Victoria real estate: Historic tourist town pub Warden’s Hotel in Beechworth up for sale again at $1.2 million

A historic red-tiled Beechworth landmark is up for sale for the second time in two years.

The former Warden’s Hotel at 32 Ford Street, Beechworth, is listed for sale at $1.2 million with Tony Stockdale from First National Real Estate Bonnici and Associates.

The pub went for auction in September 2022 and was sold to Billson’s Brewery director Nathan Cowan for $990,000.

The sale comes after Billson’s Brewery, of which Mr Cowan is a director, announced it was cutting jobs at the beverage company and historical brewery in February this year.

The hotel was previously owned by Paul Conroy, who purchased the building from his father in 1994.

Mr Stockdale said the property is in need of renovation but still has some untouched characteristics.

“It has some of the original features like leadlight windows and a lot of the floorboards through the property,” he said.

“There are also beautiful granite window ledges.

“The property does need a bit of injection to renovate and lift it into the next level.”

The property has a minimum of 12 bedrooms across two floors.

The first floor is about 327 square meters and has a front bar and lounge, as well as a commercial kitchen and cool room.

The second floor has a footprint of about 205 square meters and includes three communal lounge areas.

The current owners have completed some preliminary architectural designs which will be made available upon request to potential qualified purchasers.

The Warden’s Hotel was established in 1911 and has been used for several purposes, including for school groups accommodation, Warden’s Food and Wine and an Indian restaurant.

Mr Stockdale said the building would benefit as somewhere for accommodation again, allowing guests to walk down from “the top of the town” to the local restaurants and bars.

“Having it once again for short-term accommodation options, which Beechworth is well known for and very popular for having short-term accommodation,” he said.

“But the other thing is also and this has to do with the population influx of migrants into Australia because even in Beechworth, we have plenty of workers from overseas looking for affordable accommodation.

“We’ve got people working in hospitality, in industries here staying in some smaller places which suits them down to the ground.”

Mr Stockdale said there are just less than 700 square meters of vacant land at the back of the blocks and a large footprint for further subdivision or expansion subject to council approval.

This story was originally published as Renovator’s dream: historic tourist town pub up for sale again at $1.2 million on view.com.au