Berry estate may fetch $24m in second sale in 202 years

Wollstonecraft and his sister Elizabeth were the cousins of Mary Shelley, the author of the novel Frankenstein and second wife of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Their aunt Mary Wollstonecraft was a renowned feminist philosopher.

Berry and Wollstonecraft, who met on a trip from Lisbon to Cadiz, Spain, in 1812, travelled to the new colony of New South Wales in 1819, setting up a trading warehouse on George Street in Sydney. Three years later, they took up a land grant on the Shoalhaven River where, as the first NSW South Coast settlers, they become rich from timber and tobacco trading.

The bond between the pair was strengthened in 1827 when Berry married Elizabeth Wollstonecraft.

Among their achievements, Berry and Wollstonecraft – thanks to convict labour – built a 191-metre canal connecting the Shoalhaven and Crookhaven rivers, after which Berry set up shipbuilding facilities.

The Gold Coast suburb of Coolangatta is named after one of Berry’s vessels, which was wrecked off nearby Point Danger in 1846.

Edward Wollstonecraft, after whom the lower north shore Sydney suburb is named, died in 1832 while Alexander Berry died in 1873.

Coolangatta then passed down to his younger brother David – the nearby township of Berry is named after the Berry brothers – and later to their cousins the Hay family, with whom it remained until the late 1940s.

In 1947, local farmer Colin Bishop purchased land at Coolangatta, which he used for dairy farming. When Colin died, his son Greg took over, re-establishing vineyards and turning the estate into a tourist attraction with the development of a 28-room resort, nine-hole golf course, wine cellar, restaurant and function rooms.

Coolangatta Estate wines, which are made from locally grown grapes vinified at Tyrell’s in the Hunter Valley, have won more than 2200 awards.

Now approaching retirement, and as part of succession planning, Mr Bishop and his family have put Coolangatta Estate on the market through Adam Morris of Monolope Group.

No price guide has been given, but Mr Morris said a “loosely comparable” property was the 40-hectare Rotherwood vineyard in Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands, which was purchased by restaurateur Ian Pagent and his wife Maryanne for $23.5 million in October.

While Coolangatta Estate might appeal to a high net worth individual as a private estate, Mr Morris said the strongest buyer interest would come from the land lease, over-55’s development community, or lifestyle development sector.

“A vineyard may ultimately not be the highest and best value use of this magnificent site in new hands, particularly in light of NSW’s current housing shortage,” Mr Morris said.