Mountaintop tea house for sale as family calls time

A stunning tea house and home in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, built as a tribute to the owners’ daughter after she died of leukaemia, is on the market again.

Only five years old, the Olinda Tea House was lovingly designed and built by husband and wife Toshi and Cathy Lin, a decade after the death of their 19-year-old daughter Katrina.

It was offered for sale earlier this year after Cathy was also diagnosed with leukaemia, and while multiple offers were tabled for the property, it went unsold after the buyers’ finance fell through.

The property, spread over almost 7ha in the picturesque tourist region, is headlined by its restaurant and function centre, and features extensive gardens and other amenities, as well as a four-bedroom, two-bathroom residence on site.

The property features a large restaurant and function space.

Now listed through Ray White Ferntree Gully’s Stefanie Taylor and Paul Waterhouse, the asking price is in excess of $3.8 million.

Taylor says the tea house hasn’t traded since late 2014 but was renowned as a popular wedding and function venue.

“Cathy’s daughter died of leukaemia and now she’s been diagnosed as well,” she says.

The Olinda Tea House is for sale for a second time.

“It hasn’t actually traded for a year or two, I think they just want to sell it and focus on getting better.”

“Along with the restaurant it was also used as a wedding venue and for other functions. There’s the main restaurant and then there’s two other pavilions as well.”

Taylor says the tea house could be attractive to both investors and owner-occupiers, particularly as the sale includes a significant neighbouring tract of land, currently leased as a flower farm.

The Tea House features extensive gardens and multiple pavilions.

“A little bit further up there’s Lot 1, which is about 8000sqm and that could possibly be subdivided.”

“It’s a massive big block and … is  just leased out as a flower farm, and that’s getting around $20,000 a year in rent.”

The tea house is for sale via offers to purchase, which close on November, unless it is sold prior.