Old Romsey shire office a spicy proposition

A piece Romsey history is attracting buyers from the local area and Melbourne.

On the market for $360,000, the 220sqm property at 130 Main St includes a building that was originally the Romsey shire office in the 1800s.

Chess Property’s Liz Dormontt says a local landowner sold the allotment for 10 pounds to the Lancefield District Road Board in 1869.

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The Board built an office with bluestone foundations on the block within the year.

Two years later, it was converted to the Romsey shire office and after 70 years, it became the Municipal Infant Welfare Centre, according to Dormontt.

In 1992, a buyer from Castlemaine snapped up the property.

“He has a passion for period buildings and wanted to preserve its history,” Dormontt says.

The new owner maintained and extended the building over the past 25 years.

The building is ideal for a business or weekender.

Original features were retained, including the facade which was hidden behind the enclosed front veranda.

Now nearly 150 years old, the property has been leased to an Indian restaurant for the past few years, according to the agent.

The building is adjacent to Five Mile Creek and has a beautiful view of 100-year-old trees.

“The creek has flooded on a regular basis but that has never affected the house which is on higher ground.”

The building has the potential to be converted into a weekender or bed and breakfast venture or it could be left as it is with tenants who want to stay. Pricing the property has proven to be difficult, according to Dormontt.

“There’s nothing really we could compare it to, it is totally unique.”