'Awe-inspiring' 1840s Cobb & Co estate in Berrima hits the market
If you’re seeking an idyllic lifestyle change, it’s all happening in a beautifully-preserved Colonial postcard village, likened to the Cotswolds, where two rare historic properties have hit the market in the tight-knit community of Berrima in NSW’s Southern Highlands.
An 1840s estate – boasting a homestead and a restaurant in a separate building – first used as an inn and Cobb & Co stagecoach stables at 20-22 Jellore Street is set to be auctioned in the coming days through Ray White Bowral, with a guide price of $3.5 million to $3.8 million.
Just down the street, another opportunity to own a slice of settlement history presents itself with the Berrima Vault House, an 1844 pub featuring old jail cells – located at 11 Old Hume Highway –co-listed through an expressions of interest sale with Burgess Rawson Sydney, CBRE Hotels, and First National Bowral.
It’s a rare opportunity to snap up a trophy asset – or two – in a tourist town just over an hour from Sydney along the Old Hume Highway towards Canberra. Berrima is renowned for its Georgian architecture, boutique shops, and foodie indulgences, including an award-winning fine dining restaurant and bakeries that leave customers savouring tastes long after their visit.
Fronting Jellore Street while backing onto Wingecarribee River, the heritage-listed Cobb & Co estate is being offered to the market for the first time in about 40 years.
The property boasts river views from a two-storey, three-bedroom sandstock-brick homestead with sandstone features, alongside the former stables, which have been developed into a two-level restaurant, the Victoria Inn, featuring a commercial kitchen, bar, and multiple dining spaces with significant storage.
Stretching across three titles, the vast 5463-square-metre land parcel also served as a brewery and doctor’s surgery over the years, reflecting its dual commercial and residential zoning. This flexibility allows buyers with a vision to restore the private residence, lease out the commercial spaces, or explore subdivision potential across the three titles.
Louisa Anderson from Ray White Bowral says the inn operated from 1840 to around 1863 and was later used as a doctor’s surgery from 1876. It reopened as the Victorian Inn restaurant in the 1970s and remained open until the late ’90s following refurbishment.
“It’s awe-inspiring, that’s for sure,” Anderson says, reflecting on its rich history, while pointing out the practicalities. “It’s got a lot of cool features. You’re backing onto the river, so you have river views and you have no rear neighbours, which is great.”
The homestead, set as a jewel in a historic tree-lined street, boasts a modern country-style kitchen, three large living rooms on the ground floor with timber-mantled fireplaces, set beneath soaring ceilings that reach nearly 3.5 metres, and classic period features including double-hung sash windows, six-panel doors, and cedar joinery. The three bedrooms are located upstairs, with two featuring dormer windows, and a spacious central bathroom. Two bonus underground sandstone cellars are tucked under the home.
The former Victoria Inn, situated behind the residence, offers the perfect opportunity for a hospitality-minded investor to revive an eatery, create boutique accommodation, or utilise retail or gallery space, subject to council approval.
In addition, a nearby outbuilding, formerly a boarding house, features a sitting area, toilets, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a storeroom, alongside secure garaging and two carports, as well as expansive grounds.
Anderson says the property, located opposite the Jellore Street playground, and a short dash to the town’s shops and cafes, has attracted a significant amount of local interest, with 20 groups visiting in the first week, 11 in the second week, and 16 in the third week, with the auction this week.
“It’s a very tight-knit town. You don’t see many people move,” says Anderson, adding how surprising it is to have several listings right now.
“It’s very historic. You’ve literally got the oldest oldest licensed pub that’s still running in Australia – the Surveyor General Inn – here, and then you’ve got the courthouse and the historic gaol as well which was used for convicts … a lot of tourists come through during the week for the bakeries as well.”
There’s “a lot of heart and soul in the home”, evident by those who popped into the openings with ancestral links, she adds.
“I actually had a lady who came through and got married there. There’s a lot of history, a lot of memories … It definitely stands out from the crowd in every aspect.”
Back in the day, horses and carriages would arrive at the inn’s door. “That’s how old it is, people would come to the pub on their horse and relax there,” she says.
Meanwhile, also listed in the town, the pub – Berrima Vault House – was initially built as Taylor’s Crown Inn, and also boasts a three-bedroom apartment, styled for premium short-stay accommodation, along with an events building and landscaped garden.
The property, located at 20-22 Jellore Street, is being auctioned at 6pm on Wednesday, November 19, at Bowral Golf Club.
