Oatlands House, toasting brides since 1830s, sells to Navarra family for $4.45 million

Oatlands House, the early-1800s residence turned reception centre on a 1.43-hectare Oatlands holding, has been sold by its Ferrier Hodgson receiver Morgan Kelly.

The land was sold for $4.45 million - with an undisclosed extra amount for the business - to John and Sal Navarra, who head the family who operate three event centres: Le Montage, Curzon Hall and its foundation venue, Conca D’oro, dating back to the early 1970s.

Their latest acquisition dates back to the 1830s when the house was built by Captain Percy Simpson, an army officer and former governor of Paxos. In 1840 Oatlands was sold to James Brindley Bettington, best known for his contribution to the growth of wool in New South Wales.

Bettington was involved in sheep breeding with William Lawson, the explorer, whose daughter he married. Their son James Brindley the second inherited his estate and continued to reside at Oatlands until he died in 1915 at the age of 78.

Oatlands House was originally a low sandstone cottage and in 1840, architect Ambrose Hallen built the two-storey additions with the aid of convict labour. Oatlands still has cellars reputedly used for the storage of rum during Rum Rebellion era.

The house comes with a marble fireplace obtained from the home of Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, to replace a similar one removed from Oatlands House by vandals.

It can cater for group sizes of 30 up to 450 guests. An application for a 98-room motel and major function room extensions costing $8 million was withdrawn after strong local opposition to the council in 2008. The vendor was Babindo Pty Limited, directed by William and Qki Chan, as trustee for Oatlands Property Trust.