Gaol for sale: Renowned artists selling gaol-turned-museum with multimillion dollar art collection

Some real estate is just bricks and mortar, but once in a while a listing comes along that’s more than a simple property, but also the sum of its parts.

That’s the case for renowned artists and creative directors David Bromley and his wife Yuge who’ve decided to not only part with their utterly unique gaol-turned-art museum in Victoria’s Castlemaine, but also its entire contents – if the buyer fits, that is.

“It took us five years to get it to the stage where we felt when the doors were open it would really astonish people. There are options in the purchase of the property that if someone wants part or all of it we’ll negotiate. We’re open and we’re going into this prepared for any scenario. Having said that, in our eyes it’s actually one gigantic installation, a curated piece,” he told realcommercial.com.au.

Artists David and Yuge Bromley are selling their gaol-turned-art museum, giving buyers the option to purchase the entire collection too. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Monika Tu of Black Diamondz Property and Kim McQueen McQueen Real Estate Daylesford are marketing the rare site and collection for $10 million.

The Bromleys bought the Old Castlemaine Gaol in 2018 for $1.5 million according to records, but David said although it was love at first sight for him, it was initially a hard sell for his wife.

“When we were looking for a space our agent Kim McQueen showed us a few unusual things like old hotels but I said ‘Look, Kim let’s not waste any time. I want something really wild’. A few days later she said ‘I think I’ve found just the thing’,” Mr Bromley explained.

“Yuge didn’t know Castlemaine and wasn’t too sure, but I convinced her to come for the drive. When we saw it I said yes and she said no, but I think she knew there’d be months of pestering so we got it. Eventually, she said ‘Let’s not do a gallery, let’s do a museum’.”

Opened in 1861, the heritage listed Old Castlemaine Gaol has been transformed into a museum collection by David and Yuge Bromley from Bromley & Co. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

With an artist’s intuition, Bromley said he could see the site’s potential.

“It was absolutely barren in soul and nuance, it had everything but tumbleweed blowing through it. But the outside was just so great, like a beautiful stone property in the south of France.”

What appealed to him was the space and stories behind the heritage walls – an ideal setting, he said, for a lifetime of artefacts. The eclectic but meticulously curated collection includes works by Brett Whiteley, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and of course, David Bromley.

The entire collection is available as part of the sale. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

There are cabinets of curiosities, Japanese potteries, antique Buddhas and Ganeshas, Murano chandeliers, industrial spotlights from Eastern Europe and grow lights placed in cells where approximately 100 plants are dotted throughout the interior.

“Where there’d once been a sense of claustrophobia, desperation and decay of the soul there are now plants growing.”

The property is home to a multimillion dollar art and sculpture collection. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Stark prison cells have been converted into micro galleries devoted to individual artists in the Bromleys’ collection.

“I’m an artist and I guess even from an early age I had this desperate need to surround myself with beautiful things. Even when I didn’t have any money, I found myself in old rail yards collecting industrial patterns, trawling through op shops or being a bit of beachcomber picking up pieces of wood,” he said.

“For 40 years I’ve been collecting and I’ve never really stopped hunting and gathering. That’s how the collection came to be.”

The site and collection are being marketed for $10 million. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

While the totality is a lifetime of collecting for Bromley, he said life – and work – is pulling him and Yuge in another direction.

“We have some huge projects in China coming up and we’re making some really amazing loft-style furniture in India. We’re not tourism operators, or food and beverage people. We’re creatives and our most joyous time is with family and time spent in the studio making art.”

The site is located a stone’s throw from the Castlemaine Railway station which travels directly to Melbourne. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Sitting in the heart of picturesque Castlemaine, the former lock up was modelled on the infamous Pentonville Prison in London. Finished in 1861, the gaol was built to house hoodlums and offenders from the nearby goldfields but continued operating under the penal system until 1990. During its time as a jailhouse, 10 men were reportedly hanged within its walls. It later became a reformatory school for teenage boys, a site for ghost tours, a radio station and a hotel.

“There’s a substantial parcel of land around it where they used to grow vegetables for the gaol, but there’s the potential to plant vines, or gardens to supply your own restaurant. It really could become a self-contained Wonderland,” Bromley added.

Sitting in the heart of Castlemaine, the former gaol was modelled on the infamous Pentonville Prison in London.

Monika Tu of Black Diamondz Property, who is more well-known for selling Sydney’s prestige trophy homes, said the old gaol is one of the most unique properties she has ever listed.

“It’s a very unique place and what they have done there is amazing. Within one day of listing it I already had several calls. Mostly the interest has been from Victoria, with a few calls so far from overseas. Some people want to buy everything, others just want to buy the real estate,” she said.

Tu is marketing the property alongside local agent Kim McQueen of McQueen Real Estate Daylesford via an expressions of interest campaign closing on May 31.

The unparalleled package has a price guide of $10 million.

The property also comes with two on-premise liquor licences. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Constructed from locally quarried sandstone and granite, the vast landholding totals 2982sq m of gross building area, and features a central entrance foyer feeding onto 80 former cells across three wings. There are four original watchtowers, a historic governor’s cottage now used as a cafe, two wings of original wardens’ residences comprising 11 rooms, an operational commercial kitchen with cool room and an outdoor shipping container fitted out as a bar. The property also comes with two on-premise liquor licences.

In addition, the vast block includes a grand landscaped courtyard or event space, an internal brick workshop and a large external industrial red brick workshop.

Read more: Buy a prison: Old Berrima Gaol in Southern Highlands listed for sale.