Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Reserve

The Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Reserve is an 87.5 ha estate that comprises a late 19th-century mansion-like homestead and surrounding grounds west of the village of Somers.

It contains the Coolart Homestead, a substantial two-storey brick house, with a third-storey tower and several outbuildings. As well as a well-maintained garden there are several wetlands with a bird hide and a wetland observatory with educational facilities. There are also areas of woodland and farmland. The wetlands are home to a breeding colony of over 1000 Australian white ibises, while koalas, swamp wallabies, and echidnas inhabit the woodlands.. Coolart was originally part of the traditional lands of the Bunurong people, with the word "coolart" deriving from "colourt" or "kulluk", the Bunurong name for nearby Sandy Point. With European settlement of the area Coolart was taken up as a pastoral lease in 1839 by the Meyrick brothers. Subsequently, the property went through various farming phases, including cropping and raising sheep and cattle.