Fancy becoming mayor, postmaster, publican and motel manager all at once? An entire Australian town – complete with a pub, restaurant, motel and general store – has hit the market for less than the price of many homes in Europe.
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With just two residents left, the tiny outback settlement of Cooladdi is looking for a new owner willing to swap city life for mulga trees, wide-open skies and the chance to run a town almost entirely single-handedly.
Known as Australia’s tiniest town, it could be yours if you have a spare AUD$400,000 (€243,000).
Some 800 kilometres from the major city of Brisbane, its existing two residents –
Carol Yarrow and Jo Cornel – are planning, respectively, to retire and relocate.
They bought the Foxtrap Road House in 2023; the population of the town is calculated based on how many people own the business venture.
The new owners will have the chance to change the face of the entire town, which was once a busy railway hub. In 1967, trains here stopped while the sheep industry shrank, and residents slowly moved out.
Becky Jeisman of Charleville Real Estate, who's listing the town, said, “[Foxtrap] is the town, and if a group of four people buy it, then the population will double.”
Jeisman recommends the purchase for individuals ranging from empty nesters to families hunting for an unusual lifestyle, but the ownership of the town does come with some caveats.
The owner – or owners – will be required to act as an unofficial mayor, and serve as postal worker, shopkeeper, cook, motel receptionist and publican.
Speaking to The Guardian, outgoing owner Carol Yarrow explained, “The food and the pub are probably one of the main jobs; we also do the mail runs as part of the post office.”
Today, amenities including the roadhouse and even a four-star restaurant are surprisingly popular.
Larger towns like nearby Charleville and people from, Yarrow estimates, a 70km surrounding area, keep the town afloat.
“Since the residents left – many moving out to Charleville and the surrounding areas – people will come to visit who grew up here, to check out the old haunts,” Yarrow told The Guardian.
'We get a lot of passing traffic through and a lot of lovely locals. It's just a great community. It's a laid-back lifestyle.”