From Oxford blues to West Vic grandeur: The tale of Coragulac House’s first owner

Thirty rooms, three kitchens and an original owner with cricketing talents compared to the likes of WG Grace - Coragulac House, 10 minutes from Colac, is on the market for $4 million. 

🏡 Who owned it? According to work by author and historian Jennifer O’Donnell, the homestead was built in 1873 by George Pringle Robertson after receiving a quarter of his father William Robertson’s estate. William had moved to the region from Tasmania in the 1830s.

Two of Robertson’s brothers also built mansions nearby on their quarters of land, The Hill in Cororooke, and Glen Alvie. Only the remains of Glen Alvie are still standing.  

🌾 Shaping Colac: Trading as Robertson Brothers, the family built on their father’s early cattle-breeding work and became well known for producing high-quality stock across Australia’s East Coast.

The Robertsons also played a role in Colac’s development. As closer settlement expanded and access to Melbourne markets improved with the railways, dairying and potato and onion growing began to replace pastoral farming. 

🏏 Cricket prodigy: Robertson studied at Oxford University in England alongside his brothers, and was known as a high-level cricket batsman, earning the school’s prestigious dark blue uniform.

When he later moved to West Vic, he captained the Victorian eighteen, which defeated WG Grace's first eleven at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

He was also elected president of the Shire of Colac twice and died of illness in [1895], aged 52.

⏩ Fast-forward: Current owners Garry and Sharryn Gibson bought the property in 2013 with the intention of restoring it. 

Garry told the Brolga the restoration was a side project while they continued to run their hotel in East Doncaster until 2018, and that he and Sharryn eventually completed the job about 18 months ago, before listing the property for sale 12 months ago.

“This is our third period property that we’ve restored over the last 30 years,” he said.

🔨 Big project: Garry said restoring a 150-year-old, 1000-square-metre homestead was no small feat. 

“When we came here, this particular property had not had any updates in particularly wet areas, so bathrooms and laundries,” he explained.

“Once you've actually done the refurbishment, the ongoing maintenance to the property is actually pretty straightforward. It's like any other sort of house.”

🕰️ Historical significance: The property has heritage overlays through the council to protect the building’s original features, as well as a statement of significance through the National Trust, but there are no restrictions from Heritage Victoria or the National Trust.