Gold rush era pub a rare find at $1.5m
A Bendigo pub with a history as rich as the gold rush era when it was built, is expected to attract treechangers and local pub owners.
Built in 1872 and owned by Bendigo mayor David Sterry and his family for 140 years, the iconic National Trust-listed Gold Mines Hotel at 49-57 Marong Rd is priced at $1.4 million-$1.5 million.
The 4900sq m block on two titles is also opposite the historic Victoria Hill Diggings, where Cr Sterry achieved great success in quartz reef mining.
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But it’s the double-storey hotel’s stunning features that are ensuring it’s a stand out with buyers.
There are 10 fireplaces across the two hotel’s two storeys, with marble and timber mantles.
A stucco brick facade with a 3m wide veranda framed by cast iron lacework highlight the exterior, while within are 3.65m high ceilings, decorative plasterwork and archways, Baltic pine floors, and a grand cedar central staircase with a stained glass window and chandelier.
Major restoration works were undertaken at the hotel in 2015.
McKean McGregor Bendigo sales agent Michael Brooks says it is an “absolute privilege” to list a property with so much history behind it.
There is a central cedar staircase, with a stained glass window and chandelier.
“We’ve had buyers inquiring about the hotel from all around — locals, Melburnites and those from interstate,” he says.
“One or two have owned pubs before while others are looking for a new adventure.
“And some people who don’t necessarily want to buy it are ringing up just to ask about the hotel’s history.”
As well as an elegant dining room, gentleman’s bar and ladies’ lounges, guest accommodation on the second floor includes four bedrooms with fireplaces and two bathrooms.
The hotel includes stunning beer gardens.
The gardens created by Cr Sterry and his family still feature gazebos, a dam and stream, sandstone walls, tiered garden beds and stone paved paths.
There is also an enclosed covered area including a beer garden and an outside bar.
The property will go to auction at 11am on Friday, May 4.
This article from the Herald Sun first appeared as “1870s Bendigo pub offers buyers a chance to step back in time to the gold rush era”.
