Roland and Linda Gumbert place Goulburn's South Hill on market

The grand South Hill homestead at 3 Garroorigang Road will go to auction on Saturday, December 2, with a $3.5 million price guide.

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The historic two-storey structure, with its 30-plus rooms, has been their home for the past 18 years. It has served as a hub for arts and culture and their large family, and added another chapter to its long history.

"Where ever you look, the views are splendid and whatever made this a meeting place, it is something extraordinarily special," Mr Gumbert said.

The couple, both lawyers, bought South Hill within days of seeing the auction notice in 2005. They'd been looking to move from Sydney Northern Beaches to Goulburn, where they already had a property.

"We thought this was the real deal," Mrs Gumbert said.

Initially they only spent weekends there but in 2011 they moved permanently to the home strategically positioned on a hill overlooking the Mulwaree River and Ponds.

The earliest sections of the house dates from the late 1830s/early 1840s but the main homestead was thought to have been built for Thomas Bull between 1872 and 1875. A history by the Sisters of Mercy details subsequent ownership by wealthy pastoralists such as the Chisholm family and Joseph Collet.

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In 1926, the Catholic Church purchased the property for the Sisters of Mercy who changed the name to Marian Hill and developed a productive farm up until they sold it in 1969.

Former Goulburn City councillor, Miriam Naughton owned it from 1969 to 1990 when Elizabeth and The Reverend Ian Lipscomb purchased the homestead. The couple transformed it into a bed and breakfast and conducted a 19^th century schoolhouse for tourists.

The Gumberts put their own stamp.

"We didn't have a vision for it...but after we bought it and before we lived here permanently, Roland said 'let's have an art gallery'. In 2009 we opened up South Hill Art Gallery," Mrs Gumbert said.

"...We were lawyers, not artists, but it all became possible because we knew Martin Sharp. The force and energy flowed from him."

Sharp, a renowned Australian artist, took over the famous Yellow House Gallery at Potts Point in the 1970s. The collective nurtured hundreds of artists and performers over a generation. Sharp and other famous names such as Jon Lewis, Peter Kingston, Garry Shearstone, Archibald Prize winner, Blak Douglas, Yellow House musician and Goulburn man, Peter Royles and Max Cullen have either exhibited or performed at South Hill.

Mr Gumbert became expert at hanging art and at one stage, the gallery was hosting exhibitions every two to three weeks across its seven galleries, drawing hundreds of people.

Archibald Prize winner and Goulburn district artists, Cherry Hood was appointed curator. Local and regional artists and writers also exhibited and launched books at South Hill, or simply came to enjoy a cuppa and peaceful surrounds.

"It was a huge success and Goulburn people loved it," Mrs Gumbert said.

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Austen Tayshus has performed there, the Australian Ballet hosted a workshop and a Wilde in the Country gay Mardi Gras proved a hit.

"Among the many indigenous people we hosted here, all said it was an Aboriginal meeting place," Mr Gumbert said.

"We see our time living here and operating a gallery as an extension of that. The Sisters of Mercy basically ran it as a feedlot for the area and we carried it on as a meeting place for the community."

The home has also been a gathering place for the couple's six children and their families. It has hosted two daughters' weddings and Mr Gumbert's 70^th birthday with 80 guests.

There was plenty of space. The homestead includes 30 rooms, a ballroom, large formal dining room, living room, library, study, offices, six bedrooms, bathrooms, games rooms, two kitchens, servants rooms and an enclosed veranda with sprawling views.

The Gumberts have installed double-glazed windows and modernised kitchens but said they never wanted to physically change the sturdy structure.

Outside, a former coach house, dairy converted to accommodation, a timber barn/studio, shearing shed, workshop, chook sheds and a four-bedroom manager's cottage hark back to its pastoral history.

South Hill sits on 18-hectares, which include a plethora of fruit trees. Mr Gumbert has farmed the land using organic permaculture principles since they arrived.

Now the couple is ready for a new chapter.

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John Connell Real Estate will auction South Hill onsite at 2pm on Saturday December 2. Mr Connell said the property had attracted strong interest from Sydney, Canberra, Goulburn and elsewhere over a six-week marketing campaign.

"People love the house's character and history, its space and proximity to Goulburn's CBD," he said.

"There are lots of opportunities, including a bed and breakfast, wedding reception venue and more."

Mrs Gumbert said the couple planned to move into Goulburn and hadn't discounted starting another art gallery. But they would also miss their old home.

"It's been an absolute privilege and joy to live here and we've loved it beyond anything," she said.

"...I hope whoever buys it will love it as much as we have."

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