Olde Courthouse Inn Koroit to have new look

The historic Olde Courthouse Inn, located on the corner of Commercial Road and High Street, is undergoing major renovations in preparations for its next coming.

Owners of the building Greg and Julie Lamond are converting the Inn into a tearooms.

The building's former life was an accommodation place - with a curiosity shop and tearooms also part of that business model.

The building began its life as the Courthouse Hotel in 1901 and operated until closing its doors for the last time in 1970.

The building has served as a residence for the Lamonds for the past six-and-a-half years.

But Mr Lamond said the couple's original plans when they purchased the property were now ready to bear fruit.

"We came here from Inverleigh, we liked what Koroit had to offer," Mr Lamond said.

"It is well positioned between Port Fairy and Warrnambool and had all the amenities and some businesses.

"We always wanted to turn it into a tearooms but it has just taken a while to get everything sorted."

As a carpenter by trade, Mr Lamond has been able to make solid progress on getting the construction of the tearooms up and running.

The front third of the building will serve as the tearooms, with the rest of the building to remain as the family's residence.

Plans are to restore the old front bar from the hotel into a feature part of the tearooms.

Homemade produce will be a feature of the tearooms, with breakfast to be served and pies and soups forming basic meals on offer during the day.

Mr Lamont said April 2022 had been set as an early aspirational date for the opening of the tearooms, but it could be more towards the middle of next year.

"Koroit's going well and it's exciting to have this up and going," He said.

"Hopefully when it's ready to go it will be a really nice addition to the main street and the town."