Grand 19th Century venue and guesthouse 'Ravensthorpe' for sale

'Ravensthorpe' (circa 1893) was purposely restored to host celebrations such as weddings, high teas, dining and corporate functions. It's also a much-loved live music venue.

Located on Tongarra Road, the building size is 644 square metres.

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The site accommodation comprises four suites within the manor house, an executive cottage, an on-site manager's cottage, swimming pool, tennis court, marquee, formal gardens and parking sitting on approximately 1.213 hectares of land.

It's fully licensed for up to 200 people plus outdoors.

The homestead is heritage-listed, due to it being "locally significant", while the views to the north are also protected.

Jim and Deborah McCallum restored the property, and have owned and operated the business for 21 years.

The couple also ran the Ruby's Mount Kembla restaurant for 21 years, which they sold in 2008.

The couple, both musicians, initially launched Ruby's as a way of supplementing their income.

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Ravensthorpe was built as a family home for the area's first physician, Dr Arthur Wigley Bateman, his wife Anna Louisa and their 11 children.

In 1967, the Neaves family purchased Ravensthorpe from the Raftery family as their family home.

In 2000, it was purchased by Illawarra Heritage Accommodation Pty Ltd (the McCallums and business partners) and fully restored, with the addition of commercial catering facilities.

The restoration took four years to complete.

"It's a difficult process to restore heritage buildings, and it took quite a while," Mr McCallum said.

"I think Deborah and I have some vision - being able to see things and make things happen."

Mr McCallum said while they were also running Ruby's at the time they bought Ravensthorpe, due to public demand they began hosting small numbers of events at the Albion Park property.

The couple's two children, Hamish and Morgan, have both worked at Ravensthorpe.

"It's just a stunning venue," Mr McCallum said. "It's become an iconic place to visit, a destination."

Mr McCallum said they were selling as they eyed retirement, and were looking forward to seeing what the purchaser had planned for the property.

"We've been in the industry for 35 years, and I'm turning 70 next year," he said.

"We've built a beautiful property and business over many years, and it's become a great community asset.

"Lots of people have had two generations of celebrations here - weddings, christenings.

"It's time to ease back a little. It's a great industry to be in, and we've loved it. We've put a lot of our love, time and effort into Ravensthorpe.

"I feel like the timing is right (to sell). I can see the next two years will be very busy for this industry, with all the postponed weddings and events, and it's time to wind back a little and let someone else get involved."

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It's for sale via expressions of interest, closing October 28.

Selling agent, Simon Kersten from Colliers International Wollongong said the successful buyer would be able to either continue trading the "successful and renowned" business, or alternatively the opportunity for redevelopment or re-design was also available (subject to council and heritage approvals).

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He said the property consists of three separate titles, with two of them being parcels of land that could be on-sold or developed.

"It presents many options for the right party," he said.

"There's some flexibility if available to the creative entrepreneur."

Mr Kersten said there wasn't currently a price guide for this listing.

"It's one of the region's most significant heritage properties - it's well-known and has a well-documented past," he said.