06 Apr 2023
Words The Hotel Conversation

Convict-built 187-year-old tavern for sale - ResortBrokers and Raine & Horne

One of Australia’s oldest inns, Settlers Arms Inn in St Albans, whose land was originally purchased for £4, has been put on the market and is expected to fetch a multimillion-dollar price.

Located less than 100 km northwest of Sydney, Settlers Arms Inn in St Albans has been a mainstay in the Macdonald Valley since it was first built in 1836 as a way station for coaches to and from the Hunter Valley. The inn was an opportunity for coach drivers and travelers to refresh and swap the horses over. The inn then, as now, provides accommodation as well as food and beverage.

The two-story sandstone inn has barely changed since it was built in 1836. Intact are its original low doorways, whose height accounted for the shorter statures of the times, as well the inn’s worn and creaking wooden floors, and its original open fireplace.

No longer in use, but still displayed on its walls, are the original “Rules of this Tavern.” These include novelties such as “No more than five to sleep in one bed” and “Organ grinders to sleep in the wash house.”

The inn has a long history of extended ownership. The original owners, the Sullivan family, paid £4 for the land they built the inn on. The Sullivans operated the inn for 20 years before selling it to the Jurd family in 1856 who held in until 1939. The Jurd’s 84-year tenure was so long the inn was known for decades as “Jurd’s Hotel”. In 1939, the Aerodrome Hotel at Clarendon near Richmond took over the Settlers Arms’ hotel licence and used the property as a boarding house. The property reopened as a public tavern in the 1970s and since 1988 has been owned and operated by Ian and Gabriel Burns-Woods, both former Qantas employees.

Having owned and operated the Settlers Arm for the last 35 years, the Burns-Woods are now retiring hence the listing of this historic property for sale.

The sale of the Settlers Arms Inn is being brokered by ResortBrokers and Raine & Horne Lindfield. “This is an opportunity to buy a storied past as well as a lucrative future,” says Russell Rogers of ResortBrokers. “This property has only had six owners in its almost 200-year history and hasn’t been offered for sale since the late 1980s, so this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity. We expect a great deal of interest from buyers who want to continue the tradition of this grand old building but who also want to purchase an outstanding business whose track record speaks for itself.”