Historic Stawell hotel a music lover’s dream

Stawell’s historic Diamond House is up for grabs, with its chef owner hoping it’ll strike a chord with music fans, or get a running start from history-buff buyers.

The restaurant and adjoining motel in the hometown of Australia’s richest foot race, the Stawell Gift, has hosted Screaming Jets lead guitarist Jimi Hocking, Craig Horne alongside his blues outfit The Hornets and Chain lead guitarist Phil Manning.

David Wainwright, who’s been a chef in restaurants and clubs around Australia, and his son Ben have run the venue at 24 Seaby St for the past 11 years, bringing in musical acts up to nine times a year.

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“It started off as something for us,” Ben says.

“We figured, we can’t get to Melbourne to see these artists and we thought, ‘well, we’ll bring them here’.”

The property also encapsulates 10 units that are rented out to guests.

The venue’s first performance was by late blues legend Dutch Tilders.

“I’d known Dutch for many, many years so I phoned his manager and said, ‘let’s get him up here’. It just snowballed from there,” David says.

He’s also lined up INXS to play at the Stawell town hall next month.

The hotel’s restaurant has served up plenty of musical meals.

The pair will take up another similar venture if a buyer sings the right tune for them, or else consider adding more units and staying put.

Diamond House — named for the unique diamond pattern on its exterior — dates back to 1868 and has been everything from a mining science college, to a religious meeting hall, wine saloon and a home.

First National Ararat director Phil Clark has the property listed for $520,000 — or $150,000 if someone just wants to take over the business.

Inside one of the motel’s rooms today.

The property retains plenty of period decor and comes with a commercial kitchen, a bar, dining and function rooms, plus a renovated manager’s cottage.

It’s also set to benefit from Grampians Tourism boss Marc Sleeman’s plans to bring more visitors to the region from Melbourne, as well as India and China.

“It’s a great opportunity for someone to tap into all of that,” Clark says.

This article from the Herald Sun originally appeared as “Don’t Stawell: Music scene Diamond in the rough for sale”.