International Press
Oprah Daily | House Beautiful (USA) — Steam Carriage
Steam Carriage made the list of 8 best tiny house resorts worldwide. A 1926 first-class train carriage transformed into three-bedroom accommodation in Forrest.
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/g46167598/tiny-house-resorts
The Guardian — Steam Carriage
"All aboard an adventurous home: life on a restored steam carriage" — it's been a long time since this old steam carriage saw active service on the Australian railways, but now it's been restored as a first class home.
Country Living - Modern Rustic (UK) - Liptrap Loft
Liptrap Loft on the cover and a 12-page feature in Country Living UK's special bookazine, Create the New Country Look.
A handcrafted Australian cabin combining recycled materials with modern architecture, blending into its rural surroundings.
Schöner Wohnen (Germany) Steam
"Wie Fleur und Mike Leslie einen viktorianischen Waggon in Australien kauften und daraus ein extravagantes Zuhause für ihre Gäste machten" (How Fleur and Mike Leslie bought a Victorian carriage in Australia and turned it into an extravagant home for their guests).
The Heritage Post (Germany) - Steam
"Wie aus einem verlassenen viktorianischen Eisenbahnwaggon in Australien ein außergewöhnliches Feriendomizil wurde" (How an abandoned Victorian railway carriage in Australia became an extraordinary holiday retreat).
Elegance Magazine (The Netherlands) - Otways Loft
Otways Loft featured in Elegance magazine's "Opgeknapte Blokhut in de Otways" (Renovated log cabin in the Otways).
Elegance (The Netherlands) - Liptrap Loft
"Ontsnapping in de Natuur" (Escape into nature). Fleur and Mike Leslie weren't looking for a second home, just something to rent out, until they found this one and changed every plan.
Nya Rum (Sweden) - Otways Loft
Otways Loft featured, "En tillflyktsort bland träden" (A refuge among the trees). Nestled in the greenery of Australia's Otway forest, Fleur and Mike Leslie transformed a unique but neglected log cabin into a peaceful holiday dream, with grand natural experiences right on the doorstep.
The Spaces — Liptrap Loft
Featured in "10 architectural retreats in Victoria's countryside"
Tucked among gum and acacia trees in Walkerville, Liptrap Loft was hand built from found and recycled materials by architect Jim Commadeur, with a saw-toothed frame and a separate Japanese-inspired bathhouse.
https://thespaces.com/architectural-retreats-in-victorias-countryside
Daily Mail Australia — Liptrap Loft
"Inside this 'recycled' cabin lies a stunning retreat" — rustic decor, sweeping views, and a four person bathtub made from an old horse trough.
Australian Press
Home Beautiful (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
Liptrap Loft featured in "Cabin Fever," Home Beautiful's roundup of 20 places across Australia that celebrate slowing down and getting out of town.
Home Beautiful (Australia) Steam Carriage
See inside the most unique holiday stay in Australia - the converted 1920s steam train is set in the peaceful town of Forrest.
https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/lifestyle/unique-airbnb-australia
Home Beautiful — Steam Carriage
Featured in "10 must-visit Australian holiday destinations," alongside Byron Bay, Kakadu and Freycinet. Steam: Vintage Train Carriage is named the pick for the Great Ocean Road, a lovingly restored 1920s first class carriage and winner of Best Unique Stay at the 2023 Airbnb Host Awards.
https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/lifestyle/best-australian-holiday-destinations
News.com.au — Steam Carriage & Otways Loft
"Inside Airbnb's 'most unique stay' in Australia" — when Fleur and Mike Leslie bought Otways Loft in the Otway Ranges, they had no idea the "derelict" 1920s train carriage that came with it would win Most Unique Stay at the 2023 Airbnb Host Awards.
Domain Magazine (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
A not-so-average cabin in regional Victoria - Liptrap Loft is rustic, remote, and was built by one bloke, but isn't your typical cabin in the wilderness.
Traveller (Sydney Morning Herald / The Age) — Steam Carriage
Featured in "Sustainable accommodation: Australia's best eco escapes," a list of Australia's best eco stays. Steam Carriage, "the stationary train stay," was restored over nine months from a carriage once carrying passengers between Melbourne and Sydney.
