Forty Beach at Connellys Marsh

There is a stretch of Beach Road where the houses have been in the same families for generations, and very little changes hands. This one has, and it has been reimagined with real care.



The shack sits with nothing but grass between the verandah and the sand. Inside, the renovation speaks quietly rather than loudly. It is a true studio, one large bright open-plan space with a king bed anchoring the space and an S-shaped sofa arranged so you can settle into one curve facing the television or shift to the other and take the bay in full. It sounds like a small thing until you are in it, and then it makes complete sense.



With the french doors wide, the whole room opens onto the verandah, which is really the point of the place. In the cooler months a wood heater takes over and the space turns properly cosy, the sort of evening where nobody suggests going out.



'Connellys Marsh' by Russell Prescott sits firmly as a centrepiece to the renovation. This artwork was a finalist in the 2025 Glover Prize, Australia's foremost award for painting the Tasmanian landscape. That it depicts the stretch of coast directly outside the window is not lost on anyone who stays.



The kitchen is stocked well enough to cook properly rather than just get by, with gas hot plates, a dishwasher and a cafe style coffee machine for slow mornings. Please note, there is no oven or microwave. The bathroom is new and beautifully done, with a large walk-in shower and the same designer restraint that runs through the rest of the house, clean lines and good materials that you notice more the longer you stay.



Outside is where this place really earns it. A sweeping front verandah runs the width of the house and takes the view head on, with sun loungers and dining table set up to make the most of it and a BBQ for added outdoor pleasure. Beyond that there is a large fire pit area with ample seating around it, the kind of setup that turns an evening into a long one.



It needs to be noted that there are no blinds or curtains on the front of the property. The sheers behind the bed are not blockout but they do give full privacy.



Connellys Marsh is a small place, around forty residents, and the quiet is the point. The beach out front runs about a kilometre of shell-strewn sand, sheltered by Dorman Point and the hills behind it, so the water sits calm and low-energy in a way that suits swimming and slow beach combing more than anything else.



If you want to surf, it is ten minutes north. Carlton Beach is patrolled through summer and picks up a reliable swell, and the walking and cycling loop between Dodges Ferry and Carlton runs about seven kilometres along the water.



For food, Dodges Ferry is roughly ten minutes north. Beach Bums does Tasmanian fish and chips and good coffee overlooking Park Beach, and Richmond Bakery on the Coast handles the morning pastry run. Sorell is twenty minutes for a proper supermarket, and the Sorell Fruit Farm is worth the stop in season. Don’t go past Uncle Alby’s for coffee whilst in Sorell. For a closer stop the Dunalley Bakery is great for a fresh salad roll or pie, The Dunalley Cannery offers local seafood and steaks and the Dunalley Bay Distillery is a short drive east with water views of its own.



The position is genuinely useful. Hobart's CBD is about forty-five minutes, Hobart Airport around thirty, and you are sitting at the junction between the Tasman Peninsula and the east coast. Port Arthur and the Three Capes Track run south, the Coal River Valley vineyards sit inland, and Richmond is close enough for an easy afternoon.

A $1,000 security bond pre-authorisation will be placed on your card prior to check-in. Please note that this is not a charge. The hold will be automatically released after your stay, subject to your bank's authorisation hold period, provided no damages or additional charges are identified. Please only book this property if you are comfortable with this requirement.