Moorilla Estate/Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is formed by a complex of buildings, structures and plantings. The site is accessed via Main Road, Berriedale, which runs parallel to the Brooker Highway, the main road in and out of Hobart.

Farmhouse (also referred to as the Gatehouse)
At a short distance from Main Road, on the southern side of the driveway, is a two-storey masonry Italian style farmhouse built c1954. The farmhouse has a rectangular floor plan, gabled roof clad in terracotta tiles and a low brick chimney. The western elevation has an external staircase leading to a covered porch with three arched windows and the upper floor. There are timber framed windows of varying size on each elevation of the farmhouse. Internally the upper level of the farm house retains its original layout and fittings.

The lower level was refurbished as a separate residence in 2009. A large opening with glazed door and sidelights on the eastern elevation access a paved terrace area. A mature vine overhangs the terrace and is supported by a pergola structure. There is an additional single doorway to the eastern elevation. A high masonry wall forms an enclosed courtyard at the northern end of the farmhouse.

Courtyard House
The Courtyard House was designed by Roy Grounds between 1954 and 1956. In c2009 the Courtyard House was modified to form the entrance to MONA. Constructed from whitewashed masonry with large glazed areas and sections of brick detail, the Courtyard House is a basic square constructed around a central courtyard. The central courtyard has been enclosed with a glass and steel-framed roof structure and a lift and stairwell shaft accesses the museum below. The building has a flat bitumen coated roof, and the wide eaves to the courtyard are lined with limed Tasmanian Oak. The house has concrete foundations.

The southern elevation features large glazed areas that overlook Berriedale Bay and beyond, and a large tapered brick chimney, a key feature of the building, which the roof curves up to. The eastern elevation (former bedroom wing) has five glazed external doorways that access a covered terrace surfaced with stone paving, which extends to a grassed area. The window and door openings on the southern and eastern elevations are contemporary to the original design. A sandstone retaining wall extends from the north-eastern corner.

The northern section of the house (former service area) includes a wing that extends from the north-west corner, with a small c2009 addition at the end. The northern section of the house sits directly adjacent to a retaining wall and has high, small window openings, a large tapered brick chimney that relates to the former boiler room, and a rectangular shaped cellar, which projects off the main structure. The southern elevation of the service wing has a band of small windows with vertical timber paneling below.

A large section of the western elevation is obscured by a mirrored polished stainless steel wall, designed by Australian artist Matthew Harding, marking the formal entrance to MONA. The immediate surroundings and forecourt area of the Courtyard House are highly landscaped.

Internally the former residence was modified to incorporate the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities (MMoA, 1999) and later adapted to form the entrance to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA, 2011), café and shop. However, a number of key design features and details have been retained, including limed Tasmanian Oak paneling, sandstone floors (excavated from the site), sitting room fireplace and curved ceiling, built-in Tasmanian Oak joinery and former courtyard openings with brass tracks.

Round House
The Round House, designed by Roy Grounds in 1957, is a circular two-storey residence set into the slope of the land. The building is located on the southern side of the peninsula and features a low conical roof, surfaced with bitumen, and a low centrally placed stone chimney. The lower section of the house and adjacent retaining wall, that form the southern elevation, is constructed from reclaimed sandstone blocks. The lower level has five rectangular openings with timber-framed windows, and two doorways with timber and glass doors.

The upper level is constructed from timber paneling and large areas of timber framed windows. Six doorways on the upper level access a terrace surfaced with sandstone paving that wraps around the west, east and north of the Round House. The terrace area is landscaped. A recessed entrance porch on the western elevation features a timber and glazed door flanked by a window each side. On one side of the door is a hand-painted tile map of Tasmania, and on the other Lazio, the region of Italy where Claudio Alcorso was born. A balcony faced with timber paneling wraps around part of the upper level of the southern elevation. The balcony was reconstructed in 2009. On the lower level there are two openings with glazed doors and evenly spaced timber framed windows.

