Australian town with cricket pavilion, lake up for sale

A picturesque town in Australia complete with a fishing lake, golf-course and cricket pavilion is up for sale and may fetch up to $13 million, according to media reports.

The 358.3-acre Tarraleah town located in the heart of Tasmania state was built in the 1930s to house mostly European migrant workers of the then Hydro Electric Commission.

The town, which once housed thousands of workers, was largely abandoned by the 1990s. 

The buildings including a church, a theatre, a school and homes still remained but they fell into disrepair, ABC News reported on Wednesday.

Current owner Julian Homer has spent 13 years restoring the town’s 33 art deco - influential visual arts design - buildings.

There are no residents in the town except for those who work at the a five-star lodge situated in the 

town. 

The entire towns is now largely devoted to tourism; hosting weddings, conferences and functions.

The town comes with a church, a fully renovated lodge and cafe, art deco cottages, a caravan park and a cricket pavilion. The deal also includes the town’s highland cattle and a dam brimming with trout and salmon, media reports said.

“It has only been on the market since last Thursday but we have issued 30 to 40 property reports. Some of those have been overseas, a lot from interstate. I think a lot of people are more curious than anything, wondering what is this all about,” Real estate agent John Blacklow said.

He said the site could fetch up to $10 million (13 million Australian dollars) and would be suited to a tourism operator.