Miss Midgley’s hotel in New Farm, Brisbane, is a careful balance of heritage preservation and personal storytelling. Drawing on the history of the 160-year-old building and the legacy of educator Annie Midgley who lived and taught in the building, the designers have created a five-apartment boutique stay that feels warm, layered and distinctly local.
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Lisa and Izzie White designed this new boutique hotel and are also the hotel owners, working on this project during Covid. Lisa, a heritage designer with more than 35 years’ experience, partnered with her daughter Izzie, who works for Architectus, on the project (you may recognise Izzie from her TikTok account where she examines architectural themes). The pair began with an almost derelict site and chose to embrace the building’s eccentric character rather than smooth it away. Original features were carefully restored, while traces of the building’s past were retained wherever possible.
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While the pink palette might seem like a contemporary selection, Lisa explains it was a colour uncovered in the building’s original layers. “We scratched it all back and pink was the colour inside. Under the Art Deco ceilings is the most incredible, beautifully painted ceiling work with beautiful plaster architraves in all these amazing colours. We decided to leave it as it was, it was too beautiful,” Lisa says. Mauve, red, terracotta, and Brisbane tuff-inspired tones give the interiors a sense of authenticity. Corten steel, granite and brass have been used to pay further respect to the past, while original stone walls, plaster ceilings, and fragments of 160-year-old wallpaper remain as living evidence of the building’s history.
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While some bespoke hotels hit the brief for aesthetics, they lack the basics of functionality and comfort. This is not the case with Miss Midgley’s. Rooms include generous storage, good lighting, bountiful suitcase set-down areas and thoughtful amenities that make the property feel like staying in someone’s home rather than a standard hotel. Staying here, you suddenly discover things about yourself – like how much you like loose leaf tea, copper tea strainers and Iced Vovos.
The hotel’s connection to place extends beyond its materials and colour palette. The Midgley family were the longest residents of the house, taking up residency in 1903 and setting up a school there run by Ann Midgley. Each room features a vintage school desk which pays homage to this history and also houses those common hotel accessories such as remotes, wi-fi passwords and local tips. Artworks by Izzie, Izzie’s 92-year-old grandmother and other local artists adorn the walls.
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More than a boutique hotel, Miss Midgley’s feels like a conversation between past and present. By preserving the building’s quirks and stories rather than polishing them away, Lisa and Izzie White have created a place that feels deeply connected to Brisbane and unusually personal for a hotel stay.