breathed. We did not buy it to build something on top of it. We bought it because it already was something. The job was to share it without breaking it.
The Philosophy
A Home, Not a Hotel
The homestead is not a lobby with keycards and checkout times. It is a real home — the kind with a kitchen you want to cook in, a fireplace that gets used, and a pool that catches the last light of the day. When guests arrive, they get the whole place to themselves. No shared walls. No other bookings. Just the house, the grounds, the valley, and whatever they came here to find.
Why We Do This
The couple who got married under the jacaranda and cried before the vows
The corporate team that left their laptops unopened for three days
The family that comes back every winter to sit around the fire
The solo traveller who stayed a weekend and called it a turning point
The birders who added fourteen species to their life list in one morning
500+ Reviews
The Guests Tell the Story
Over five hundred reviews across Airbnb, Booking.com, Hipcamp, and Google — and the things people say still catch us off guard. They talk about the silence. The stars. The way the valley made them slow down. We built this place for exactly that. And every review reminds us why it matters.
“A magnificent retreat surrounded by nature. From the moment we arrived we felt at peace. The property is breathtaking and the hosts are wonderful.”
You're Welcome Here
Come for a night, a weekend, or a week. The valley will be here.