In Tasmania, as elsewhere, it is well documented that splendid houses were built by pioneer settlers such as George Read (Redlands in Plenty) and Claudio Alcorso (Moorilla, now MONA). However, few know about Robin Boyd’s house, also in Plenty, on the banks of the Derwent River a short drive from Hobart.
Diana Ashbolt and her husband Anthony, a well-known Tasmanian businessman, inherited the farmhouse and its orchard from Anthony’s grandfather, Cecil Walker. When Diana first saw the red stucco farmhouse sited just 50 metres from the river, she must have been delighted. Rippling waters reflected the sun through wattles and rivergums to the house beyond. The property had been named Linden after a tree planted in the front garden.
How Boyd was appointed for the extensive re-imagining of this new…