Historic cheese factory’s remarkable past

You’d be hard-pressed to find an Australian cheese factory with a history as varied as this one at Cora Lynn in Victoria.

The Cora Lynn Cheese Factory has been many things throughout the last 117 years. And now you could write its next chapter, with the property currently on the market.

Built in 1910 as a cheese factory, it operated as such until about 1940, when it shut down and became derelict, before being reinvigorated as a spare parts manufacturing centre for potato machinery.

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It then spent some years as a welding workshop, as well as a potato storage facility, before being reborn again as a billiard ball factory, and then a commercial water filter factory.

But its the latest incarnation as a function centre, bed and breakfast and residential home, that is set to excite potential buyers.

The property at 464 Bayles Cora Lynn Rd – about 68km south-east of Melbourne – has two separate function spaces, an art gallery, two B&B rooms, an outdoor entertaining deck, expansive gardens and a large registered kitchen set on more than 3900sqm of land.

The Cora Lynn Cheese Factory’s function space.

The centrepiece of the main building’s historic and unforgettable facade is a pair of 300-year-old doors, believed to have been imported from Egypt.

Ruralco Property’s Ray Cullen says the property is currently operated as a supplementary business for its owners, meaning it has significant scope to expand operations.

One of the living spaces at the property.

“The current owners bought it about five years ago with a plan to take it to another level. They’ve added some quite distinctive features and touches to it,” Cullen says.

“It’s been transformed into this magnificent function centre. They had a big wedding there just last Saturday.”

A bed and breakfast unit at the Cora Lynn Cheese Factory.

Cullen says the owners are currently in the process of obtaining a liquor licence, and points out that the two function spaces could be developed to create one large function space, capable of seating up to 150 people.

The Cora Lynn Cheese Factory is for sale with a price tag of around $1.8 million.