Olinda restaurant The Cuckoo for sale, Dandenong Ranges most popular venue
Arguably the most popular restaurant in the Dandenong Ranges with 80,000 visitors a year, this major tourist destination is about to hit the market.
Outer East
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The Dandenong Ranges most renowned restaurant and tourist destination is for sale for the first time since it opened more than 60 years ago.
Olinda’s The Cuckoo has been family owned since Karin and Wilhelm “Willi” Koeppen opened the Bavarian buffet in 1958 and could sell for between $3 and 5 million.
Karin and Willi Koeppen took over what were known as the Quamby tea rooms, built in 1914, cementing The Cuckoo as a major tourist destination.
The restaurant sits on 3.89ha, has three separate dining rooms, a manager’s residence, parking space for 10 coaches and a multi-level carpark.
Johnston King real estate agent Michael Hall said not only does the restaurant boast the biggest cuckoo clock outside Germany, it draws tens of thousands of visitors to Yarra Ranges every year.
Mr Hall said everyone he has spoken to has visited The Cuckoo at some point in their lives.
“The time has come to sell this icon and I hope someone carries on the tradition,” he said.
“It’s been Karin’s passion and a very successful passion.
“It will be a piece of history for whoever buys it.”
Mr Hall said he expected interest from Australian and international buyers.
“They have 25,000 overseas tourists visiting per year, mainly from Asia,” he said.
Mr Hall said the business was a “proven success story” and guaranteed a multimillion-dollar annual investment.
“It could be the jewel in the crown for someone involved in the tourist industry at that level,” he said.
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The Cuckoo remains at the centre of the hills most enduring mystery, after the disappearance of the country’s first celebrity chef and co-owner Willi Koeppen in 1976.
Last year, former Victorian Coroner Sara Hinchey ruled Mr Koeppen’s death was an unsolved and open homicide.
Expressions of interest on the property open next week.
Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader has contacted the Koeppen’s daughter Daniela Koeppen-Rosenfeld for comment.