Port Fairy pub Pies footballers once owned is listed for sale for $3m

Publicans Damian Gleeson, 63, and his wife, Sue, 59, have been involved with the property at 76 Sackville Street since 2003, when they purchased the leasehold and later acquired the freehold in 2007.

But decades before the couple arrived, the pub had already carved out a place in local folklore.

“A little bit of history about the pub back in 1982 … Ronnie Wearmouth, who played for Collingwood, came down to coach Port Fairy, so he and three of the Collingwood boys, actually bought the pub,” Gleeson says.

“But, you know, like, seriously… if you mention that, people would go: ‘Oh, my God, I remember him’… It was sort of like a ‘lock-up when you leave’ type venue.”

The council heritage-listed bluestone property – recognised at a council level and by the National Trust – is now for sale with Danny Harris, co-director of ​​​​Harris and Wood Real Estate, with a $3 million price guide. 

It is offered on a walk-in, walk-out basis, with the flexibility to continue trading or be repurposed, including the potential for a high-end restaurant with accommodation or private residential use.

Prominent corner asset

The 880-square-metre pub – licensed for 900 in the pub and 300 extra in the beer garden – sits on a 1295-square-metre site and includes multiple modern dining and entertaining zones, supported by a commercial kitchen and TAB area, all just a short stroll from the beach.

The first floor is home to 11 accommodation rooms with shared facilities, plus a self-contained three-bedroom apartment with a modern kitchen and European laundry. Guests are charged $100 for a double and $250 a night for the apartment.

Harris says the listing has driven strong early enquiry in a town with just four watering holes.

“We’ve had a huge response, I suppose, from a public interest point of view … both locally and from afar,” he says.

“We’re hoping to announce a successful purchaser – and what that might look like for its next iteration – for those that live and also visit Port Fairy in the coming weeks.”

Colonial roots and global links

Built for West Indian-born hotel entrepreneur John Walwyn Taylor, the hotel was, at the time, the largest and most commodious in Western Victoria, with its extensive balcony verandah – originally timber and replaced with iron – used for public entertainment and political addresses.

It also operated as a Cobb & Co staging post – where coaches stopped to change horses and passengers rested – forming part of a broader but ultimately unrealised vision.

“It’s 170-years-old this year… it was built by a fellow named John Walwyn Taylor,” Gleeson says.

“His dream was to have a Star of the West, Star of the East in Wangaratta… a Star of the North, and a Star of the South. But he died before any of that could become a reality.”

The striking first-floor verandah is one of Harris’ favourite features.

“It is just really prominent … it is so sizeable you just cannot rebuild them, they were built at a time when there was a reasonable amount of wealth – but yet to do so again would be almost impossible,” he says.

Gleeson points out that the hotel’s namesake extends beyond Australia, citing similarities with a hotel in Kimberley, South Africa. However, its historic connection is unclear, with the venue apparently established in 1870, 10 years after Taylor died.

“There is a Star of the West in a place in South Africa. And if you took the verandah off here, the hotel is actually almost identical … they walk in off the corner street … but it has traffic lights where we don’t.”

Beloved Port Fairy Folk Festival hangout

Today, the pub remains a versatile entertainment venue, with its timber-covered beer garden stage hosting local and cover bands during major events, including the Port Fairy Folk Festival and New Year’s Eve.

“We had a tenant in here for a little while, and they vacated, so we’re just back in,” Gleeson says, excited to reopen after last year’s closure during the March-run folk festival, one of Australia’s largest, attracting more than 10,000 punters daily for three days over the Labour Day long weekend.

“It’s just been one of the great entertainment venues, I guess.”

“Over the summer, you know, the town swells to 10,000 to 12,000 people. And so, you know, the pubs have got to have entertainment – you’re got to provide stuff for these people to do.”

Regional draw and seasonal demand

Port Fairy – located at the end of the Great Ocean Road, less than 30 minutes from Warrnambool and about 3.5 hours from Melbourne – is a historic fishing town with a population of less than 4000.

The town is known for its natural attractions, maritime and whaling history, and boutique shops and cafes that blend with 19th-century cottages along wide streets dotted with grand Norfolk pines.

“Port Fairy is just… it’s certainly not Sorrento, and it’s not Portsea, which is a great thing,” Gleeson says.

“But it’s a significant tourist town, because of Hamilton, Horsham and Ballarat – and in these places, you know… they’re only two hours away.”

“So a lot of the farmers, you know, in Hamilton, they used to call Port Fairy ‘Hamilton South’, because they all just come down here for holiday. So we just called Hamilton’ Port Fairy North’.”

A return home

After years of operating pubs in Geelong, the couple returned to Gleeson’s hometown to be closer to family, taking a fateful chance on a tender for the pub all those years ago.

“Port Fairy’s my hometown. We were operating a pub in Geelong at the time … We had the Carlton Hotel, then the Cremorne Hotel – which Billy Brownless is in now.”

“And I just said to Susie: ‘Look, what if we tender for it? If we get it, we do. If we don’t, we don’t. Her dad had just died in Warrnambool … and we’ve been here ever since.”

They have maintained the building’s original L-shaped structure while adapting it over time, including transforming a drive-thru bottleshop into an expansive beer garden.

“The bones of the pub haven’t changed at all, really,” he says.

“In the old days, there was a ballroom upstairs. So, you know, when the governor would hit town, they’d have their functions upstairs and stuff.

“That’s all been filled into accommodation … on closer inspection, you can look up and see the lining of the walls, you could actually just take those bedroom walls out.”

Gleeson also highlights the building’s impressive acoustics, noting punters can have a quiet TAB session in the bar and “can’t hear a thing” from the live music out the back.

“We’ve had a lot of fun along the way,” he adds, recalling a favourite band from South Australia called The Borderers, who kept the masses pumping during a folk festival session.

“You’d have 700 or 800 people packed into the joint,” he recalls as one of his highlights.

End of an era

Now, after more than 20 years at the helm, they are ready to move on, having come a long way since taking their first pub in 1995.

“We don’t want to reinvent ourselves … we’re just about done.”

Future potential

As for the property’s future, Gleeson says the next chapter will ultimately be shaped by a new owner, but sees clear potential to build on its foundations.

“I think we have to let the new owners determine that.”

“So, you know, would we like to see it continue as a hotel? Yes, but you know, when you go to places like Bendigo, and you see the Shamrock [Hotel], and you go to Echuca and see some of those magnificent old hotels that have been transformed into really nice accommodation venues, and then repurposed downstairs into a really boutique restaurant … this provides that opportunity,” he says.

“I’ve got a little sign at the front saying, ‘For sale, 14 bedroom, 13 bathrooms, 13 toilets, 6 shower accommodation’… You don’t get opportunities like this every day, particularly in Port Fairy.”