Old Tea Gardens Buildings
There are only a few old buildings still left standing in Tea Gardens, the majority having been demolished to make way for new construction.
1. (top) In Marine Drive, the Universal Store built by the Engel family in 1922 is still occupied by three stores. An adjacent older shop and bakery to the east, built around 1893, has been replaced by a caravan park.
2, 3. (two stages, 1887 & 1924). The hotel site has seen a succession of buildings dating back to 1887. The hotel was a two-storey structure which underwent various stages of extension and reconstruction before being demolished in 1956, to be replaced by the present building in 1960.
4. The building now operating as Tillerman's Restaurant has seen many changes over its lifetime. It was used in the 1890s as The Busy Bee General Store operated by Michael Bob. Later owners included the Len Holbert family who opened it as the Paragon Restaurant, after adding some living quarters to the original building.
5. (bottom) The first hotel in Tea Gardens was located west of Tillerman's Restaurant. It was built in 1883 by John Witt who operated it with the licence from the older Hawks Nest Hotel which had been allowed to lapse. Witt's Hotel was later converted to a guest house and hall and had been demolished by 1934. The site is now occupied by a house.
6. (below) The next building to the west of Witt's Hotel was first operated by the Hugh Holbert family as their Avoca Restauant and home. It is now a private dwelling. There also existed another shop west of the Avoca and beyond it a two-storey Riverside Guest House all of which have long gone.
In addition there are numerous older private residences located throughout the town, some of which combined commercial operations such as a private hospital, guest house, post office or tea rooms with an attached dwelling.
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