Charlotte Varcoe
MOUNT Gambier’s Colhurst House has remained in local hands with the Kosch family purchasing the historical building.
Colhurst House was first built in 1878 by Thomas Williams and was first valued at £100.
Recently, it was sold for $1.4m, reaching a new record for Mount Gambier after being valued at $1.6m late last year.
Originally, the iconic building provided an ideal location for social functions and garden parties before housing air-force officers in the Second World War.
The Williams family sold the property in the 1940s to the Arthur family where it was converted into a series of flats.
In 1981, the property was restored after having been bought by the Davie family with the Matthews family then taking over the home in 1990.
The Kosch family have now taken over the accommodation and bed and breakfast business and have some big plans.
Known within the Mount Gambier community for their ownership and running of The Commodore, The Henty and Henty Traveller as well as the Delgattie Estate, Michael Kosch said the business would be run predominantly as a family affair and would continue as a bed and breakfast while also accommodating as a venue for events and weddings.
“In the short term we are planning to improve the existing accommodation and we are eager to have a look at its potential for having it as a wider venue as Colhurst itself has a lot of history with garden parties from its earlier years,” Mr Kosch said.
“We see that as an exciting opportunity and it was the uniqueness of the property which sparked our interest in the first place.”
Mr Kosch said there was opportunity for further growth and development to provide an excellent guest experience.
“We were somewhat surprised at the property when we were looking at it, we knew it was outstanding but had never been so up close and personal to it other than during a few weddings,” he said.
“With our experience in business across Mount Gambier, we are confident that we can translate Colhurst into a luxury property for both celebrations and accommodation.”
Eager to get the business up and running, Mr Kosch said the first step was to breathe some life back into the property with maintenance and property improvements.
“The Matthews family spent 30 years building the business which gives the property goodwill and we have seen that as a big part of the opportunity,” he said.
“We are excited to start work but we want to understand the business a bit more as we also have a few other projects running at the same time.
“Next year we might start to look closer at improving the common areas and the arrival areas more but at the same time we would also look at more food, beverage and events to be held there.”
Speaking about the record sale price, Mr Kosch said he was not surprised due to Colhurst House’s uniqueness.
“It is such a unique product and there is nothing like it,” he said.
“It is close to the centre of town in a big block and there are no other houses like that around town which allowed us to make sense of the price.
“We are very excited about this and see a lot of potential with the property as a family and we are looking forward to seeing where this takes us in the future.”
