'There was nothing here': The couple who built their dream home on a private Tasmanian island

• Owners: Ralph and Caralyn Mansfield
• Address: 1 Ram Island, Little Swanport, Tasmania
• Type of property: A nature-inspired home on a private island in Tasmania
• Price guide: Expressions of interest over $6 million

When Ralph and Caralyn Mansfield moved to Tasmania’s Ram Island in 2019, they fulfilled an almost two-decade-long dream – one that began with a small ad in a Melbourne newspaper.

“On the Sunday morning I found the ad and then, on the Wednesday, I flew down and met the real estate agent and she arranged to have a boat take us over,” Ralph says.

“I flew home on the Wednesday night after viewing the island and signing contracts and I rang Caralyn. She goes, ‘What have you been up to today?’ and I said, ‘I’ve bought an island!’”

When they bought it in 2002, the 26-hectare island in Little Swanport, between Orford and Swansea on Tasmania’s east coast, was far from inhabitable. But building contractor Ralph had a vision of one day making it their home.

“There was nothing here,” he says. “There was no jetty, no ramps … 80 per cent of the island was covered in gorse weed. It was our dream to come down here and retire on the island.”

After winding up Ralph’s construction business, the two made the long-awaited move from Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, living in a caravan while they cleared weeds, rocks and dead logs, and began building the home they’d been slowly designing for eight years.

In what Ralph describes as “the biggest logistical job I’ve ever taken on”, he worked with a local engineer to build a landing barge and moved 38 trucks’ worth of materials to the island over two days, before getting to work on the construction.

Unsurprisingly, the view served as the main inspiration for the home’s design, with a five-metre deep wraparound deck providing the perfect place to sit and take in the scenery.

“We orientated the house north and just filled the northern side of the house with glass,” Ralph says. “You [look] across to Freycinet, across to Schouten Island, all the way out through Little Swanport estuary.”

Conscious not to create something that would “stick out like a sore thumb”, the couple opted for materials that would blend into the landscape.

The home’s exterior is clad in silvertop ash timber, with weathering steel wraps around the edge of the roof.

Inside, blackheart sassafras, which is native to Tasmania and “very hard to come across”, was used for the floorboards and staircases. 

“It’s a big feature,” Caralyn says. “It’s something people look at as soon as they walk in.”

Now that the home is complete, the couple’s life on the island is a relaxing one, with days spent going for walks, pottering about the house, cooking on the outdoor barbecue and observing the native wildlife.

“We’ve got kangaroos and wallabies that live on the island and the bird life here is incredible, it’s just beautiful,” Ralph says.

When they need to stock up on supplies or get their social fix, a second private jetty in Pontypool makes it easy to visit the Tasmanian mainland – which they do about once a week.

across to Freycinet, across to Schouten Island, all the way out through Little Swanport estuary.'” photographer_name=”Natasha Mulhall” /]

“You’ve got the best of both worlds,” Ralph says. “You can have the solitude or it takes you five minutes to get off the island and within a short distance, you can be at shopping centres and wineries and restaurants.

“We’ve met a fantastic group of people just in Pontypool, and on Friday nights, we usually get together and have a drink and something to eat.”

The couple are the first people to inhabit Ram Island since 1939, when the last of the Pyke family moved away after calling it home for around a century, Ralph says.

“They built a little house over here and [Joseph Pyke] used to grow his own wheat and bake bread,” he says. “I know they had animals and they had their vegetable gardens.

“There’s a lot of Pyke family around here and they love talking to you about it.”

$4,950,000+ price range

1 Ram Island, Little Swanport TAS 7190

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Having spent over four years living on the island, the couple are planning to move closer to their family in Victoria. The property, one of only 11 privately owned islands in the state, has been listed for sale via expressions of interest.

“We’re just enjoying it while we’re still here, but the day we move off the island will be an emotional day,” Ralph says. “Someone is going to be extremely lucky to own this property.”