A Western Australian buyer has bought one of Tasmania’s most recognisable historic ruins, despite never having set foot in the state or inspected the property before signing the deal.
The former Royal Hotel at Gormanston, on the West Coast about 10 minutes east of Queenstown, is a roofless concrete shell that has stood abandoned for more than 70 years.
It has sold for a price in the low $300,000s.
Selling agent Dominic Romeo said the new owner planned to move to Tasmania and would take on the property in stages, starting with the adjoining building that once operated as a cafe.
The buyer is an experienced chef and is interested in getting the cafe up and running before turning to the far bigger job of restoring the hotel itself.
“They’re changing their whole life,” Romeo told Pulse.
“He’s a bit of a chef, so the interest with him in the first instance is to work on the cafe and do something with that, before looking into the hotel. He’s just taking it in stages.”
The sale drew strong interest, including from several buyers keen to restore the building.
Romeo said he had expected a tough sale given the remote location and the state of the ruin, but it sold within three to four weeks.
“I must say it surprised me when you look at the remoteness and the work that needs doing,” he said.
“But it is in a very good tourism growth region, so that was a feature that really attracted buyers.”
The Royal Hotel was built as a weatherboard hotel in 1901, destroyed by fire in 1910 and rebuilt in reinforced concrete.
It closed in 1952 as mining in the area declined and has been a landmark on the Lyell Highway ever since.
Romeo said the ruin’s unusual state had added to its appeal.
“Because it was a building without a roof or floors or anything like that, there was that curiosity kind of factor to it,” he said.
“People were just really intrigued.”
The new owner was expected to see the property for the first time late last week.
