Osborn House Bundanoon: Luxury Southern Highlands getaway near Sydney

There’s a clear correlation between listening to soul music and weekend escapes exploring leafy regions of very little that rest no more than two hours from a decent metro area (no, not you Bunbury).

And the junction connecting the works of Aretha and Otis, Dusty, Etta, Al, Bill, Curtis – and let’s not slide past James and Marvin and Shuggie, to mention Sam and his mate Dave – and the lure of lush lawns and hedge rows and cows and marketed coziness is age.

See, no one’s really interested in Bowral or Daylesford or the Adelaide Hills – just as they’ve no desire to explore Marlena Shaw’s back catalogue – until you hit about 40 and time spent regularly googling “best reading glasses to not looked surprised”. Yes, this is the moment, a key period in life when Otis Redding is playing as you pack for a weekend involving a gravel driveway and a possible crest above a door or painted on the glass. Soul music first, then soil – it’s just the natural order of things as you start to find appeal in hotels and weekenders that smell of storytelling over ambition; places where Sam Cooke’s on low as the Burgundy breathes.

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Osborn House is such a place — a gentle two-hour amble south of Sydney, held in a town of nothing (Bundanoon) and which offers little other than relaxation, mist, views, food and a winter fire. ROAM made the drive down on the outer crease of summer, so let’s extinguish any flames here. And let’s also whack it in reverse to better acknowledge that drive, because it’s a central player in the magic of any weekend in this incredibly seductive pocket of NSW.

In what’s a roundabout way to land in Bundanoon, we cut a path south along the coast, heading inland at Berry, before climbing up and over the mountain and into the framed wonder of the Kangaroo Valley.

A deep green crease crossing from Shoalhaven to the Southern Highlands, this is a lush landscape of farms and Friesians and former media and banking executives — a rolling countryside that makes you question certain professional choices, retirement and just how well your super’s performing.

While running through here in a decent motor is a must for the climb and the corners, know the family SUV still works to drive a sense of escapism as you make your way through Fitzroy Falls and across to Exeter before hitting the wooden gate at Osborn House.

A chirpy voice on the intercom explains things before we drive up to the property, where we’re met, baggage is taken, and the car is removed via valet to its own secluded spot.

Dating to 1892 and with a history that includes “guest house” and “health retreat”, Osborn House was brought back into elevated life by owner Adam Abrams and the design work of Woods Bagot alum Alan McMahon (MAC Design Studio) and Linda Boronkay, an ex-Soho House design director.

Our welcome chat done in the adjacent library and it’s down to our accommodation. While the original house boasts 15 rooms, ours digs are one of seven new standalone cabins (Forest Lodge) that come encircled by kangaroos at dusk. The black timber exterior opens to softer woods within – a spacious room of a king bed and sofa, TV and complimentary (non-alcoholic) mini-bar. The outdoor bath on the small deck is a bonus, given the plushly tiled and expansive bathroom with a double basin and LaGaia amenities.

The deck proves an ultimate reading nook, a place to take in the rabbits and the roos and the whipped, early morning call of lyre birds. It’s not easy being a rural weekender, and it’s here at Osborn House, and Abrams has lent into a strong culinary program built around a main Fire Kitchen experience — a relatively new offer of immersion and open flame and Argentinian BBQ. Generous portions of plump, fire-licked occy come off the back of some memorable wagyu salami.

The 12-hour cooked lamb with potatoes and burnt avocado (trust – it works) is rather a lot, and some of the meat, we’ll admit, makes it back to the cabin for an early morning sandwich.

While time at Osborn House is, really, about doing little — lingering across a cabin, a room, the many sumptuous areas of the main house — the property also offers grass-court tennis, an indoor (and allegedly heated) 25m swimming pool, self-guided walks and bike tours, with the added brilliance of on-site spa. One of the finer moments comes from a trip up to the forest Bathing Deck, an outdoor collection of wood-fired sauna, spa and ice bath. It’s a place to sit and relax and mentally meander as you take in the views and the trees overhead.

Osborn House 96 Osborn Ave, Bundanoon NSW PriceTwo-night ‘Getaway’ package, including daily a la carte breakfast, $100 food and beverage credit, wine on arrival and gratis (non-alcoholic) mini-bar, from $999.

The Insider Know Fire Kitchen’s standout dinner menus ore offered Thursday – Sunday with lunch available weekends also. While you don’t need to leave the property, the local Thai in Bundanoon is incredibly good and but a three-minute walk. osbornhouse.com.au