Internally the rooms radiate off the central stone spiral staircase. As part of the museum development the lower level was modified in 2009 to incorporate a tunnel from the museum, leading in from the east, continuing through to the library and Kiefer Pavilion, constructed on the western side of the Round House. The upper level retains the original layout, limed timber paneling and joinery and curved stone fireplaces formed by the central core and staircase.  

MONA (Museum of Old and New Art)
The Museum is a four-level structure, with three levels excavated into the sandstone bedrock and foreshore of the peninsula. The external form is characterised by ‘waffle’ pre-cast concrete walling, rusted ‘Corten’ steel cladding and landscaped roof terraces. The museum roof provides a forecourt to the Courtyard House and entry to the museum; a stairway cut into the stone connects the forecourt and ferry jetty.

The museum also includes purpose designed pavilions, as extensions to exhibition space, including Boltanski Pavilion, Kiefer Pavilion and Pharos Pavilion, Solstice Chamber and connected galleries, linked to the main galleries through subsurface tunnels. Internally the museum is divided into fixed and flexible galleries and exhibition space.

The core of MONA is a dynamic site where the landscape elements and structures collectively form the character of the place. It is characterised by a creative and changing landscape that incorporates contributory structures and installations, including eight accommodation pavilions on the eastern embankment, Winery, the Ether Building (2005), Claudio Building, the Chapel (2010-2011), stage and concert lawn, and installations Amarna (2015) and Spectra (2018).

Landscape – plantings, roads & pathways
See de Gryse, 2017 Map 2 and Johnston 2017 p94-96 for key to landscape features. e.g. T1, R2 refer to the feature numbering used in these plans.

Plantings and features contemporary to Alcorso’s occupation that are of significance,
- poplar avenue (Populus x canandensis ) that lines the long driveway through the site, from Berriedale Road to the crest of the peninsula. The Lombardy poplar avenue (P nigra ‘Italica’) was planted c1950 by Alcorso, and replanted in 2008 due to deteriorating condition (T1),
- rows of vines, dating from different periods, on each side of the avenue leading up to the museum complex, including ‘U’ shaped trellis vines (V1 c1958, V2 c1980s-1990s, V3 post-1990s),
- terrace lawn on the eastern side of the Courtyard House (A),
- main entry road and original road to the Courtyard House (R2),
- remnants of lemon scented gum (Eucalyptus citriodora) avenue, that line the path from the Round House to the former winery, planted by Alcorso (T4).

Plantings and features that contribute to the aesthetic qualities of the site;
- remnants of the Eucalypt arcs behind the Courtyard House, planted by Alcorso (T2),
- remnants of Monterey Pine windbreak at the top of the main entry road, planted by Alcorso (T3),
- Tamarisk hedge along the foreshore adjacent to the Farmhouse, predating Alcorso (T5),
- Native vegetation and bushland to the peninsula foreshore (RB).

Views and sightlines
Moorilla Estate/MONA is visible from many points from land and the River Derwent. Important sight lines include,
- from the Main Road entrance, up the poplar lined avenue to the museum complex,
- from the eastern shore and River Derwent,
- from the Brooker Highway and Small Fry Pan across Berriedale Bay,
- from the Courtyard House windows across Berridale Bay towards Mount Wellington/Kunanyi,
- from the crest of the peninsula back down to Main Road overlooking the poplar lined avenue, vineyard and Farmhouse.

Archaeological features
Landscaping and construction work in 2018 uncovered a sandstone foundation feature measuring approximately 8 x 3 metres directly west of the Keifer Pavilion and Round House, approximately 15 metres inland from the foreshore margins (Huys 2018 pp1-2). The place has potential to contain other as yet unidentified features and subsurface deposits that may contribute information relating to the use of the Large Fry Pan peninsula during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Associated collections of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) (not part of the Heritage Register entry)
The cultural material collections of MONA are of significance in their own right and their housing and exhibition on site enhances the place’s heritage value. The collection includes antiquities, artworks, sculpture, furniture, documents and objects. The collection is not part of the Heritage Register entry for Moorilla Estate/The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and is not regulated or managed in accordance with provisions of the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995.