Our History
Historical Elegance in Bowral
Beautiful Berida has been welcoming people home for (over) a century.
It began in 1925 as a warm, welcoming family home – built by Dr Jessie Aspinall and her husband Ambrose for their children, with heart rather than grandeur in mind. Over the decades she’s been many things: a home, a refuge, a retreat, a place of rest and recovery, discovery and escape. Today, as a hotel, she continues that legacy.
Outside, the magnificent Pin Oak has stood just as long – branches ever reaching and weaving, bearing quiet witness to every era. Seasons shift, leaves flare scarlet and fall, then return green in spring, spreading a canopy of shade through summer.
Step through her arched doors and you can feel it – the way her hallways turn and tease with intrigue, the way the light moves through her like a mood, the way time seems to fold in on itself. A quiet creak underfoot, or a whisper of wind threading through heritage windows; a house that’s been lived in, and a home that’s alive.
Across the grand foyer, framed by the timber staircase, Henry stands as he always has – a stoic, steadfast guardian and witness to a century of comings and goings. (If only he could talk!)
What makes Berida special isn’t her history alone, though she wears it with such beauty and grace. It’s the feeling that washes over you the moment you step inside – something warm, alive, quietly magnetic and hard to name. She doesn’t need to tell you her story. She simply invites you to become part of it.
