Luke Smith & Jamie Greyson Residence, Berriedale

The Foundation of Home

The couple established their residence in this quiet corner of Berriedale in the June 2015, drawn by the suburb's unpretentious character and proximity to both Hobart's amenities and Tasmania's wild landscapes. The house itself—a typical Australian suburban dwelling with its practical layout and unremarkable facade—belied the complexity of the lives unfolding within. Luke, having journeyed from Adelaide through Broken Hill's ochre expanses and a Mormon missionary's wanderings, found in this place a stillness he'd long sought. Jamie, returning to his native Tasmania after years displaced in South Australia and Queensland, reclaimed his birthright beneath Mount Wellington's watchful presence.

Their home quickly filled with the comfortable detritus of coupled life: shared furniture chosen through compromise, photographs marking anniversaries and holidays, the gradual accumulation of books and belongings that transform a house into something more intimate. Two dogs—Henri and Duke—completed the household, their presence adding warmth and routine to daily life. Henri, with his particular habits and preferences, and Duke, loyal and protective, became not just pets but family members, their needs structuring the rhythms of each day.

Professional Lives and Personal Tensions

Jamie's work in aged care reflected his compassionate nature, though the demands of caring for others often left him depleted upon returning home. His shifts at Vaucluse Aged Care brought stories of residents' lives, small triumphs and inevitable losses that he carried back to Berriedale each evening. The emotional labour of his profession, combined with physical exhaustion, created a quiet distance that Luke, absorbed in his own internal world, sometimes failed to bridge.

Luke's professional life remained more nebulous, his income streams varied and sometimes mysterious. While he maintained the appearance of normality—managing finances, handling household administration—his true preoccupation lay elsewhere. The vivid dreams that had haunted him since childhood intensified within these walls, the voice of Clivilius growing stronger, more insistent. His study became a refuge where he could explore these visions without explanation, though the secrecy created fissures in the foundation of trust he shared with Jamie.

The Architecture of Secrets

The house's layout inadvertently facilitated the compartmentalisation that would define their final year in the house together. Luke's study, tucked away from the main living areas, became his private domain—a space Jamie rarely entered, respecting boundaries that perhaps should have been questioned. Here, Luke accumulated research, notes, and eventually the Portal Key that would transform everything. The bedroom they shared grew colder as unspoken tensions mounted, physical intimacy replaced by polite distance and careful scheduling to avoid difficult conversations.

The kitchen, once a space of shared meal preparation and casual intimacy, witnessed the gradual erosion of their connection. Breakfast conversations dwindled to logistics and scheduling. Small gestures of love got lost in the growing chasm between them. Even Duke and Henri sensed the shifting dynamics, their behaviour reflecting the household's increasing anxiety.

July 2018: The Portal Opens

The discovery of the Portal Key in July 2018 marked the beginning of the end for their shared life in Berriedale. The house transformed from home to staging ground as Luke began moving between worlds, using their residence as the Earth-side anchor for his inter-dimensional travels.

The physical evidence of change accumulated: unexplained deliveries of camping equipment, massive tents that seemed excessive for any earthly purpose, food supplies that disappeared without explanation. Joel Gibbons, the delivery driver who would unknowingly become entangled in their story, noted the strangeness of repeated large orders to the Berriedale address. Luke's attempts to maintain normality grew increasingly strained as the demands of two worlds pulled him apart.

The Household Disrupted

As July progressed into August, the Berriedale house became a thoroughfare for increasingly desperate activity. Gladys Cramer, Jamie's closest friends, found herself drawn into the conspiracy, her wine-soaked eyes missing nothing as she navigated the dangerous knowledge of the Portal's existence. Beatrix, Gladys's sister, added another layer of complexity with her sharp observations and surprising insights. The house that had once sheltered quiet domesticity now hosted frantic cover-ups, with blood to clean and bodies to hide.

The truck incident—Joel's tragic encounter with forces he couldn't understand—brought violence directly into their driveway. The careful suburban facade crumbled as police investigations circled closer, though the true nature of events remained carefully concealed. Luke's financial desperation grew as he attempted to fund supplies for the Clivilius settlement, draining bank accounts and maxing credit cards while maintaining the pretence of normality.

Financial Ruin and Desperate Measures

The house's mortgage, once comfortably manageable on their combined incomes, became another source of strain as Luke redirected funds toward his Clivilius project. Bank statements scattered across his desk told a story of escalating desperation: cash advances, payment plans, borrowed time. The comfortable middle-class life they'd built proved surprisingly fragile when tested by inter-dimensional demands.

Luke's frantic calculations—how much for tents, for food supplies, for materials to establish human presence in a new world—played out against the mundane reality of utility bills and council rates. The house that sheltered them demanded its due even as Luke's attention turned entirely toward another realm. Jamie, now banished to the newly established settlement of Bixbus, watched their financial security evaporate without fully understanding where the money went.

August 2018: Investigation and Aftermath

The fire that would eventually consume the residence in early August represented more than the destruction of property—it was the cremation of a life that could no longer exist. Whether arson or accident, the flames that swept through the rooms where Luke and Jamie had loved and argued in equal measure, reduced their shared history to ash and insurance claims. Detective Sienna Blackwood's report would note accelerant patterns suggesting deliberate action, but the perpetrator has never been identified in any official record.

The police investigations that followed, the questioning of neighbours, the careful construction of plausible explanations—all of this swirled around absence. The house at Berriedale, once witness to a decade of partnership, stood empty. With Jamie and Henri re-homed in Bixbus, the charred remains of the house carry memories of a household that had sheltered both profound love and impossible secrets.