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A very unusual touch of history, friendly atmosphere, rustic surroundings, a rural view and a great welcome from the hostess and the two retriever dogs and the cat have become the trademark of Mulberry Cottage B&B. in Tasmania’s historic Richmond village. It has been heralded by Mercury Journalist Mike Bingham as “Australia’s most fascinating B&B”. Miriam has just won Tasmanian Small Business Champions Entrepreneur of the Year ’07 for the project here at Mulberry Cottage and Grannie Rhodes’ Mulberry Cottage was built in 2002 as an “olde worlde” private residence, on the rough field at the rear of the legendary Grannie Rhodes’ Cottage, 1830 Richmond. The old cottage, with no electricity or water, had proved to be too much of a challenge to restore and renovate for habitation after Miriam Cooper bought it in April 2000. So it was planned to use it for a museum and build a new copy cottage/residence behind, becoming the B&B in ‘04. This was constructed from the reclaimed wall of Hobart’s Old Penitentiary, windows from Hobart’s old Marine Board building and other reclaimed materials. Building and gardens are designed to create a rustic and English country atmosphere and the visitor is often tricked into believing that the house truly is 1800’s. Mulberry Cottage now operates as, a traditional hosted B&B offering reasonable rates to a range of visitors from local to overseas. Your hostess, Miriam Cooper, lives on site. The added attraction is that the award-winning performance of “Turn the Key of Time” at Grannie Rhodes’ is icomplimentary. In ’05 this reached a nomination level, “Standard of Excellence” in the Tourism Tasmania Awards. But in the ’07 Awards attained a Certificate of High Commendation in the Cultural Heritage Award, beaten only by Port Arthur. (Also the above mentioned Entrepreneur Award.) Advertised as “Something different---- For the history & theatre lover”, Mulberry Cottage offers two themed en-suite rooms, a Cheeky French Boudoir, with a special secret, book to find out!, (Tasmania could have easily been French !) The charming Old English Room with four poster bed and Grandma’s two standard attic rooms, in a peaceful rustic setting. This attained a finalist’s level of Excellence in Hosted Accommodation receiving a nomination in the ’07 Awards and Finalist in the tourism section of the Small Business Champions Awards. From a derelict cottage and a messy field to an award winning business in 5 years and all a one woman project! Come to experience something different!
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