The Age — Liptrap Loft
First ever press feature, and still a favourite. Simone Howe's essay on childhood holiday houses ends at a wooden house near Walkerville — "everything in the house has been built by the same hand, right down to the dishrack."
https://dufflebird.com.au/en/3960683/the-age-feature-by-simone-howe
Australian Traveller — Liptrap Loft
Featured in "The 10 most adorable cottage stays around Australia," at number 2. Draping vines, wooden walls and a quaint farmland setting make Liptrap Loft a thing of cottagecore dreams — designed in a modern, Japanese-influenced style, with recycled materials giving it a unique, magical pull.
https://www.australiantraveller.com/australia/cottage-stays
Broadsheet — Otways Loft & Steam Carriage
Featured in "The Best Great Ocean Road Airbnbs," alongside 12 other coastal stays. Steam Carriage: a renovated steam locomotive restored in 2014 from a carriage first built in 1926. Otways Loft: an eclectic cabin built from locally felled timber, church materials and salvaged train parts, deep in the Otway Ranges.
https://www.broadsheet.com.au/surf-coast/travel/article/best-great-ocean-road-airbnbs
Country Style (Australia) - Otways Loft
A unique cabin-style home in Victoria's Otway Ranges. Part train, part treehouse, Otways Loft is full of surprises.
Country Style (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
Liptrap Loft featured in Country Style's Dream Bathrooms.
Amid the lush farmland of South Gippsland, its designer-builder crafted a separate Japanese bath house as the bathroom, entirely unique.
Country Style (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
"Get the look" — a secluded cabin in the woods has been the birthplace of many a masterpiece. It was in that tradition that Liptrap Loft was crafted.
https://dufflebird.com.au/en/3908095/country-style-feb-2023
Country Style (Australia) - Steam
Back on the Tracks. Steam trains may be a thing of the past, but this couple gave an old carriage a new life in regional Victoria.
House and Garden (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
Away from it all. Secluded and supremely cosy, this cabin is constructed from mostly recycled materials and proves that sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
Owner Builder (Australia) - Otways Loft
A guest and writer described Otways Loft as "a curious mix of tree house, vintage train, raw and recycled materials, set in a rambling adventure garden."
The Design Files (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
An architect's handcrafted home + bathhouse turned unique stay
In the early 1990s, Melbourne architect Jim Commadeur built his dream weekender at Walkerville: a handmade, open-plan shack with a triple-peaked roof and a separate Japanese-style bathhouse
https://thedesignfiles.net/2022/11/stays-liptrap-loft-walkerville?
The Design Files (Australia) - Steam Carriage
Stay in a converted 1920s train carriage in the Otway Ranges"
A night inside this converted steam train carriage feels like stepping back in time - the once derelict carriage was fully restored using salvaged materials and authentic 1920s pieces, tucked away in Victoria's Otway Ranges.
https://thedesignfiles.net/2022/09/stays-steam-carriage-otway-ranges
The Design Files (Australia) - Otways Loft
Get back to nature at this Hemingway-style rainforest cabin" — The Design Files
Otways Loft, tucked into Forrest between mountain ash rainforest and the Mount Cowley terrain, is built from materials salvaged from train carriages and demolished churches.
https://thedesignfiles.net/2020/12/stays-otway-loft
Country Style (Australia) - Liptrap Loft
Special Bedrooms Feature Liptrap Loft
Timber tonic: once a porch, this second bedroom at Liptrap Loft, a rustic cabin in Victoria's South Gippsland, was enclosed using recycled timber."
TV and Video
Better Homes and Gardens (Channel 7) — TV feature, 2020. Steam Carriage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqx-HceoTR4
Better Homes And Gardens (Australia TV) - Otways Loft
Johanna visits a pole house in Otways - Better Homes and Gardens (Channel 7), TV feature, 2020
A stunning three storey treehouse made from train parts, visited by Johanna Griggs.
https://www.bhg.com.au/tv/johanna-visits-a-pole-house-in-otways
Postcards TV (Channel 9) - Otways Loft
An secluded, hand built tree house - this place is pure escapism and the definition of a slow home. Otways Loft and Forrest featured on Postcards, TV feature, May 2024.
https://dufflebird.com.au/en/3047612/postcards
Getaway TV (Channel 9) — Steam Carriage
Featured in "Discovering hidden gems along Victoria's Great Ocean Road." Not many people can say they've slept in a first class carriage — a trip along the Great Ocean Road is memorable enough, but a stay here guarantees a holiday you won't forget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk9px4b_nVI (segment at 4:12)
Books & Publications
Books
Principles of Style by Sarah Andrews
Tasmanian stylist and designer Sarah Andrews chose Steam Carriage as the real-world example for her styling rule "a place contains stories," one of ten principles in her debut coffee table book.
Life Unhurried — Steam Carriage
One of 50 slow stays across Australia featured in Life Unhurried, a book celebrating slow and sustainable travel around the country.
https://lifeunhurried.com/life-unhurried-book
Awards
Airbnb Host Awards 2023 (Australia) — Steam Carriage & Liptrap Loft
Steam named Best Unique Stay winner for Australia and New Zealand in Airbnb's national Host Awards. Liptrap Loft was a finalist for Best Design Stay.
See the TV announcement and full press coverage here: https://dufflebird.com.au/en/3730607/airbnb-awards-2023