Chance to acquire legendary Ettamogah Pub

The iconic Ettamogah Pub made famous by a long-running cartoon series is for sale for a figure in the mid-$3 millions.

The distinctive building with red roof and crazy wall lines, just outside Albury, is a tourist destination and hugely popular with visitors and grey nomads keen for the classic photo opportunity.

Sixteen kilometres north of Albury in Table Top, the pub is on almost 5ha of land and up for grabs is the original pub, a dining barn, reception centre, shops and a large recreation oval.

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Leonard Bongiovanni, of Manenti Quinlan and Associates, says rarely does an opportunity present itself to acquire an Australian icon along with a distinguished brand steeped in history.

Classic Aussie pub made famous by a long-running cartoon series.

“There is huge potential for a hands-on operator to take this to a new level,” he says.

“It would suit someone who can take advantage of some proper marketing and the brand, bring in some functions and really make something of the site,” he says.

The property has a mid-$3 million guide with expressions of interest closing on Friday June 7.

Inside the bar with the cartoons displayed above.

The background to the Ettamogah story is cartoonist Ken Maynard, who created the pub in a cartoon in 1959 for The Australasian Post. The weekly series of cartoons ran in the national magazine for almost 50 years.

As a boy Ken would cycle around a water hole called Ettamogah, an Aboriginal word meaning ‘place of good drink’. This struck Ken as an ideal name for a pub and hence the infamous Ettamogah cartoons were born.

The Ettamogah Pub in 1987.

In 1987 the Albury pub was built, inspired by the cartoon drawings and a pub chain across Australia was established. The Table Top pub is still a well-known tourist destination but Bongiovanni says it is now off the highway and would benefit from signs on the main road to drive business to the property.

“I think it will suit someone from out of the area who likes the lifestyle, 48,000sqm is a massive site and it has great potential,” he says.

Part of the recreation oval of Ettamogah Pub which comes with the property.

The owner is Leigh O’Brien but the pub has been managed by a tenant for some time. It underwent a refurbishment in 2014 and plays host to some annual functions, such as the Chrysler Car Club.

Manenti Quinlan and Associates in conjunction with John Hannigan Real Estate Services are marketing the site.

This article from the Daily Telegraph originally appeared as “The iconic Ettamogah pub made famous by cartoons is for sale”.