The Bridge

The Bridge is the on-site hotel at Bundanon, a spectacular half-buried art gallery situated on the property once owned by painter Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne. In 1993 the couple gifted their bucolic home and an extensive collection of artworks to the Australian people.

A stay at the Bridge is the best way to experience the 1000-hectare site, which contains the simply named Art Muesum, a cafe (Ramox), the existing 1866 homestead and Boyd’s 1981 studio, both of which are 20 minutes up the road and can be toured on Sundays.

One catch: rooms can’t be reserved for any day or duration, like at a hotel. Guests stay on multi-day packages that include food, tours and other cultural experiences. And these book out quickly.

It’s worth persisting, though. The soaring, 160-metre-long blackbutt timber structure is one of a kind, connecting two gentle hilltops and resembling an old-timey elevated railway. Inside, 32 there are 32 luxe rooms and a 64-seat dining room, none of it air-conditioned. The Bridge instead makes use of cross-ventilation, louvres and fans, paying homage to painter Boyd’s preference for painting en plein air (outdoors).